28 LXF257 December 2019 http://www.linuxformat.comROUNDUP Media streamers
e’ve already established that
most of these projects feature
a pretty interface, but we won’t
fault you if you still wonder whether
these media servers are like fireworks:
pretty to look at, but offering nothing of
real substance.
A traditional home theatre setup
comprises a large screen, impressive
speakers and perhaps most
importantly, a vast collection of movies
and TV shows. On Blu-ray, of course!
Which is why you shouldn’t think of
media servers as glorified home theatre
systems. Unlike the rather restrictive
use provided by the latter, media
servers such as these are capable of so
much more.
With their feature set, it’s important
for these projects to find the right
balance between utility and ease of
configuration. It’s also important to not
alienate any class of user, merely on the
basis of their familiarity and expertise
with Linux or handling multimedia files.Gerbera 7/10
The Gerbera web interface expects you
to manually select the directories or
individual files you want to import into its
database. Depending on the type, the
server automatically lists them under the
Photo or Video category. Although it also
supports online streaming content, you’re
expected to manually create a web.conf
file to access this feature.
There’s a surprising lack of
documentation on the subject, except for
a sample file. The web interface provides
access to limited documentation that
provides a quick rundown of various
configuration options, but it’s by no means
aimed at novice or newbie users.
Built on top of Media Tomb, Gerbera has
the potential to grow into a popular media
server, but in its current state, it will only
appeal to those who have tried the other
projects, and now want something which
they can customise from the ground up.Jellyfin 7/10
This project began as a fork of Emby,
which is mentioned in the ‘Also Consider’
section of this Roundup. All the projects
prefer a certain naming convention for
your media files, so as to better display
them in the graphical interface.
While the files will still be displayed
regardless of their directory structure
and filenames, Jellyfin will be unable to
impress you with features such as
classifying your TV shows into different
series unless you follow these conventions
for naming.
Although it doesn’t have as many plug-
ins to offer as Kodi, or even Plex and
Universal Media Server, installing the
limited offerings is child’s play with Jellyfin.
Our biggest complaint with it, however, is
that it identifies many JPG images as
media files. Although it displays a
thumbnail for these images, it’s naturally
unable to display the files.User experience
Is there more to them
than just looking nice?
W
VERDICT
hen you first attempt to access the Gerbera web
interface, you’ll likely face an error informing you that the
UI is disabled and to check your configuration. The
solution requires editing the /etc/gerbera/config.xml config
file and changing <ui enabled=”no” show-tooltips=”yes”>
under the <server> heading at the top of the file to
<ui enabled=”yes” show-tooltips=”yes”>. Should you feel
the need to make any other changes to its default configuration,
you’ll have to similarly hack away at the config file manually.
You can use Universal Media Server’s graphical administrative
interface to configure various aspects of the server, and you
don’t necessarily have to muck about with configuration files in a
text editor. The different settings are split across intelligently
named tabs such as General Settings, Navigation Settings,
Shared Content and Transcoding Settings. Novice users will
particularly appreciate the helpful tooltips which provide a quick
introduction to the available options for each settings and what
each one does.Configuration
How easy is it to make changes?
W
GERBERA 6/10
JELLYFIN 8/10
KODI 9/10PLEX 9/10
UNIVERSAL MEDIA SERVER 9/10Kodi and Plex both come with adequate defaults and only
really need to be pointed to your media library to get you started.
Even so, the projects provide extensive configuration options and
let you tweak settings from the graphical interface itself. The Plex
interfaces houses the different settings under aptly named heads
such as General, Remote Access, Network and Transcoder listed
on the left sidebar.
Unlike the other tools, Kodi also enables you to change the
whole appearance of the interface with themes, referred to as
skins. It’s also possible to graphically tweak settings with Jellyfin,
but it doesn’t provide as extensive coverage, or as many options.Compared to the rest, Gerbera makes fine-tuning the server a bit of a drag.28 LXF257December 2019 2226Decmbr 019G6a 1
ROUNDUP Media streamers
e’vealreadyestablishedthat
mostoftheseprojectsfeature
aprettyinterface,butwewon’t
faultyouifyoustillwonderwhether
thesemediaserversarelikefireworks:
prettytolookat,butofferingnothingof
realsubstance.
Atraditionalhometheatresetup
comprisesalargescreen,impressive
speakersandperhapsmost
importantly,avastcollectionofmovies
andTVshows.OnBlu-ray,ofcourse!
Whichiswhyyoushouldn’tthinkof
mediaserversasglorifiedhometheatre
systems.Unliketheratherrestrictive
useprovidedbythelatter,media
serverssuchasthesearecapableofso
muchmore.
Withtheirfeatureset,it’simportant
fortheseprojectstofindtheright
balancebetweenutilityandeaseof
configuration.It’salsoimportanttonot
alienateanyclassofuser,merelyonthe
basis of their familiarity and expertise
with Linux or handling multimedia files.
Gerbera 7/10
TheGerberawebinterfaceexpectsyou
tomanuallyselectthedirectoriesor
individualfilesyouwanttoimportintoits
database.Dependingonthetype,the
serverautomaticallyliststhemunderthe
PhotoorVideocategory.Althoughitalso
supportsonlinestreamingcontent,you’re
expectedtomanuallycreateaweb.conf
filetoaccessthisfeature.
There’sasurprisinglackof
documentationonthesubject,exceptfor
asamplefile.Thewebinterfaceprovides
accesstolimiteddocumentationthat
providesaquickrundownofvarious
configurationoptions,butit’sbynomeans
aimedatnoviceornewbieusers.
BuiltontopofMediaTomb,Gerberahas
thepotentialtogrowintoapopularmedia
server,butinitscurrentstate,itwillonly
appealtothosewhohavetriedtheother
projects,andnowwantsomethingwhich
theycancustomisefromthegroundup.Jellyfin 7/10
This project began as a fork of Emby,
which is mentioned in the ‘Also Consider’
section of this Roundup. All the projects
prefer a certain naming convention for
your media files, so as to better display
them in the graphical interface.
While the files will still be displayed
regardless of their directory structure
and filenames, Jellyfin will be unable to
impress you with features such as
classifying your TV shows into different
series unless you follow these conventions
for naming.
Although it doesn’t have as many plug-
ins to offer as Kodi, or even Plex and
Universal Media Server, installing the
limited offerings is child’s play with Jellyfin.
Our biggest complaint with it, however, is
that it identifies many JPG images as
media files. Although it displays a
thumbnail for these images, it’s naturally
unable to display the files.User experience
Is there more to them
than just looking nice?
W
VERDICT
hen you first attempt to access the Gerbera web
interface, you’ll likely face an error informing you that the
UI is disabled and to check your configuration. The
solutionrequires editing the /etc/gerbera/config.xml config
file and changing <ui enabled=”no” show-tooltips=”yes”>
under the <server> heading at the top of the file to
<ui enabled=”yes” show-tooltips=”yes”>. Should you feel
the need to make any other changes to its default configuration,
you’ll have to similarly hack away at the config file manually.
You can use Universal Media Server’s graphical administrative
interface to configure various aspects of the server, and you
don’t necessarily have to muck about with configuration files in a
text editor. The different settings are split across intelligently
named tabs such as General Settings, Navigation Settings,
Shared Content and Transcoding Settings. Novice users will
particularly appreciate the helpful tooltips which provide a quick
introduction to the available options for each settings and what
each one does.Configuration
How easy is it to make changes?
W
GERBERA 6/10
JELLYFIN 8/10
KODI 9/10PLEX 9/10
UNIVERSALMEDIASERVER 9/10Kodi and Plex both come with adequate defaults and only
really need to be pointed to your media library to get you started.
Even so, the projects provide extensive configuration options and
let you tweak settings from the graphical interface itself. The Plex
interfaces houses the different settings under aptly named heads
such as General, Remote Access, Network and Transcoder listed
on the left sidebar.
Unlike the other tools, Kodi also enables you to change the
whole appearance of the interface with themes, referred to as
skins. It’s also possible to graphically tweak settings with Jellyfin,
but it doesn’t provide as extensive coverage, or as many options.Compared to the rest, Gerbera makes fine-tuning the server a bit of a drag.