Linux Format - UK (2019-12)

http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux December 2019 LXF257 27

Media streamers ROUNDUP

VERDICT

VERDICT

ost of these projects are multi-platform and also support

various architectures. Unless you have a peculiarly

configured network setup, the default configuration

option for each should suffice for most regular home users.

You’ll find Kodi in the software repositories of many

distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian. Fedora users can

similarly install it from the popular RPM Fusion repository. But if

the project doesn’t provide a binary for your distribution, or you

want to compile the latest edition on your own, the project uses

CMake as its build system and provides specific instructions for

various distributions such as Fedora, openSUSE and so on.

Despite its ample documentation, novice Linux users would

be best served by trying the project on Ubuntu, where the

installation process requires little more than enabling the PPA

repository and running the sudo apt install kodi command.

Gerbera, on the other hand, insists that you install it using your

distribution’s software repositories. Its installation is thus a

breeze on Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE, Arch, Gentoo and even

CentOS. While Fedora users can opt for the RPM available on

https://pkgs.org, if your distribution isn’t listed you might

consider deploying the official Docker image for a relatively

painless deployment.

If you decide to compile it from source, be sure to read

through the documentation, which provides a list of all the

dependencies. Plex, too, similarly provides DEB and RPM binaries

for installation, as well as a Docker image.

Like the others, Jellyfin provides easy instructions on installing

on a variety of Linux distributions using software repositories. If

you already have Plex or Emby installed on your machine, and

ll the projects support all the popular video formats, so

your homemade videos and your movie collection, as well

as streamable online media, can be enjoyed collectively

by all. They also support various audio formats to enable you to

share and stream your music collection, and can also keep an eye

on your watched items and identify the files you’ve watched, or

have yet to watch.

You can easily bolster Kodi’s default feature set with many

add-ons, which also makes it possible to watch and record live TV

(if you have the requisite tuner hardware installed in your PC).

Gerbera’s best feature is its ability to transcode to and from a

variety of media formats. It too provides the same functionality as

Kodi, but without the polished interface that has become the

hallmark of Kodi.

While Plex Player is distributed under the GPL, the Plex Media

Server is admittedly a freemium project, and even the Android app

has certain features that require a fee. For instance, it adds a

watermark to images when you view them in the Android app.

In addition to all the above functionality, Jellyfin also lets you

create an exclusive library for books. Although the web interface

suggests that you can install a Trailers channel to view movie

trailers, this feature isn’t available at this time.

Installation

Features

Are they easy to deploy?

What’s their raison d’être?

M

A

The installation process of these projects is fairly mundane.

All the servers

need time

to scan your

library’s content

before it can be

displayed.

want to try Jellyfin too, you’ll have to edit its /etc/jellyfin/

system.xml file to change the default port, as all these projects

use the same by default. Jellyfin continues to report an error

about the port number even after you change it, but everything

runs as expected.

Instead of installable binaries, Universal Media Server ships a

distribution-neutral compressed tarball. You’ll find an install.txt

file within that lists all the requirements for the project, such as

Jave JRE, MediaInfo, Mencoder and so on. You can install these

using your distribution’s software repositories. After installing all

the dependencies, you can launch UMS directly by executing the

UMS.sh script. In this sense, it’s probably the easiest of the

servers to install.

GERBERA 8/10

JELLYFIN 8/10

KODI 9/10

PLEX 9/10

UNIVERSAL MEDIA SERVER 8/10

UMS wins this contest since it doesn’t require an installation as such.

The lack of detailed documentation impacts Universal Media Server’s scores in

this area.

Its no-frills appearance notwithstanding, Universal Media

Server is adept at playing all manners of photos, audio and video

files. Although it lets you add streams of web content such as

podcasts, videos and so on, there’s very little documentation on

the subject on the official channels, so you may have to do some

digging around to set this up.

GERBERA 9/10

JELLYFIN 8/10

KODI 9/10

PLEX 9/10

UNIVERSAL MEDIA SERVER 10/10

2226Decmbr rb6c019Gb09aJlyf December 2019 LXF257 27

Media streamers ROUNDUP

VERDICT

VERDICT

ost of these projects are multi-platform and also support
various architectures. Unless you have a peculiarly
configured network setup, the default configuration
optionfor each should suffice for most regular home users.
You’ll find Kodi in the software repositories of many
distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian. Fedora users can
similarly install it from the popular RPM Fusion repository. But if
the project doesn’t provide a binary for your distribution, or you
want to compile the latest edition on your own, the project uses
CMake as its build system and provides specific instructions for
various distributions such as Fedora, openSUSE and so on.
Despite its ample documentation, novice Linux users would
be best served by trying the project on Ubuntu, where the
installation process requires little more than enabling the PPA
repository and running the sudo apt install kodi command.
Gerbera, on the other hand, insists that you install it using your
distribution’s software repositories. Its installation is thus a
breeze on Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE, Arch, Gentoo and even
CentOS. While Fedora users can opt for the RPM available on
https://pkgs.org, if your distribution isn’t listed you might
consider deploying the official Docker image for a relatively
painless deployment.
If you decide to compile it from source, be sure to read
through the documentation, which provides a list of all the
dependencies. Plex, too, similarly provides DEB and RPM binaries
for installation, as well as a Docker image.
Like the others, Jellyfin provides easy instructions on installing
on a variety of Linux distributions using software repositories. If
you already have Plex or Emby installed on your machine, and

ll the projects support all the popular video formats, so
your homemade videos and your movie collection, as well
as streamable online media, can be enjoyed collectively
byall.They also support various audio formats to enable you to
share and stream your music collection, and can also keep an eye
on your watched items and identify the files you’ve watched, or
have yet to watch.
You can easily bolster Kodi’s default feature set with many
add-ons, which also makes it possible to watch and record live TV
(if you have the requisite tuner hardware installed in your PC).
Gerbera’s best feature is its ability to transcode to and from a
variety of media formats. It too provides the same functionality as
Kodi, but without the polished interface that has become the
hallmark of Kodi.
While Plex Player is distributed under the GPL, the Plex Media
Server is admittedly a freemium project, and even the Android app
has certain features that require a fee. For instance, it adds a
watermark to images when you view them in the Android app.
In addition to all the above functionality, Jellyfin also lets you
create an exclusive library for books. Although the web interface
suggests that you can install a Trailers channel to view movie
trailers, this feature isn’t available at this time.

Installation

Features

Are they easy to deploy?

What’s their raison d’être?

M

A

Theinstallationprocessoftheseprojectsisfairlymundane.

Alltheservers

needtime

toscanyour

library’scontent

beforeit canbe

displayed.

want to try Jellyfin too, you’ll have to edit its /etc/jellyfin/

system.xml file to change the default port, as all these projects

use the same by default. Jellyfin continues to report an error

about the port number even after you change it, but everything

runs as expected.

Instead of installable binaries, Universal Media Server ships a

distribution-neutral compressed tarball. You’ll find an install.txt

file within that lists all the requirements for the project, such as

Jave JRE, MediaInfo, Mencoder and so on. You can install these

using your distribution’s software repositories. After installing all

the dependencies, you can launch UMS directly by executing the

UMS.sh script. In this sense, it’s probably the easiest of the

servers to install.

GERBERA 8/10

JELLYFIN 8/10

KODI 9/10

PLEX 9/10

UNIVERSALMEDIASERVER 8/10

UMSwinsthiscontestsinceit doesn’trequireaninstallationassuch.

The lack of detailed documentation impacts Universal Media Server’s scores in

this area.

Its no-frills appearance notwithstanding, Universal Media

Server is adept at playing all manners of photos, audio and video

files. Although it lets you add streams of web content such as

podcasts, videos and so on, there’s very little documentation on

the subject on the official channels, so you may have to do some

digging around to set this up.

GERBERA 9/10

JELLYFIN 8/10

KODI 9/10

PLEX 9/10

UNIVERSAL MEDIA SERVER 10/10