Well, my internet connection would have to be a lot faster, and they would all need devices that support UHD h.265 and HDR10 playback. But if you have have gigabit upload and they all have shields or similar with just as fast connections, you’re good to go without transcoding (if no one wants to access it through mobile)

I regularly watch on my server when I’m not home and a few friends of mine also have access to it, so I need the content to be available in SDR and lower bit rates. When I stream from home, I‘d like to have access to the full quality and HDR though, so either I need multiple versions of each film or hardware encoding/tonemapping and a used gtx 1050ti was a lot cheaper than the required storage would be to have 4 or 5 versions of every film.

But yes, if you’re only streaming within the same network, hardware transcoding isn’t necessary in the slightest. But then a SMB fileshare might also suffice…

As I need hardware transcoding, that makes emby immediately non viable for me. I also usually watch via various apps and on tv, which, if you don’t have emby premiere are also not free to use.

It’s free and open source. That alone is a big plus. And it works fairly well. What does emby do better, that warrants paying $120 for it?

You‘re a step too far again though. The average newbie would insta-panic by the thought of using the terminal. Needing a command to install drivers or to update is already too hard.

Arch based distros like Manjaro, endeavorOS or even SteamOS, for that matter are great (have used manjaro myself in the past until I settled for fedora/nobara) and the AUR can make acquiring software a lot easier. However, the moment something breaks, a newbie will be lost and the Arch Wiki won’t save someone who doesn’t know what to look for in the first place.

If anything, my recommendation for absolute beginners (as long as their hardware isn’t state of the art or they want to game, primarily) would be Mint. It’s easy to set up, has a nifty (and graphical) driver installer, has a default DE that is close enough to windows as to not confuse someone who hasn’t used anything else in their life and also, it shares enough DNA with ubuntu that most tutorials out there work without having shit like snap in there.

Sure but it’s not a rarity that forum answers expect you to be very familiar with linux file structures and terminal commands. If you’re a beginner who runs into an issue (as beginners do), you oftentimes need to find a tutorial and then tutorials that explain the tutorial. It gets even worse if you’re not on a debian/ubuntu based distro (although, to be fair, if you’re a newbie, that’s sorta asking for trouble).

Yea. I like my MacBook and I like macOS (yes, I know, shame on me). But in a few years, when Apple eventually stops supporting it, I can just put Linux on it and keep using it (or give it to a relative who just needs a working computer). It’s good hardware and in true Apple fashion, it will probably outlast its software. I also have an old Core 2 Duo unibody macbook laying around and while it is possible to put the latest macOS on (thanks hackintosh community), Linux is a much better experience and the MacBook is sturdier and has a better trackpad and keyboard than most new laptops, even many that are much more expensive.

I wouldn’t recommend Intel CPUs (at least the last two gens) either but if all that matters to you in a GPU is hardware encoding (quality or codec support), like for a Jellyfin server, Intel ARC is unbeatable.

When I‘m on an apple device (my phone or work mac) I use Safari. On any other device: Firefox. And if the website doesn’t work properly in either one of those, ungoogled chromium.

The commenter I responded to originally seemed confused/surprised by it, though.

Here in Germany at least, if you read almost any printed novel, the type face will include this type of g. It’s so common, that I didn’t realise it’d be strange for some people.

(Although I do recall seeing a post about a kid that was confused by that weird letter, somewhere a while ago. Probably was still back on r*****)

That’s fairly standard for serif fonts like times new roman, baskerville, etc. Although it is uncommon in modern sans serif fonts and/or fonts designed to be viewed on a screen.

It‘s the camera angle. The ratio of keyboard to trackpad is a lot more pleasing if you don’t take the pic with a wide angle lens. You can see a top down shot of the keyboard area here.

Thought as much. Thanks. And, to be fair, LibreOffice took that spot very well.

Dunnily enough, I got into Linux through my grandfather (now in his 70s), who had been on and off using Linux since redhat. Although, by now, my tech and Linux knowledge surpassed his (at least in applications relevant in this century) because he’s scared of the internet

You forget the step of installation though. My mum would be totally able to use Linux but creating an installer usb is probably beyond her capability or at least her comfort zone, let alone opening the bios, setting the usb as boot drive, disabling secure boot, and then installing Linux correctly. Although to be fair, the last step is probably the easiest. That’s why you still have to set it up for non tech savvy ppl. Sure, not much different with windows, but usually it comes preinstalled.

I think the most likely answer would be “what?”

Sure, give a somewhat intelligent person between 20 and 40 a PC with Linux on it and they’ll figure it out. However, that doesn’t mean they have the patience of finding out how to install Linux in the first place. And also, they‘ll figure out how to install apps, sure. Until they try to download the installer.exe for Microsoft Office because why would they know that it won’t work.

The problem isn’t, that they couldn’t figure it out, the problem is most people just want a working computer and not relearn what they already know or learn what an operating system is at all.

(And also, I remember reading some study, that a lot of late Gen Z and younger (the ones that didn’t grow up with Windows XP or earlier anymore) are actually less tech savvy than older generations because they’re used to not really having to troubleshoot tech)

Most people care about neither. Most people want a browser, a place to store their photos and maybe an office application.

Is open office even still in active development?