this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
54 points (95.0% liked)

Linux

48329 readers
635 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I have a WebDav server that contains some movies and shows. I use Infuse on Apple stuff and NOVA Video Player on Android to watch these. The directory is not organized, file names aren't manually adjusted, and the movies and shows are mixed together. Yet, both of these programs are able to index recursively, get metadata, create a library and let me watch my media without issues.

Kodi, on the other hand, seems to be unable to index nested directories, requires you to tell it what type of media is in the individual directories and cannot identify anything correctly unless I go and manually rename directories/files. It also is exclusive for TV usage and not very suitable for desktop.

So, are there alternative programs to Kodi, ideally better suited to desktop usage or extensions I can install to make it work properly?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago (2 children)

kodi is best as a front-end for an already curated library. ive used it extensively since the xbmc days...

i use mediaelch to scrape, generate metadata files and rename files and folders into a standard way. it [can] generate things in a kodi-compatible format. kodi is set to just pull in that data. i concurrently use emby (jellyfin) to access that same metadata.

your problem is conflating the curation of your library with the applications that will use it.

kodi does need a full computer to run. thats where emby comes in. its for viewing the same shit on any other device

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Thanks for the mediaelch tip !

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

your problem is conflating the curation of your library with the applications that will use it.

This is not some extremely hard job that's way out of the scope of a media center. As I said, other platforms already have applications that can do this without breaking a sweat. I've never had to manually organize my files in years in any other platform.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i cant even imagine wanting a mess of stuff as you describe, or expecting some media app to manage that mess on the fly. but hey, if thats how you want it. good luck.

ive got 2500 movies and > 35,000 episodes in my library.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's not a mess on properly implemented clients but I also have a fraction of the media you have. I put new stuff in, they get indexed, I watch them, I delete them. I am not going to do extra work for the privilege of using Kodi 🤷

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i do zero work for kodi. i curate a library i care about and that is not your end goal. kodi is definitely not for the 'watch and delete' crowd.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Well, that's why I'm asking for alternatives but I also know a few people who rip a ton of blurays and throw them to a server and never curate it, and those are the only people self-hosting their media that I know anyway.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

you seem to already have apps that do that stuff you want.. i was more answering 'how to make kodi work'

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not really, as those aren't available on Linux directly. The 'how to make kodi work' bit is because my research didn't give me any apps that can do this by default so I thought kodi might have extensions or forks I missed.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

If you're on Desktop just use VLC, or try running Nova in an Android VM. Most Linux users are the type to meticulously organize their files, so I wouldn't expect that there's an app that'll do what you're looking for. There are plenty that will help you rename/restructure your WebDAV though.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

other platforms already have applications that can do this without breaking a sweat

Then go with those applications and that's it. In the same vein, you can say that Kodi needs an organized library, so organize it and Kodi won't break a sweat. That's what a lot of people are telling you in this thread.