A big part of the appeal with Plex is that you can run a server and friends can sign up for a FREE account and stream remotely. When you take this away, you’re going to just kneecap the whole offering. This is such an arrogant move from Plex: they are thinking that when this change goes live they will get a flood of subscriptions. The more likely outcome is they will get a few subscriptions and a lot more angry and frustrated people that walk away.

I don’t think they necessarily have to get rid of it, it’s just that you can’t support a company ALONE from a one time infusion.

I keep a Jellyfin instance running as a hedge. Here’s the thing with Plex (and actually a lot of companies set up similarly): those “lifetime” memberships are a trap. Think about it: Plex gets your money ONCE but they have ongoing expenses. Sooner or later, they’ll have spent every single cent made by a lifetime membership unless they either get more folks OR squeeze everyone a bit more.

Once they started adding their own shows and making strange UI decisions, I could sense the end was coming. A move like this brings it up fast. Jellyfin is not nearly as good as Plex in a lot of ways, but it’s really Open Source.

Anyway, a lot of rambling, but in short: when there is a “lifetime” subscription, watch out!

Even better, maybe it will support Docker.

Well, if they manage to get it working on Android I’ll be really impressed.

I have had a plex instance but when they started adding their own movies and crapola into it, and requiring logins and etc etc etc I started keeping a Jellyfin instance live as a hedge. I still use Plex primarily, but use Jellyfin and keep it patched just in case. If there’s any kind of ugly action with Plex, I feel like my bets are pretty well hedged. Plex definitely has a lot more polish than Jellyfin, but I wouldn’t doubt if there is a rug-pull in some way or another. After all, Plex sold a bunch of lifetime subscriptions ONCE but they still end up paying to support those. Sooner or later they are going to want more money again.

An “industry” does not have the ability to ruin people’s free expression.

It does, by creating perverse incentives and the commercialized speech crowds out anything else. I mean, look at the topic… go check out GoneWild and tell me what you think…

Completely agree! The entire adult content platform has become nothing more than a monetization machine for platforms like OnlyFans. GoneWild was once about people expressing themselves and sharing their art without the pressure of making a quick buck. Now it’s all about selling subscriptions and getting clicks. The whole industry has been ruined by commercial interests prioritizing profit over passion and community. Same thing with Patreon, where creators are expected to churn out content just to keep their fans engaged rather than doing what they actually love. And don’t even get me started on the algorithm-driven news feeds that suck the soul out of social media. Commercialization has absolutely destroyed the integrity and creativity of online platforms. We’re losing the very things that made them worth using in the first place.

Been using KDE + HiDPI + X11 for close to 5 years now, not a blurry font to be found.

“My opinions are so weak, I can’t tolerate dissent.”