I looked for this info but didn’t really see a thread about it, if there is one, a link is sufficient :)

I have a win 11 off-shelf mediocre pc for my Plex/jellyfin servers (basically nothing else on that pc; it also functions as a playback device, but it has all the libraries on it so does not matter at all how I access them) and fuck windows and stuff… it was a temporary replacement for my mobo-dead Ubuntu tower, but knowing more things than I did back then, I don’t want to ‘buntu either.

So I’m looking for a good stable distro with really good file management options; bulk rename with rules is a must even if it’s an additional program (built in to Ubuntu, very very nice utility for my exact use).

I’m thinking about trying pop, tbh mostly because I’ve heard of it and mostly good things, but idk if that’s good for the use case I have, and I do NOT want to distro-hop this specific computer. Whatever it gets has to be good enough to be a long-term stable choice (to the best of anyone’s knowledge), because I’m not going to change it later; that’s almost certainly too much work. I’ve tried a few Debian-based distros, and whatever Mint is (I do not like mint at all, please don’t suggest it) on a real old enterprise tower with 16 USB ports and 4gig ram (literally nothing, including antixlinux, runs well on it and I don’t really know why…). and plan to convert a laptop with touchscreen for gaming down the line, but this specific machine is not meant for change. Ever. That’s why it’s taken me 2 years to be willing to go back to Linux. Because change means a lot of work.

Skill level: meh? Not a total noob, learned how to split tunnel just to keep my server up while VPN was active back when that was necessary, and figured out how to solve most of the issues I had with it (fucking nvidia…). Prefer CLI for program management and GUI for everything else. Worked windows tech support dealing with sql and winservers for SaaS, but no official skills or training. Only used windows, Ubuntu, and antix for any significant time.

Bonus round: anyone who’s ever transferred Plex servers from win to Linux (insert flavor), is it actually possible to keep my collections and playlists and stuff? I haven’t really messed with my jelly stuff because nobody but me ever uses it, but Plex is sort of a thing for like a dozen people I know, as “home” users. The last time I went from windows to Linux, in 2019, nothing transferred other than the files… but my library is 30tb now, not 10, and has a lot more curation than it used to, so that’s a much bigger problem than it used to be.

  • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Then I’d definitely set up a test system in a VM on your own PC (I.e. not the actual server machines). Even if you don’t want to use Docker, you can set up a complete version of your new server and practice deploying Jellyfin and Plex, and then test accessing it “remotely” to manage it. You can then decide whether switching away from Win11 is worth it.

    If you’re not familiar with the process of setting up a linux server then I’d actually suggest Debian instead of OpenSuSe. Looking at the Jellyfin guide for example it specifically covers the steps for installing directly onto a Debian host (while OpenSuSE set up means using the Fedora RPM guide). There are also straight forward guides for setting up a Debian server.

    Personally I’m not a fan of Ubuntu (because of Canonical and Snap etc) but there may also be a good choice just because there are so many guides out there for setting up Ubuntu server.

    • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      The problem with testing is that the server computer and my other computers are suuuuper different for hardware. So I don’t think it would be a representative test.

      I have an ancient enterprise (the hard drive had an oooold windows 7 install on, and it doesn’t run anything for shit, not really sure why at this point…), and a gaming-capable laptop (not like what I used to have from ibuypower way back in the early naughties when it was worth buying and not just alienware lite… but pretty decent for a mass-market laptop I guess.)

      Server pc doesn’t match either of those capability-wise so whatever I try is going to be either boringly perfect or nonfunctional. So I’m looking to skip the test environment, ideally… I know that’s a bad idea, but I’m looking for like maybe 2 days downtime, and I’m only doing it now because I’m also upgrading my hard drives (I literally ran out of space on the 25tb I had so swapping a drive for a bigger one) in a way that kinda breaks the server anyway. More than that and I’ll get complaints from people who don’t get what I’m giving them, just that it doesn’t work… 🙄

      I’m probably not into Ubuntu for the same reason, it’s stable and fine but… idk I don’t want a company potentially degrading my system for profit. I’d stay on windows for that. Already paid for it with the pc and all.

      But you make a good argument for Debian; having guides. That would have been helpful context from the other comments, but I think I understand the recommendations now when core Debian is -not- recommended as a daily driver.

      I appreciate your time friend! Your comment was super helpful… probably :)