I’ve been putting off having a local copy of the series and movies I watch because I still can access them quickly and cheaply enough in some streaming service, I think it’s time to plan ramping up my selfhosted setup.
I’ve been putting off having a local copy of the series and movies I watch because I still can access them quickly and cheaply enough in some streaming service, I think it’s time to plan ramping up my selfhosted setup.
They’re just driving us to self hosted content quicker. Honestly if you can afford a NAS like a Synology or an Asustor, setting up Plex is so easy.
Some edits to this comment:
Even though many people suggest that, I don’t believe you can compare any off-the-shelf streaming service with a self-hosted Plex.
You have to find and download content to your Plex. You don’t get recommendations. You don’t get a built-in interface on your smart TV. You have to deal with network configuration, VPN, private trackers, seeding ratios etc.
How on earth is that comparable to pressing the Netflix button on your TV and selecting a recommended show? Even my boomer parents managed to do this on their own.
I think we gotta work on building community if we want to see people really move away from streaming services. One person with a NAS in a small apartment building could help a lot of their neighbors out with entertainment. It would be more work for the person hosting, but if the folks who benefit help their friend out too it might end up being less work overall.
I’d give someone access, teach them how to use the software, and download some of their favorite shows if they let me borrow their truck when I needed, shared dinner sometimes, or helped me clean house. I think a lot of folks would benefit from that kind of thing, but it would require us making friends with our neighbors. Which, on reflection, is actually really really hard. I imagine it would be kinda awkward to start the conversations around this, but you’d get around the step of everyone getting their own NAS at least!
You vastly over estimate the willingness of people to learn how a computer works.
I self host so much stuff but like… the amount of time and effort that’s gone into that… maybe $10 or $20 a month totally makes sense after all to most people haha
Definitely time and learning curve. I’ve really wanted to self host some apps for 1–2 months now. Currently taking basic sql and python courses so that I can do the installations and databases correctly. App documentation is usually lacking and YT tutorials lead to more products and terms I’ve never heard of. There’s a big learning curve for non-programmers.
I’m definitely not saving money by self hosting, but it’s a fun way to drain my bank account.