this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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you do not want software on your TV.
Yes I do. I want an actual smart TV with a practical, open source, TV-optimitzed Linux OS. It's not that software on a TV is a bad idea in itself. It's how it's ruined by for-profit companies.
Nah, honestly, I think stuffing an entire computer inside a monitor and relying on it to generate/show content is a bad idea no matter what software it runs. A dumb TV + a small computing dongle requires only a tiny fraction more labor to produce than a smart TV, but it's so much easier to upgrade in the future if you decide you need faster boot times or wanna game on the TV, etc. And if the TV breaks before the dongle does, you can also buy a new TV and keep all your settings/media without transferring anything.
Also to add to this, the life-cycle of a TV display is mismatched from the live-cycle of media playing hardware or just hardware for general computing: one needs to update the latter more often in order to keep up with things like new video codecs (as for performance those things are actually implemented in hardware) as well as more in general to be capable of running newer software with decent performance.
I've actually had a separate media box for my TV for over a decade and in my experience you go through 3 or 4 media boxes for every time you change TVs, partly because of new video codes coming out and partly because the computing hardware for those things is usually on the low-end so newer software won't run as well. In fact I eventually settled down on having a generic Mini-PC with Linux and Kodi as my media box (which is pretty much the same to use in your living room as a dedicated media box since you can get a wireless remote for it, so no need for a keyboard or mouse to use it as media player) and it doubles down as a server on the background (remotely managed via ssh), something which wouldn't at all be possible with computing hardware integrated in the TV.
In summary, having the computing stuff separate from the TV is cheaper and less frustrating (you don't need to endure slow software after a few years because the hardware is part of an expensive TV that you don't want to throw out), as well as giving you far more options to do whatever you want (lets just say that if your network connected media box is enshittified, it's pretty cheap to replace it or even go the way I went and replace it with a system you fully control)
I mean, yes and no. I like e-arc, and I like being able to adjust settings other than v-hold. But I don't want this slow crud fest that keeps telling me when my neighbour turns on Bluetooth on their iphone.
... the audio hdmi thing?
Yeah, all my inputs go to the tv, then i run a wire to the receiver. This makes it so my ps5 and PC are plugged directly to the tv so i can get different resolutions are variable refresh rate and the tv can control the receiver. So when I turn something on, the tv/receiver turn on and set themselves to matching settings, Dolby, stereo, whatever. Its not huge but its a nice convinienice over the older optical connection.
I want software on my TV.
Steam Link specifically. I like streaming to my TV via Ethernet.
You can do that with a Raspberry Pi for <$100 and without the need to have Amazon/Google/Roku/whoever tf else collecting your data.
Really? Is there a name for finding guides to such wizardry?
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6424-467A-31D9-C6CB
It's pretty straightforward!
Who says I let Amazon/Google/Roku/whoeverTfElse collect my data?
I have my TV isolated to its own network and allow inputs from LAN, so i can use Steam Link and Jellyfin just fine.
So get a device that can do that. You didn't need a piece of software that will never see an update to do this.
It's funny that you think smart TVs don't receive updates. It's got a wifi chip for a reason.
Tvs can last 20 years you'll be lucky to get 2 years of updates
My TV isn't going to update because it's been lobotomized.