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I paid for it ages ago on a deal, and it currently suits my needs. It runs as a docker container and it just works. It’s easy enough for my elderly mom to use remotely and I’ve ripped my entire movie collection for her to watch. I also like the live tv that’s included with the pass.
I would switch in a heartbeat if it wasn’t doing what I need, but so far I have no complaints, it works well for my family’s needs.
This is all a fascinating thread because everyone says Plex "just works"
I started using jellyfin about 6 months ago. I don't really know anything about plex use. However, jellyfin worked out of the box for me. Set up with a docker container and have never had any problems with it.
Its never failed to load media, or loaded duplicates or any of the other random things others have mentioned here.
For the most part it feels like people in the thread have just used Plex for a long time and had their first impression of jellyfin years ago and probably haven't checked it out since.
Which, fair play to them, life gets busy and setting up and migrating a media library is something that takes at least a couple hours which could be spent doing anything else.
If people are new, I'm sure they won't even bother with Plex and their ridiculously high fees. I cannot see Plex maintaining their userbase at this rate.
With them unable to maintain their userbase, I give it a year before they cancel lifetime passes and 2 years or so before it's completely enshitified and unusable.
I'm at the user level of "people keep saying docker... what the fuck is a docker?" -looks it up- "this explains nothing."
Plus, I got lifetime Plex a while back, and can use it to stream videos to my remote classroom for examples in class.
docker means that the software is so brittle that it only works on the developer's machines. So they ship the developer's machine too.
Docker is not a software distribution medium
I tried Jellyfin once about a year ago and it was... OK I guess? Certainly nowhere near as polished as the rabid fan base would have me believe, and there was something in my library that it flat out refused to play.
If I didn't already have a lifetime Plex Pass, and it was just me hosting my own media for a user count of one, then sure, I'd use it. But none of those things are true. I need something that "just works" and Plex fits that bill.
Like most people here, I bought a lifetime pass when it was $75 and it's paid for itself over and over again in the time since. I honestly think I've had more than $750 worth of value from my purchase. Sure they've made some odd decisions recently, but until they start actively taking away functionality or rescind existing lifetime subs then I will continue to use it.
Meanwhile, not to belittle you personally, but the fact that every thread that mentions Plex in any way, good or bad, is guaranteed to be dominated by people circle-jerking over their beloved Jellyfin has put me completely off the project, to the point that I've had to add the word to my blocklist. Obviously that's not working too well or I wouldn't have seen this post!
I had a real problem with the media scanner - turns out it was just very slow. :(
Jellyfin is great and I run both. However, sharing access with family is a PITA compared to Plex. I paid for Plex Pass lifetime at the $75 and have no reason to fully move. Keeping Jellyfin around in case Plex tries to rug pull lifetime passes, though.
I stopped using Plex because it was buggy for me, stopped using Jellyfin because it didn't have an app for my smart TV and using it in the TVs browser sucked, and now I use Emby because it's pretty simple, works amazingly and is free. I still technically have Jellyfin running side-by-side with Emby, I just don't use it. Jellyfin had a simple UI and basic UX, but Emby looks and feels so good.
Now, go ahead and tell me that Emby supports baby eating facists or something
Emby supports baby eating facists or something
Fuck! I knew it. Ah well, good thing I don't have a baby.
How comes you don't have a baby? Was it eaten by fascists, maybe?
My god...
Like most people here I bought a lifetime pass years ago and Plex just works (it passes the Wife Acceptance Test).
However, I am planning on spinning up Jellyfin and giving it a go and seeing what it's like. I'm a bit nervous reading and things like multiple versions of the same movie displaying separately but I also think I saw a plugin that fixes that.
I like Plex.
When I bought my Plex lifetime pass I saw it as an investment. So far, it's paid off handsomely.
I'm still getting great experiences, able to access it from anywhere in the world, on basically any device, seamlessly and simply.
I get it that the jellyfin community is really excited about their thing - I just am not.
I've run jellyfin, it was kind of cool I guess, but there was nothing compelling about it. So I uninstalled it. What is jellyfin's "must have" feature, anyway?
I wouldn't go out and build a new car when I'm perfectly happy with my 10-year old sedan. If you're expecting me to go through that just because the new ones cost more than I spent years ago, you're insane. I wouldn't go and re paint my house just because the old company now charges new customers more for their paint.
I paid for it, it works well. There's no reason (except all the FUD I keep seeing on lemmy,) to even think about dismantling and recreating it with something new.
Keep building your dream tool Jellyfin people - Godspeed, but your community should target acquiring net-new users instead of trying to scare and poach happy users away from what they already have.
I use Plex to save money on plumbers because I cannot solder. Plex gives me the ability to exact repairs myself.
Ease of use for my users across multiple platforms with minimal tech knowledge on their end. I'm sharing my library with ranges from 12yo to 70. I need it to "just work" and it does that perfectly.