Plex now want to SELL your personal data
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Text:
I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in
Account Settings or using this page.Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/
(Might have to clear cache)Can also read about the changes here:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/wrote last edited by [email protected]The more services you have depending on a 3rd party which can do whatever the fuck they want, either directly or by changing the rules when the feel like it (i.e. not bound by rules they cannot change, such as root DNS providers are) and then doing it, the less your system is actually self-hosted, IMHO.
For me the whole point of self-hosting is exactly being as independent as possible of 3rd parties that can just fuck you up, be it on purpose (generally for $$$) or because they go bankrupt and close their services.
This is why I've actually chosen to run Kodi on my home server that doubles down as TV Box even though I can't easilly use it from anywhere else (it's possible but it involves using a standalone database that is then shared, which can only be safelly done through customly setup ssh pipes) rather than something like Plex.
It's kinda funny to see people into self-hosting still doing the kind of mistake I did almost 3 decades ago (fortunatelly in a professional environment) of trusting a 3rd party to the point of becoming dependent on them and later getting burned when they abused that trust, and which led me to avoid such situations like the plague ever since.
Mind you, I can understand if people for whom self-hosting is not driven by a desire to reduce vulnerability to the whims of 3rd parties (which includes reducing the risk of enshittification) and is instead driven by "waste not" (for example, bringing new life to old hardware rather than throwing it out) or by it being a fun challenge, don't really care to be as independent as possible from such 3rd parties.
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Every day of my life trying to explain to friends they need to quit using spoon fed software. Sigh.
spoon fed software
That's a new one. I like it.
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That is not a concern, though. Plex is a perfectly legal piece of software.
There are a bunch of reasons why it might be a concern, and only the least of them has to do with the legality of copyright use.
they assume Plex is itself a liability, which it isn’t.
Except plex has already proven themselves willing to ban users based on their use and streaming practices, so it clearly is a liability
It’s weird how corporate copyright assumptions have seeped to the mainstream and people assume that anything you do with your owned media is illegal unless you’re paying somebody.
If you live inside the US (or a state with trade agreements with the US) and are ripping physical media to store on your server and stream digitally, you are absolutely breaking the law. Doubly so if you are sharing that media with others outside your household.
'It's not a problem because I have nothing to hide' <- you are here.
Well, if you have an issue with people knowing you use Plex at all, then... tough luck, because I hate to tell you this, but a media server needs a client and it's a vanishingly small group of people that will use either Plex or Jellyfin clients and not let Apple, Google, LG, Samsung or whatever other device is running the client software that this is happening.
I give zero craps about whether Google knows I or anybody else uses Plex via their login because they already know this form the Google Play Store, along with the manufacturer of every TV we collectively own.
And for the record I do not live in the US and the way their absolutely idiotic copyright loopholes apply here is very much in question. It doesn't get tested in court much because the times it has been it didn't go particularly great for copyright holders. Private copying owned media is a right regulated by law here and I will continue to do so. If a corporation wants to deliberate with our local courts whether my owning a drive that happens to not be super picky about on-disc DRM I don't have anything particularly intense going on this week.
Ironically, in our own dumb legal implementation we are allowed to back up movies but there is a carved exception for software, so making a copy of a game you own is a bigger deal. Go figure.
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If we find out "I do not consent" opts out, I'm fine with it.
Why? They don't need more money. Jellyfin proves how much of their service can be done for free
wrote last edited by [email protected]From what Ive seen in arguments about this, Plex generally is more accessible with QoL and easier to understand interface for non-techie people to share with family/friends. Something thats hard for nerdy people to understand is that average people are perfectly fine paying for digital goods and services. An older well off normie has far more money than sense and will happily pay premiums just to not have to rub two braincells together with setup or for a nicer quality of experience. If you figure out how to make a very useful plug-an-play service that works without the end user of average intelligence/domain knowledge stressing about how to set up, maintain, and navigate confusing layouts, you've created digital gold.
This isn't the fault of open source services you can only expect so much polish from non-profit voulenteer. Its just the nature of consumer laziness/expectation for professional product standards and the path/product of least resistance.
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Text:
I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in
Account Settings or using this page.Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/
(Might have to clear cache)Can also read about the changes here:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/So expected. Now anyone who's able to support the non exploitative alternatives like Jellyfin please do. It's how you keep the good things going.
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Can someone explain to me why you need anything more than directories filled with files to view content?
I'm struggling to understand why anybody would need or want something like Plex.
I want to watch a movie. I open explorer, go to the folder movies, select the movie, and double click the icon.
The end.
Jellyfin user here, glad I dodged the bullet when I had to pick between it and plex.
Tl;dr you want something like plex to:
- manage your media files for you
- get metadata for extra features (eg. show me similar movies, select an actor from the cast and see all your media with that actor, etc)
- track your watch progress
- play on several devices (tv, mobile, pcs consoles)
- transcode media to a compatible format for your client device
- share your media library with your family
- get notified of related media being released (new season of a show or new movie onba series)
And the biggest one for me
- tidy up ripped dvd/br movie collection, download missing CC or subtitles
- create a self-hosted alternative to shitty subscription services
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::: spoiler spoiler
askldjfals;jflsad;
:::wrote last edited by [email protected]Jellyfin is basically as easy to use as plex within the same network. I’ve set up both dueing the past 6 months. The only big difference is that Jellyfin is much more of a pain to work through port forwarding.
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Jellyfin is a no-brainer. Publishing services on the Internet is complex.
wrote last edited by [email protected]::: spoiler spoiler
askldjfals;jflsad;
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I host a Plex server for close to 70 friends and family members, from multiple parts of the world. I have over 60TBs of movies, tv shows, anime, anime movies, and flac music, and everyone can connect directly to my server via my reverse proxy and my public IPs. This works on their phones, their tvs, their tablets and PCs. I have people of all ages using my server, from very young kids to very old grandparents of friends. I have friends who share their accounts with their families, meaning I probably have already hit 100+ people using my server. Everyone is able to request whatever they want through overseerr with their Plex account, and everything shows up pretty instantly as soon as it is found and downloaded. It works almost flawlessly, whether locally or remotely, from anywhere in the world. I myself don't even reside in the same home that my Plex server resides. I paid for my lifetime pass over 10 years ago.
Can you guarantee that I can move over to jellyfin and that every single person currently using my Plex server will continue having the same level of experience and quality of life that they're having with my Plex server currently? Because if you can't, you just answered your own question. Sometimes we self host things for ourselves and we can deal with some pains, but sometimes we require something that works for more people than just us, and that's when we have to make compromises. Plex is not perfect, and is actively becoming enshittified, but I can't simply dump it and replace it with something very much meant for local or single person use rather than actively serving tens to hundreds of people off a server built with OTC components.
wrote last edited by [email protected]It's not fair to characterize jellyfin as being unable to scale, and it's just downright wrong to cast it as being built "for one single local user".
Jellyfin has great support for setups that include numerous users. The entire dashboard is basically designed around this concept of an admin keeping track of dozens upon dozens of users.
You seem like you have many reservations about specific functions in Jellyfin, but you were vague in explaining thrm - what specific things are you worried about?
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Text:
I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in
Account Settings or using this page.Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/
(Might have to clear cache)Can also read about the changes here:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/Can someone clue me in on the reason why anyone would prefer Plex instead of Jellyfin?
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Can someone clue me in on the reason why anyone would prefer Plex instead of Jellyfin?
People commonly cite more polished clients and clients available on obscure platforms like legacy smart TVs and such
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Text:
I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in
Account Settings or using this page.Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/
(Might have to clear cache)Can also read about the changes here:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/Nothing is ever truly free in this world. They gotta pay their bills too.
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Can someone clue me in on the reason why anyone would prefer Plex instead of Jellyfin?
I am a die-hard Jellyfin user, but I still haven't found a proper way to index and stream my music library with it. As far as i know, Plex is still better at that.
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Sorry, I meant "Plex took away free remote streaming".
You're being really, really snippy. Either have a coffee or take a breather, but calling strangers liars is way offside.
I'm not lying, I can show you my Fw config. My son called me yesterday saying he couldn't watch Plex, something about the Plex pass. I just changed the Fw rule DST nat mangle port and told him to use jellyfin. The user is local, so that's dead easy. Done in 10 minutes.
And yes, most users don't have this kind of experience, granted. But Plex comes with its own stupidities, like in 2020 when my wife had to pay $5 for the Plex app so she could access our library. Or the exercise of sharing libraries if you don't have a Plex pass, which is a real pain.
But that wasn't my point. I was trying to relay that jellyfin isn't as buggy and difficult as a lot of self hosters claim.
I just changed the Fw rule DST nat mangle port and told him to use jellyfin.
Are you also a fellow MikroTik/RouterOS user?
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I am a die-hard Jellyfin user, but I still haven't found a proper way to index and stream my music library with it. As far as i know, Plex is still better at that.
I dropped my library in, Jellyfin indexed it and streamed first try. What didn't work for you?
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Every day of my life trying to explain to friends they need to quit using spoon fed software. Sigh.
Exactly why on so many things it's like... even when it looks like they are getting it, they don't get it. Kind of like watching bluesky rising right now. Unless I'm majorly missing something here. It looks like it's kind of open and kind of federated...
Except in a form that no one can feasibly create their own node. One change in leadership or goals of leadership away, and it can turn into the same neo nazi trash that people are joining it to get away from.
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If we find out "I do not consent" opts out, I'm fine with it.
Why? They don't need more money. Jellyfin proves how much of their service can be done for free
I don't disagree at all, but morally and legally speaking if "no" means "no", I don't actually see anything wrong with the prompt or the idea itself. If no means "later" or "limit this data", or even "anonymize this data", it's time to revolt.
I agree Jellyfin's pretty rad and DOES prove what can be done for free, I've used both and Plex is a much more "set and forget" and I personally have had more issues with streams breaking/stopping for no reason with Jellyfin- are those probably my fault? Yep, probably borked a setting or misconfigured it- just saying that's my personal experience.
I'm just one idiot making noises with my meat flaps. I'm no authority.
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Can someone clue me in on the reason why anyone would prefer Plex instead of Jellyfin?
Can I ask why nobody recommends Emby? I've been using it for years with zero issues. The only thing I can think of is that Jellyfin exists and is free. Emby is sort of a middleground between Plex and Jellyfin; it has a paid license (lifetime option exists), but it's closer to Jellyfin than Plex on the whole.
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::: spoiler spoiler
askldjfals;jflsad;
:::Yeah, but then you're not self-hosting, you're paying or using their free services to manage that for you.
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Can I ask why nobody recommends Emby? I've been using it for years with zero issues. The only thing I can think of is that Jellyfin exists and is free. Emby is sort of a middleground between Plex and Jellyfin; it has a paid license (lifetime option exists), but it's closer to Jellyfin than Plex on the whole.
Emby rugpulled their users, that's why jellyfin exists at all.
