A friend was using a computer with Windows 8.1 (I know lol), and her streaming services stopped working on it. Because she was using an old computer, she couldn’t upgrade to Windows 11. So I suggested installing Linux and even doing it for her, but the problem is that most streaming services don’t work on Linux. After making that disclaimer and suggesting she use a streaming stick, she decided that her computer is junk and will just get a new one. A win for Microsoft.
But the crux is that if streaming services don’t treat Linux as a first class platform, Linux will never be truly mainstream. People say that it’s Microsoft Office or Adobe blocking Linux from the mainstream, but Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, Peacock, etc are the real missing “apps” on Linux.
That doesn’t make sense. I watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney on my Ubuntu laptop on Firefox all the time. I have a laptop setup in front of my treadmill just to watch shows while I walk.
I have one large screen dumb TV and I just use a Roku device to watch shows through that. Everything else in the house runs in Linux because I got rid of windows years ago and never had a problem with streaming services.
Are you watching in regular 1080p or above, or the gimped 720p most DRM services impose on the Linux platform?
If it’s 1080p+, how? If it’s 720p, that’s not really acceptable to most people.
I think the point of OP is that Streaming services don’t care about Linux and downright gimps them, so the apps will “look better”. Casual users won’t know or care about the technical reasons.
Is your dumb TV new or old? I’ve been trying to find something to replace my old plasma (it started to make cracking noises, that doesn’t seem like a good sign) for a while now, but it looks like every new TV is ‘smart’.
Having an “smart” TV doesn’t mean you have to use the “smart” part.
you can have a “smart” one and never connect it to the internet, that’s how i use mine (samsung)
Do your homework, you can still find dumb TVs out there.
Or PC monitors… they have HDMI anyway these days.
I love the term “dumb TV” and “dumb phone”. :o)