My 4 favorite Linux distros for streaming - and why choosing the right one makes a huge difference

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Some Linux distributions are amended for streaming.
• There are definite factors to see for streaming connected Linux.
• The distributions present should enactment good without tweaking.

Among Spotify, Netflix, Hulu, and different streaming services, I devour a batch of content. Although you mightiness deliberation immoderate operating strategy with a web browser (or the quality to instal an app oregon two) is perfectly suited for streaming, you'd beryllium amazed that determination are definite elements you should instrumentality into consideration, which are:

• Codec support
• Hardware acceleration
• A user-friendly UI
• Apps that enactment streaming
• A due kernel

An important favoritism is that I'm talking astir an optimal environment. You tin watercourse conscionable astir thing connected astir Linux distributions, but if you privation to get the astir retired of the experience, you should take carefully.

Here are my favourite options.

Also: Elementary OS 8 continues the contented of a beautiful, user-friendly desktop

1. LibreELEC

Before I get into LibreELEC, it's important to recognize that this organisation was built with the sole intent of moving the Kodi media center. This minimalist organisation offers "just capable OS" to tally Kodi. But wherefore would I suggest a Linux organisation built astir a multimedia streaming platform?

Well, archetypal and foremost, Kodo makes it casual to watercourse Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Tubi, Twitch, Plex, Popcornflix, and more. After you instal Addons, you tin entree these services. On apical of that, LibreELEC allows you to watercourse your ain content. You mightiness person a ample postulation of euphony oregon films that you'd similar to beryllium capable to entree from anyplace connected your LAN. Thanks to Kodi, LibreELEC makes that possible. LibreELEC besides has a tiny footprint, truthful it boots quickly. If you not lone privation to watercourse contented from assorted services, but besides your ain content, LibreELEC is the mode to go.

2. Linux Mint

Not lone is Linux Mint a user-friendly organisation (with a large UI), but it's besides lightweight capable that it runs blazingly accelerated (so the desktop won't devour much strategy resources than necessary). But what places Linux Mint connected this database is however casual it is to instal each the indispensable multimedia codecs. You tin either adhd them during OS installation (via the third-party codecs option) oregon you tin instal them aft by going to Menu > Sound & Video > Install Multimedia Codecs. It doesn't get overmuch easier than that. 

Also: I'm a Linux powerfulness idiosyncratic and this distro has the astir refreshing instrumentality connected OS design

Another bully diagnostic astir Linux Mint is the inclusion of the Web Apps app. Thanks to this tiny application, you tin easy make web apps for each streaming work you usage (so you don't person to unfastened yet different tab successful the default Firefox web browser). Linux Mint besides includes a Driver Manager, a colour illustration manager, and the Hypnotix TV spectator (which allows you to prime from tons of escaped streaming content, including quality channels).

3. Ubuntu

You mightiness deliberation Ubuntu would beryllium an unusual prime for this database (seeing arsenic however it's often considered a Linux organisation for emblematic usage cases (documents, browsing, etc). The happening astir Ubuntu is that it is truly bully astatine streaming. Not lone does it let you to easy instal codecs, but it besides includes galore of the media servers (such arsenic Kodi, Plex, and Emby) from the modular repositories. Ubuntu besides makes it casual to alteration your refresh complaint and solution (which tin heighten video streaming), which is done wrong Settings > Displays. 

There are besides colour profiles, which means you tin calibrate the colors precisely for your show (to get the champion colors from videos). Color profiles are recovered successful Settings > Color Management. You could besides opt to spell with 1 of the much lightweight Ubuntu spins, specified arsenic Lubuntu, which ensures your desktop situation consumes less resources (to escaped them up for streaming).

4. Fedora

Fedora mightiness look similar different unusual prime for this category, but you person to instrumentality into information the exhaustive hardware enactment offered by this distribution. And past there's besides the TuneD strategy tuning daemon, which tunes the strategy dynamically and allows you to prime profiles specified arsenic balanced, latency, power-save, oregon throughput. 

Also: 7 things each Linux beginner should cognize earlier downloading their archetypal distro

Another crushed wherefore I enactment Fedora connected this database is that, implicit the past fewer years, it has go 1 of the best-performing distributions that uses a full-blown desktop. Fedora is fast… precise fast. Finally, there's the XanMod Kernel (a low-latency kernel), which tin beryllium installed from the Fedora Copr repository. This kernel is large for streaming due to the fact that it's a general-purpose kernel that has a real-time mentation (PREEMPT_RT) for ultra-low latency. 

If you watercourse a batch of content, immoderate 1 of the supra distributions volition service you well. Of course, due to the fact that we're talking astir Linux, you tin ever tweak astir immoderate organisation to champion service this purpose.

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