I tried testing a movie from my home server in plex through firefox and repeatedly got this message, even after reloading.

I knew that they had paywalled the apps on mobile and streaming from outside the network but now they have also blocked watching your own movies through your own hardware.

I do get the point that making software should be able to sustain people but I dont see the move of plex as a fair thing to do. Yes, they have made great software but taking your home server hostage feels like the wrong move.

Even a pop up that says “we need you to donate please” would have been fine. make it pop up before every movie, play donation ads before any movie but straight up disabling the app is kinda cruel.

Anyway, i have switched to jellyfin and it is insanely good. please give it a try. you can run it alongside plex with not issues (at least i had none) and compare the two.

In any case, good luck. Let me know if you need help.

  • James R Kirk@startrek.websiteEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    Jellyfin is great, but in defense of Plex, they announced that remote streaming would require one of the two parties to have a Plex pass was coming back in March so I don’t know if it’s fair to say they are holding anything hostage.

    • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      I started down the Jellyfin path after they made that announcement. It’s super easy to install, and in many ways the UI is nicer than Plex. But I ran into challenges getting my server safely accessible for users outside my LAN. And I haven’t had the time to look into that further.

      Would be great if there was a clean, easy way to set up the webserver portion so it’s as easy to share content entirely as Plex. But I get they are a volunteer project with a lot on their plate.

      • sudo@programming.devEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        But I ran into challenges getting my server safely accessible for users outside my LAN

        FWIW:

        1. vps + domain (optional?)
        2. connect vps to home server with wireguard (eg Tailscale)
        3. reverse proxy on the VPS forwarding to jellyfin (eg Caddy)

        Obviously not as trivial or seamless as Plex. Also I wouldn’t try to complicate this setup by using docker for everything. But once its up you can basically host whatever you want on the WAN from your LAN.

    • hedgehog@ttrpg.networkEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      If they’re calling it remote streaming when you’re on the same (local) network, that’s not exactly intuitive. I’d say OP’s phrasing was fair.

              • hedgehog@ttrpg.networkEnglish
                1·
                2 months ago

                OP is also in the allegedly ultra rare camp of “successfully configured Jellyfin and lived to tell the tale.” Not what I’d expect of someone unable to configure Plex correctly. I’ve not set up a Plex server myself but my guess is it wasn’t clear that it was misconfigured - it did work previously, after all.

  • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Every non-Free Software will betray you eventually. It’s only a matter of time.

  • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.auEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Are you saying that you’re on your home network with your Plex server and it won’t let you play your media without paying? That’s not true if so. You must be outside the network.