this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
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Which Linux distro is running in Thomson TVs. What are the capabilties.

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Unless you have the ability to root it, does it matter? It's likely a completely custom, stripped down distro anyway.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Just want to stay away from Android TV crapps and ads. ( Also, dont need root as of now - Based on forum posts, root access is not allowed )

[–] [email protected] 81 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Dumb TV+(mini)PC is the way

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Is it even possible to buy a dumb TV any more?

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Keep the smart TV off the network and the difference is usually minimal.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Still takes a while to boot compared to a dumb panel.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

From standby isn't that noticeable. Definitely a bit of a difference in cold-boot times though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can't speak for others but mine puts up big intrusive banners if you don't connect it to the internet.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Plenty of them will auto connect to what ever open network. So you can't guarantee that. Or various exploits that could exist in the wifi stack. It's not the same as buying a "dumb" tv.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That is what we call 'breaching hacking laws'. In other words, if you catch your TVs doing that, lawsuits can be brought against the supplier.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No it isn't, there's no hacking involved in connecting to a wifi network. Plus different jurisdictiona might see it differently anyway. And good luck with your lawsuits against mega corps.

This isn't some hypothetical, this is something smart TVs are known to be doing, right now.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

Look at commercial monitors. They're the screen without the bloat.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

I think there's a few models that are not really advertised, don't know them though.

Seems unattractive for manufacturers since apparently 50% of income on TVs is user data.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Thats what I'm currently doing but is it even possible to buy a new dumb TV nowadays?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Android TVs are also Linux TVs, in fact I have a good degree of certainty that most smart TVs are Linux, developing a whole OS from scratch is hard, much easier to use one that already exists.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Samsung uses tizen, based on linux, maemo, bada: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizen

LG uses webos, based on linux, ~~palmos~~: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebOS

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

WebOS isn't based on PalmOS. PalmOS was it's own completely unique OS for PDAs and phones, WebOS was Palm's Linux-based successor to PalmOS for the Pre. Eventually LG ended up with it and turned it into a TV and watch OS.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

WebOS is such a sad story. It started as a pretty innovative and interesting mobile OS at a time when phone manufacturers bothered to innovate. Then it ended up being owned by the grossest software company ever, HPE, and now it’s a pathetically crappy TV operating system. What is LG even doing?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

That article made me realize how old my TV is, and certainly made me appreciate WebOS compared to the previous OS I could have had if I had gotten my TV two years prior.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Even webOS is Linux-based. It just doesn't make sense to use any other kernel for such an application.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IMO LG TVs with WebOS are the best user experience right now.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

But you don't have smarttubenext

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

This is true and something to consider. There's also no app for Crunchyroll which is personally a huge downside.

It's still the best user experience and I seriously dread having to use other people's TVs now. Even major players like Samsung are seriously lacking in comparison.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I rooted mine before the patch, and the homebrew store has an ad-free sponsor blocking yt app

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

"Honey! Our TV isn't showing up channels!"

"Gee, fine. Hold on."

ssh [email protected]
cd /sys/devices/tv/channels
cat channels_list
[none]

Ah, *beep.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Honey the remote stopped working"

God damn it the last update installed libir 2.1.5 which pymote 4.7.0 isn't yet compatible with.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

babe hold on i need to flash nix-os on this thing*

*and figure out how the fuck to use nix-os

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago

"Smart" TVs are such a waste when they lock all the hardware and firmware into a device that'll either be unsupported in a few years or too slow to work with new apps.

I'd much rather a dumb TV and stick a Roku/Raspberry Pi. via HDMI. You get all the same control but none of the bullshit

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago

i just want a dumb tv with the latest panel tech and no planned obsolescence. I have so many computers that can provide "smarts" already

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

More importantly, can we get root access.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

[This comment has been deleted by an automated system]

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sudo apt remove Chinese-spyware

Problem solved

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The chinese-spyware repo has been deprecated, the new spyware is under tiktok-py-systemd. Be sure to update so you're protected against the latest anti-spyware being developed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

TikTok in a nutshell

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m really happy with my android TV, but it makes me feel bad to know that my computer is free from GAFAMs but my TV keeps telling them what I’m watching and doing.

About the mini PC on the side, the ecological impact of having a second device turned on is preventing me from doing that.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Something like a ASRock 4x4 with a 5800U should draw about 10W in idle, but you can certainly shut it off when you're not watching. I use a small tower because it also holds some storage for my home NAS and jellyfin server.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm against Android but I admit it's getting harder and harder to get "connected" (not to say "smart") device without it on. Anyway I did give up on my 55" Samsung TV for a video projector from Nebula. It's so compact it sits under the former TV stand. I installed VLC on it and connect to my RPi4 with a DNLA server on it and watch content I downloaded before. Not a perfect setup but quite happy with it. Until then I was using LibreElec on the RPi to drive the TV.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Using LibreElec, were you able to get any streaming services running like Netflix or YouTube?

I would like a UI I could use with a remote but the wife still needs Netflix so Kodi wouldn't cut it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I specifically do not use streaming services. I don't have the discipline to avoid binge watching and I trust dark patterns to be too good to keep me hooked. I only rely on files I download. I believe, maybe naively, that the extra step keeps me in check.

IMHO VLC as a UI is sufficient and it works well with the remote of the Nebula video projector. I don't need Kodi anymore. Sure sometimes you don't have nice covers but if your filesystem hierarchy is clear, directories are sufficient. It does look less "sexy" but again in my context of being mindful of screen time that's a feature.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This looks really intriguing. Have you installed it on a raspberry pi? I'm having some difficulties and wondering if there are other packages I need to install first.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

That's a nice idea.. ( even though, I want to avoid Android )

Ps: I guess your samsung is Android TV and not Tizen

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

That's a terrible device and a bad deal. Don't buy it

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/m5/ buy a banana pi or whatever and install lineageOS

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I basically don't use TV. I have a simple, old wide screen 16:9 monitor that was gifted to me. Good enough.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'm doing it the other way round. I'm using a 50" TV as a monitor for 4 years now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

probably stripped down embedded thing compiled in buildroot

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