Ah ok, so ignoring Calibre for a moment, what’s the difference between Calibre-Web and Calibre-Web Automated? The ReadMe does not contain a list of the differences.

This is explaining the difference between Calibre and Calibre-Web.

The person you replied to asked what the connection is between “Calibre-Web” and “Calibre-Web Automated”

That alt text is just TOO real

The LinkedIn-styled writing here is hard for me to get through, but I think the general gist is that for profit platforms are easier to onboard which I agree with. This line stands out:

And what do we get in return? A worse experience than cloud-based services.

I have to disagree somewhat, it’s a different experience that is absolutely more difficult in many ways, but for those of us who value privacy, control over our data, and don’t like ads, the trade-off is worth it. Also it goes without saying that the usability of selfhosted apps has exploded in the past few years and it will likely become less and less of an issue.

Eh, I would have agreed a few years ago. But now default Ubuntu boots up basically looking like MacOS with the browser (firefox by default, not Chrome) right there in your face ready to launch. For someone truly not aware how to use a computer beyond a browser it couldn’t be much easier (except booting directly into the browser). The only thing preventing that from catching on is that those people don’t even know what an operating system is, let alone that it could be changed.

The idea of ChromeOS is simple: it’s just enough Linux to get you online. It turns a PC into something akin to a tablet, with a full-screen icon-based app launcher. The desktop is very simple and vaguely Windows-like: there’s a taskbar at the bottom, a file manager, drivers enough common hardware that most things just work out of the box, including a bunch of common GPUs, networking including Wi-Fi. In terms of apps, there’s a built-in Google Drive client, and of course the Chrome web browser.

This is more or less describing one of the many immutable distros that only run programs with flatpaks. It’s entirely feasible if someone wanted to make a distro with even less functionality, but why?

Man I am the complete opposite. I need my browser to display the Web with tons and tons of tweaks and adjustments and filters in place to make it actually readable for me. Rawdogging the Web in 2025 is wild.

Using recycled parts is the best advice. As you said, it’s almost certainly overkill and the price can’t be beat.

Not positive but IIRC with Fedora you can change updates to weekly/monthly etc.

We’re simultaneously in a place where there are more options than ever, and yet it’s become increasingly clear there are really only 4-5 options.

yeaaaaah I can’t break it

Fedora Kinoite.

KDE Plasma (very Windows-ey) and it is “immutable” which means you can’t break it.

Someone else said Kubuntu which aesthetically will look the same and is also a good choice but if you want to start with a “just works” I recommend an immutable distro.

Wow, it (1.3mb) can fit on a single 3.5" floppy.

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.

A Fedi instance requires a time commitment, there are some good suggestions in here but I recommend some alternative frontends.

Turns out good web design skills does not always translate into other skills.

That is correct and echoes what I said

The Remote Watch Pass is only needed if neither you nor the server owner have a Plex pass: https://support.plex.tv/articles/requirements-for-remote-playback-of-personal-media/

When using an affected platform to stream personal video content remotely from a Plex Media Server, then one of the following needs to be true:

1. The admin account for the Plex Media Server has an active Plex Pass (which also allows remote playback for any other user streaming from that server)
2. Your account has an active Plex Pass
3. Your account has an active Remote Watch Pass

The remote playback restrictions do not apply to streaming music content to Plexamp or photos to our Plex Photos app.

People are talking about privacy but the big reason is that it gives you, the owner, control over everything quickly without ads or other uneeded stuff. We are so used to apps being optomized for revenue and not being interoperable with other services that it’s easy to forget the single biggest advantage of computers which is that programs and apps can work together quickly and quietly and in the background. Companies provide products, self-hosting provides tools.