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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Some Linux distributions are better for streaming.
- There are certain factors to consider for streaming on Linux.
- The distributions here should work fine without tweaking.
Among Spotify, Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services, I consume a lot of content. Although you might think any operating system with a web browser (or the ability to install an app or two) is perfectly suited for streaming, you’d be surprised that there are certain elements you should take into consideration, which are:
- Codec support
- Hardware acceleration
- A user-friendly UI
- Apps that support streaming
- A proper kernel
An important distinction is that I’m talking about an optimal environment. You can stream just about anything on most Linux distributions, but if you want to get the most out of the experience, you should choose carefully.
Here are my favorite options.
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1. LibreELEC
Before I get into LibreELEC, it’s important to understand that this distribution was built with the sole purpose of running the Kodi media center. This minimalist distribution offers “just enough OS” to run Kodi. But why would I suggest a Linux distribution built around a multimedia streaming platform?
Well, first and foremost, Kodo makes it easy to stream Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Tubi, Twitch, Plex, Popcornflix, and more. After you install Addons, you can access these services. On top of that, LibreELEC allows you to stream your own content. You might have a large collection of music or films that you’d like to be able to access from anywhere on your LAN. Thanks to Kodi, LibreELEC makes that possible. LibreELEC also has a small footprint, so it boots quickly. If you not only want to stream content from various services, but also your own content, LibreELEC is the way to go.
2. Linux Mint
Not only is Linux Mint a user-friendly distribution (with a great UI), but it’s also lightweight enough that it runs blazingly fast (so the desktop won’t consume more system resources than necessary). But what places Linux Mint on this list is how easy it is to install all the necessary multimedia codecs. You can either add them during OS installation (via the third-party codecs option) or you can install them after by going to Menu > Sound & Video > Install Multimedia Codecs. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
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Another nice feature about Linux Mint is the inclusion of the Web Apps app. Thanks to this small application, you can easily create web apps for each streaming service you use (so you don’t have to open yet another tab in the default Firefox web browser). Linux Mint also includes a Driver Manager, a color profile manager, and the Hypnotix TV viewer (which allows you to select from tons of free streaming content, including news channels).
3. Ubuntu
You might think Ubuntu would be an odd choice for this list (seeing as how it’s often considered a Linux distribution for typical use cases (documents, browsing, etc). The thing about Ubuntu is that it is really good at streaming. Not only does it allow you to easily install codecs, but it also includes many of the media servers (such as Kodi, Plex, and Emby) from the standard repositories. Ubuntu also makes it easy to change your refresh rate and resolution (which can enhance video streaming), which is done within Settings > Displays.
There are also color profiles, which means you can calibrate the colors precisely for your monitor (to get the best colors from videos). Color profiles are found in Settings > Color Management. You could also opt to go with one of the more lightweight Ubuntu spins, such as Lubuntu, which ensures your desktop environment consumes fewer resources (to free them up for streaming).
4. Fedora
Fedora might seem like another odd choice for this category, but you have to take into consideration the exhaustive hardware support offered by this distribution. And then there’s also the TuneD system tuning daemon, which tunes the system dynamically and allows you to select profiles such as balanced, latency, power-save, or throughput.
Also: 7 things every Linux beginner should know before downloading their first distro
Another reason why I put Fedora on this list is that, over the past few years, it has become one of the best-performing distributions that uses a full-blown desktop. Fedora is fast… very fast. Finally, there’s the XanMod Kernel (a low-latency kernel), which can be installed from the Fedora Copr repository. This kernel is great for streaming because it’s a general-purpose kernel that has a real-time version (PREEMPT_RT) for ultra-low latency.
If you stream a lot of content, any one of the above distributions will serve you well. Of course, because we’re talking about Linux, you can always tweak nearly any distribution to best serve this purpose.
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