I tried all kinds of things like android TV and libre elec before I finally settled on a solution that works for me. In the end, I put MX Linux on an old laptop, created desktop entries for services like jellyfin, freetube, a few paid streaming services, RomM, as well as others like kolourpaint for the kids; made the icons very large; all desktop entries launch services in chromium fullscreen; then, I got a USB remote/mouse thing and mapped the inputs a little bit using input remapper; I keep a USB keyboard in the cabinet in case we need it. A little janky but in the end it works flawlessly and all services stream in HD. If I had a nicer machine I might go with CachyOS or Mint and I bet it’d be a little smoother with those distros.
I tried all kinds of things like android TV and libre elec before I finally settled on a solution that works for me. In the end, I put MX Linux on an old laptop, created desktop entries for services like jellyfin, freetube, a few paid streaming services, RomM, as well as others like kolourpaint for the kids; made the icons very large; all desktop entries launch services in chromium fullscreen; then, I got a USB remote/mouse thing and mapped the inputs a little bit using input remapper; I keep a USB keyboard in the cabinet in case we need it. A little janky but in the end it works flawlessly and all services stream in HD. If I had a nicer machine I might go with CachyOS or Mint and I bet it’d be a little smoother with those distros.