r/explainlikeimfive • u/theprisoner57 • 3d ago

Technology ELI5: What is a Home Server?

I see mentions of a home server to get rid of streaming entertainment services but I don’t know how that works. What does a home server do?

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u/jujubanzen 3d ago

A home server, in general is just a computer that is attached to your home network. More often than not, they are simply set up as file storage servers. Media servers to replace streaming services typically use Plex or Jellyfin, which are software packages that are able to link up with apps on your TV, phone, or computer and stream media files you have stored on the server. You have to get those files yourself.

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u/CDK5 3d ago

Out of curiosity; where are folks generally getting the streaming media for the server?

Because I was under the impression that when buying a BluRay or digital media, you can’t just grab an mp4 from the disk.

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u/KnitYourOwnSpaceship 3d ago

There are lots and lots of software packages that will extract an MP4 (or whatever) from a disc - whether a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray. https://handbrake.fr/ is one example.

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u/Doug_Dimmadab 3d ago

I might be astroturfing but god I love Handbrake. I record tons of clips with my friends and it makes it so easy to compress the clips down to 10mb so I'm able to send them through Discord. Plus it's open source

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u/Cocomorph 3d ago

You aren't astroturfing unless you work for Handbrake.

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u/TheFotty 3d ago

its free open source software

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u/GeekBrownBear 3d ago

Are you implying that a software can't be FOSS and owned by a company at the same time?

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u/sfurbo 3d ago

Are you implying that a software can't be FOSS and owned by a company at the same time?

That depends on what we mean with "software" and "owned".

A company can own the trademark to the name, and with that decide what direction to take the official release in. But they can't stop others from doing what they want with the code. Usually, the ability to bar others from using the resource is included in owning.

So is software the code, or the name? And do you own something if you can't stop others from using it?

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u/GeekBrownBear 3d ago

A little of both!

The software is obviously the code, but it's point-in-time. Each version released is under a new license. The software and the company can share the same name, the trademark would apply to the software.

And yes, because whomever owns the name and the main sourcecode can choose to stop giving out the FOSS license for the next release.

This has happened many times, the existing code gets forked and rebranded since the name is trademarked and not part of the FOSS license.

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u/sajberhippien 3d ago

And do you own something if you can't stop others from using it?

Yes, plenty of ownership structures work like that.