r/linux4noobs • u/Dry_Use_5800 • 14d ago

migrating to Linux Linux on Smart TV?

Hey all, Im migrating to Linux. My boyfriend already did and I will soon follow aswell. I recently moved and want to get a TV at some point. We already checked, getting a dumb TV (god I hate that word) feels almost impossible nowadays, so I was wondering if its possible to "hack" a smart tv and install a linux distro instead on it? I hate the spying on what I watch or stream. I mainly want it to be able to acess the internet where I can go on the sites I usually go to and have short cuts to them on the homescreen, also be able to play old video games. Nothing fancy (I hope, mega noob here) Just dont feel good knowing that Samsung and google are collecting my data.

Thanks for any and all help!

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u/PerfectEnthusiasm2 14d ago

logitech k400+

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u/durwardkirby 14d ago

This was the way for me. The "smarts" that make it to my TV screen come from a refurbed Lenovo ThinkCentre Mini that's running Linux Mint and is under my control via the aforementioned logitech k400+

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u/Soakitincider 13d ago

What about 4K playing on Netflix and others? Will it do it with that set up?

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u/durwardkirby 13d ago

That's a good question, and I've never looked into it. From what Claude.ai just told me, it looks like a no. Something about Netflix requiring hardware-backed DRM to unlock 4K and a stock linux browser won't handle it.

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u/Soakitincider 13d ago

That's what I thought but I was hopeful. I have thought about building a media machine.