cross-posted from: https://poptalk.scrubbles.tech/post/2333639

I was just forwarded this someone in my household who watches our server. That’s it folks. I’ve been a hold out for a long time, but this is honestly it.

They want me to pay to stream content that I bought from my hardware transcoded also on my hardware.

I’ll say it. As of today, I say Plex is dead. Luckily I’ve been setting up Jellyfin, I guess it’s time to make it production ready.

Edit: I have a Plex Pass. More comments saying “Just buy a plex pass” are seriously not getting it. I have a Plex Pass and my users are still getting this.

And for the thousandth person who wants to say the same things to me:

  • YES I know I’m unaffected as a Plex Pass owner.
  • My users were immediately angry at it, which made me angry. Our users don’t understand what plex pass is, and they shouldn’t have to, that’s why I had it. The fact that they were pinged even though it should have kept working is horribly sloppy
  • Plex is still removing functionality. I don’t care that “People should pay their fair share”. If Plex wants to put every new feature behind a paywall, that’s completely okay. They are removing functionality.
    • “But they have cloud costs”. Remote streaming is negligible to them. It’s a dynamic DNS service. Plex client logs in, asks where server is, plex cloud responds with the IP and port of where server is located. That’s it.
    • “Good luck finding another remote streaming” - Again, Plex just opens up an IP and port. Jellyfin also just opens up an IP and port (Hold on jellyfin folks I know, security, that’s a separate conversation). All “remote streaming” is is their dynamic dns. Literal pennies to them. Know what actually is costing them money? Hosting all of that ad-supported “free” content that they’re probably losing money on.

In short, I don’t care how you justify it. Plex is doing something shitty. They’re removing functionality that has been free for years. I’m not responding to any more of your comments repeating the same arguments over and over.

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techOPEnglish
      103·
      15 hours ago

      If you consider paying a monthly fee for something that was free yesterday then I guess I’m wrong, go ahead and pay the subscription

      • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
        22·
        13 hours ago

        Got lifetime pass for $80-$90 over a year ago. No media subscriptions in my life. That also wasn’t directed at you specifically, there are just a lot of comments here really upset that anyone uses Plex.

        You seem rather defensive. This is the second time you’ve come at me like this. You literally said you have Plex pass in the other comment, why are you playing dumb?

        • TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldEnglish
          42·
          13 hours ago

          You literally said you have Plex pass in the other comment, why are you playing dumb?

          They care about the people who don’t have a “lifetime” pass? Having empathy for others who don’t have what you have, caring about the ethics of a company whose products you use and pay for, and taking a stance that software should be as free and open as possible aren’t “playing dumb”. If anything, as someone who isn’t just using Plex for free, they’ve earned more of a right to complain, because they’ve shown they’re willing to pay for quality services but think this one is exploitative.

          Maybe even disregarding empathy, they’re worried that existing features will become locked behind a tier that the “lifetime” pass doesn’t apply to? Maybe they’re worried that their “lifetime” pass won’t be so “lifetime” if “lifetime” wasn’t explicitly defined to mean lifetime at the time of purchase? Anything bad that can happen will happen with VC-fueled enshittification.

          • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
            22·
            13 hours ago

            Dude they increased their price for the first time in many years. Pay for it or don’t. This isn’t some ethics lesson, people are whining that a paid service they don’t use is charging more/putting features behind a (what I believe is reasonable) price. They’re advocating for Jellyfin and rejecting a corporation. Valid, go for it. But don’t make this something it isn’t. This is people going “haha stupid plex people look us doing real self hosting”

    • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
      41·
      15 hours ago

      LOL

      Hope for the best, plan for the worst,

      or don’t plan, you do you!

      • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
        11·
        13 hours ago

        You can apply that to literally anything in life. People are so desperate to hate Plex they are making up theoretical situations. You should plan for your car to break down, you should plan for your house to burn down, you should plan to stub your toe today.

        • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
          5·
          13 hours ago

          All you need do is look at the histories of Playon, Evernote, LastPass, and the hundreds of other titles that have changed their business model to be less free.

          If you hear your engine knocking, you should plan for your car to break down.

          • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
            11·
            13 hours ago

            I have plex pass. I will enjoy it so long as it does what I need. I have saved hundreds of dollars already with it as a result of having NO subscriptions. The math is simple.

            When it stops working I’ll deal with it then. It’s not like my computer will self-destruct and all other options will be gone. I already have a Jellyfin server I use internally as it’s.