Putting together a new Linux HTPC build and looking for a 10ft UI WM/DE to use with it. Essentially, it would be a launcher for a few PWAs (Emby, Netflix, etc) as well as Steam and maybe some emulators. Navigation would likely be a wireless keyboard and, if absolutely necessary, mouse (goal is to get a bluetooth remote working and use that, but that’s the next phase).
I haven’t used Kodi since it was still Xbox Media Center (running on an actual Xbox lol), but would it be a good choice? I used it forever ago as the dashboard for my modded Xbox, and it was great. However, for this, I’d rather not run Kodi, if possible, since Emby already covers those use-cases.
If there’s no “dedicated” one, any recommendations for which regular DE might be best modifiable/extendable to work for that purpose?
I think Kodi is a good choice, but not really sufficient for everything you might want to do IMO.
You could also look into KDE Plasma Bigscreen. It’s still pretty rough around the edges, but I think it aims to do what you want.
I am actually thinking about building something similar with different tech, as I’m not satisfied with any of the existing options. I really want something that’s primarily controlled via a mobile Web interface like the Kore app for Kodi.
I think Plasma BigScreen has been effectively abandoned.
How can you tell?
Yeah, I currently boot straight into OpenBox -> Firefox Fullscreen -> Emby right now, and everything’s controlled from a second Emby session on my phone. I’d keep that, but I’d also want to be able to easily navigate the “desktop” part. Someone else mentioned BigScreen, but I’ve never had a good experience with KDE in general, so I’m hesitant. May still try it out, though.