Distributions

A look at OpenELEC 5

OpenELEC is a specialty Linux distribution designed to run the Kodi media-center application. The "ELEC" portion of the name OpenELEC stands for "Embedded Linux Entertainment Center" and, while OpenELEC can run on low-resource devices like the Raspberry Pi or the AppleTV, it is just as comfortable on higher-end PC hardware with beefy video capabilities. The project has been updated for the latest version of Kodi, so I decided to take a look.

Installation

OpenELEC builds are available for download in a variety of flavors; the generic PC version is provided in 64-bit and 32-bit form, both as a disk image that can be written directly to installation media and as a file bundle that can be manually installed on one's hard drive. In addition, there are specialty builds provided for the Raspberry Pi (including both the original, ARM11 model and the new ARMv7-based Raspberry Pi 2), Freescale iMX6 boards (such as the Cubox line), and the first-generation AppleTV.

The generic live-media image presents a familiar interface to Linux users: one boots off of the USB stick or optical media, then chooses either the "live" or "install" options from the menu. The installation process for the other images is not as straightforward; platform-specific instructions are linked to for each option, and are necessary to work around the peculiarities of each device.

The current generation of OpenELEC is the 5.x.x series, which includes Kodi 14 as its media center application. 5.0.0 was released at the end of December 2014, with point-release updates appearing every few weeks afterward. The most recent as of publication time is 5.0.8. Each of these point releases has focused primarily on updating supporting libraries and packages, but there have been occasional bug fixes (including issues like compatibility with various infrared remotes) as well. OpenELEC does not include a traditional package manager (system updates are handled by a special tool), so users are advised to stay on top of the new releases.

The package-updating situation is indicative of OpenELEC's commitment to providing a rapid "install and run" operating system. Although there are other options for installing and running Kodi on a dedicated system, OpenELEC makes a strong case for being the simplest and most stripped down. The total installed size of the distribution (not counting any media files the user adds, of course) is less than 130MB. Unlike other media center distributions (e.g., LinHES, which we looked at in March), there is no way to drop into a desktop environment and use other software. Users can log in over SSH in order to perform system-administration tasks from the command line, however.

Setup and usage

Kodi 14 is front and center in OpenELEC 5; in many ways, a review of OpenELEC 5 runs the risk of devolving into a review of Kodi itself. As a media center, it is well-organized and powerful. The project has certainly earned its place at the front of the open-source media-center pack. Suffice it to say that if you like Kodi, OpenELEC presents it in the best possible light.

Nevertheless, OpenELEC itself still has a significant contribution to make to the end user's experience. For starters, OpenELEC includes a first-run configuration utility that is launched as soon as the distribution is booted for the first time, as well as a convenient system-configuration tool. These configuration experiences, though, are implemented as Kodi add-ons, which means that the user never has to leave the central media center. That makes for a more consistent experience than having to drop into a separate application (one that might use a different toolkit, for example), and for users who have set up an infrared remote as their input device, it means there is no need to dig through the closet for a mouse and keyboard if one wants to change low-level settings like the network configuration. Not all media-center distributions get this right.

OpenELEC's configuration tool indeed detects the networking options available on the machine. In my tests, it performed admirably enough, although I use a hidden SSID for local WiFi, so the access point is not automatically detected and a tad more manual work is required. OpenELEC was far less successful in detecting the attached Bluetooth adapter (never detecting it at all), although my hardware is a not-too-common Class 1 device I sought out for its transmission power, so perhaps some leeway should be allowed.

The configuration tool also allows the user to set up virtual private networks (VPNs) from within Kodi—a feature that will no doubt be of interest to users whose streaming-media consumption patterns are not limited to those within one particular geographic region. Perhaps it is lamentable how many media services these days impose some sort of geolocation-based blocking, but it does not look like Kodi and OpenELEC users are taking the change lying down.

The configuration tool also sets up SSH access and Samba file sharing at first run, which is a feature that is new to the 5.x series. Other major changes in the 5.x series are a version bump to kernel 3.17 and a switch in SSL/TLS libraries from OpenSSL to LibreSSL. The release notes attribute the change to LibreSSL both to a desire to drop OpenSSL in light of the Heartbleed bug and to simplify the distribution's license-compliance work—presumably in light of OpenSSL's somewhat non-standard license.

Add-ons

Configuration, however, is only part of the story. OpenELEC also customizes its default Kodi configuration by providing its own suite of add-ons that is designed to present a more complete "out of the box" experience. The suite include an add-on to enable iMON-brand infrared receivers (which are commonly found in "home theater PC" cases), one to enable support for the boblight ambient-light controller, plus add-ons for DVB-S satellite cards, USB-attached FM-and-digital-television tuners, and HDHomeRun-brand networked television tuners.

The latter three add-ons seem to be selected to provide OpenELEC with a better live-television story than vanilla Kodi provides on its own. It is hard for one application to support the vast array of broadcast formats and standards scattered around the globe; OpenELEC's choices are not foolproof in this regard, but they do at least cover the biggest chunks of the current non-Internet-delivered media landscape. It is a little harder to make a case that boblight support is vital, but users do seem to respond positively to the spectacle of boblight's flashing multi-color LEDs, so perhaps it has its place.

Ultimately, what makes or breaks Kodi as a media center is how easily the user can find and access the content they are looking for. OpenELEC is wise to not pre-install and enable too many add-ons (there are hundreds these days), but to focus on a small set that works well.

That said, to find the correct add-on for any specific content provider of interest, the user still has to navigate through pages and pages of options that are grouped into vague categories (I defy anyone to guess without looking, for example, what the "Services" and "Information Libraries" categories are meant to include). And the add-ons available by default are rarely enough; Kodi users quickly run into menu items asking them to set up repositories or download and install local .zip files—tasks that non-Linux users may find unsophisticated.

OpenELEC has done a good job of making setup and configuration painless, which is certainly critical. But its primary competition these days is the array of cheap, streaming-only set-top boxes from Roku, Amazon, and the like, all of which deliver on ease-of-use and on ease-of-finding content. For an open-source project like Kodi to compete with the commercial products, it will probably have to simplify the process of finding and setting up add-ons. OpenELEC 5 brings Kodi closer than ever to being a plug-and-play product, but it is not quite foolproof yet.

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