2024-11-16, 23:55
Currently there is no shortage of Streaming Media Servers namely Jellyfin, Emby, Plex, Mezzzmo which utilize Kodi Addons to bridge their server content to Kodi.
As I see it this is a perfect pairing adding functionality to Kodi that otherwise is not even Kodi's intended goal as Kodi is a great standalone.
Being standalone however means exactly that, it stands alone, a lot of effort can be made to share a library between Kodi instances utilizing MySQL f.e. but this can have it's own downsides and still requires a Server instance to sync the data.
What I am wondering is if there is significant interest to work with these 3rd party Media Servers to provide a seamless integrated library.
What I envision would be a simple (not so simple) addition to the Sources that Kodi can handle which would allow these media servers to act as file servers and metadata servers.
As Kodi uses SMB, NFS and even HTTP as a Source adding Jellyfin, Emby, Plex, Mezzmo as a handled data source type.
Obviously trying to wrap 3rd party protocols and try to keep them updated as those 3rd parties update things would be NEARLY impossible for a single project.
But what if there were an added protocol adapter in which would be a simple framework for a Source that can be coded for by Jellyfin then they can just simply keep their own protocols up to date within the framework.
The result would be that you don't have rogue addons inserting into the Kodi database and you could have simultaneous Sources to build your library combining SMB+NFS+HTTP+Jellyfin into a single library.
Local Information metadata could be read from their respective Source servers.
Most of all it would have to be a collaborative effort between Kodi and 3rd parties doing these Media Servers but the end result for users would be a great benefit as well as increasing Kodi's user base to include users from those 3rd party servers.
Increased user base means increased interest which in turn should mean increased developer contributions.
The entire question I am asking here is simple; "Would the Kodi developers even be interested in trying to develop these relationships with 3rd party developers to bring everything together under a single roof?"
Yes it's a lot of work, yes it's a little bit ambitious, yes it would be quite some time before there were anything usable, most of all yes it would greatly benefit users and developers alike.
Thanks for your time in reading and for any consideration of this incredibly complex end goal.
As I see it this is a perfect pairing adding functionality to Kodi that otherwise is not even Kodi's intended goal as Kodi is a great standalone.
Being standalone however means exactly that, it stands alone, a lot of effort can be made to share a library between Kodi instances utilizing MySQL f.e. but this can have it's own downsides and still requires a Server instance to sync the data.
What I am wondering is if there is significant interest to work with these 3rd party Media Servers to provide a seamless integrated library.
What I envision would be a simple (not so simple) addition to the Sources that Kodi can handle which would allow these media servers to act as file servers and metadata servers.
As Kodi uses SMB, NFS and even HTTP as a Source adding Jellyfin, Emby, Plex, Mezzmo as a handled data source type.
Obviously trying to wrap 3rd party protocols and try to keep them updated as those 3rd parties update things would be NEARLY impossible for a single project.
But what if there were an added protocol adapter in which would be a simple framework for a Source that can be coded for by Jellyfin then they can just simply keep their own protocols up to date within the framework.
The result would be that you don't have rogue addons inserting into the Kodi database and you could have simultaneous Sources to build your library combining SMB+NFS+HTTP+Jellyfin into a single library.
Local Information metadata could be read from their respective Source servers.
Most of all it would have to be a collaborative effort between Kodi and 3rd parties doing these Media Servers but the end result for users would be a great benefit as well as increasing Kodi's user base to include users from those 3rd party servers.
Increased user base means increased interest which in turn should mean increased developer contributions.
The entire question I am asking here is simple; "Would the Kodi developers even be interested in trying to develop these relationships with 3rd party developers to bring everything together under a single roof?"
Yes it's a lot of work, yes it's a little bit ambitious, yes it would be quite some time before there were anything usable, most of all yes it would greatly benefit users and developers alike.
Thanks for your time in reading and for any consideration of this incredibly complex end goal.
