Willing to Cooperate

The DVBLink server also cooperates with the Kodi Media Center, which you can alternatively use as client software. To do so, you only need to install the DVBLink PVR client:

sudo apt-get install kodi-pvr-dvblink

In the Kodi Media Center, configure and enable the PVR client; after a reboot, Kodi automatically reads the channel and EPG data.

Conclusions

In practice, all the media center solutions were impressive in terms of functionality. They play back various formats, stream on the network, provide user-friendly interfaces, and are available on many platforms. When it comes to processing multimedia content, Linux does not need to hide its light under a bushel, in fact it even sets standards.

In many cases, the documentation and installation routines need more attention. In terms of installation, the commercial DVBLink server in particular offers a viable solution for less experienced users.

MythTV comes in last, however, because it requires expert knowledge to install the software, and, depending on your choice of Linux distro, it can run into problems caused by missing dependencies. The Debian derivative OSMC also was not entirely convincing in terms of installation. In our lab, I was forced first to install proprietary firmware files manually and retroactively to get TV reception to work in many cases. For example, it took a significant amount of manual rework to talk the TV receivers by Sundtek and Hauppauge into cooperating.

As a functionally comprehensive and visually appealing solution, Kodi still stands out in its field, and a combination of Kodi with the DVBLink server and matching PVR client proved the easiest solution to configure while offering robust functionality.