KDE's Android TV Alternative, Plasma Bigscreen, Rises From the Dead (neowin.net) 6
Plasma Bigscreen, KDE's TV-focused interface, is being revived after years of inactivity thanks to contributor Devin, who overhauled the UI, redesigned the Settings app, improved app launching, and updated key modules. While still in progress -- with features like HDMI-CEC remote support and a virtual keyboard pending -- the project aims to rejoin KDE's official Plasma release schedule, potentially in version 6.5. Neowin reports: If you have not heard of it, Plasma Bigscreen is a Plasma shell for televisions, with original support for the now-defunct Mycroft AI assistant. It used to provide a simple launcher for apps and custom "Mycroft Skills" before development stalled, causing most distributions to drop it. The project was left behind during the big transition to Plasma 6 last year because no one had ported it in time for the megarelease. After a friend of his started poking at the code, Devin stepped in to tackle the much-needed work. [...]
For anyone who wants to test this out, you can do as Devin did by installing Plasma Bigscreen on a Raspberry Pi using postmarketOS, though you would have to compile it yourself or pull from the nightly repos to get the latest changes. Applications like Kodi and VacuumTube (smart TV version of YouTube) work well with remote navigation, and some games like SuperTuxKart are playable. Controller support exists, but getting TV remotes to work over HDMI CEC is still untested. The project is far from finished; it still needs an arrow-navigable virtual keyboard and a clearer long-term direction now that Mycroft is gone. Still, the goal is to get it back into the official Plasma release schedule, possibly for version 6.5.
For anyone who wants to test this out, you can do as Devin did by installing Plasma Bigscreen on a Raspberry Pi using postmarketOS, though you would have to compile it yourself or pull from the nightly repos to get the latest changes. Applications like Kodi and VacuumTube (smart TV version of YouTube) work well with remote navigation, and some games like SuperTuxKart are playable. Controller support exists, but getting TV remotes to work over HDMI CEC is still untested. The project is far from finished; it still needs an arrow-navigable virtual keyboard and a clearer long-term direction now that Mycroft is gone. Still, the goal is to get it back into the official Plasma release schedule, possibly for version 6.5.
Yes! (Score:2)
I saw the existence of 'bigscreen' plasma, but you couldn't actually -y'know- download it. Just that it was theoretically this thing that theoretically may exist someday (having seen a lot of theoretical linux things die on the vine, my breath remained in-and-out). But once it's out there,
Sweet! (Score:2)
I've already got a literPC under the TV running Debian for other projects. This fits right in there. Another project for the pile.
Name suggestions? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"TV" isn't in the name. You can rightfully complain about "plasma", but that's not Bigscreen's fault. I think "KDE plasma" was never intended to be used on plasma screen technology (computer screens were LCD not plasmas), it's just a name they chose in 2008 when KDE became an umbrella project and the DE needed a name.
Re: (Score:2)
I know names are kind of trivial, but "Plasma" and "TV" aren't really current concepts any more.
Great, then this will confuse statistically nobody.
Re: (Score:2)
KLED
Every TV sold in the stores today has xxLED in the branding.
Only the akshully crowd would be triggered.