GeeXboX (stylized as GEExBox) is a free
Linux distribution providing a
media center software suite for
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
s. GeeXboX 2.0 and later uses
XBMC
Kodi (formerly XBMC) is a free and open-source media player software application developed by the XBMC Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium. Kodi is available for multiple operating systems and hardware platforms, with a software 10- ...
for media playback and is implemented as
Live USB
A live USB is a portable USB-attached external data storage device containing a full operating system that can be booted from. The term is reminiscent of USB flash drives but may encompass an external hard disk drive or solid-state drive, th ...
and
Live CD
A live CD (also live DVD, live disc, or live operating system) is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading f ...
options. As such, the system does not need to be permanently installed to a
hard drive
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magne ...
, as most modern
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...
s would. Instead, the computer can be booted with the GeeXboX CD when media playback is desired. It is based on the
Debian distribution of
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
.
This is a reasonable approach for those who do not need media playback services while performing other tasks with the same computer, for users who wish to repurpose older computers as media centers, and for those seeking a free alternative to
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) is a version of the Windows XP operating system which was the first version of Windows to include Windows Media Center, designed to serve as a home-entertainment hub. The last version, Windows XP Media Cen ...
.
An unofficial port of GeeXboX 1.x also runs on the
Wii.
History
See also
*
List of free television software
This is a list of free television software, and includes television-related software which is distributed as free software – under a free software licence, with the source code available.
Notable free television software
* Aegisub - subtitle ...
*
XBMC Media Center
Kodi (formerly XBMC) is a free and open-source media player software application developed by the XBMC Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium. Kodi is available for multiple operating systems and hardware platforms, with a software 1 ...
, the cross-platform open source media player software that GeeXboX 2.0 and later uses as a front end GUI.
References
External links
*
{{Home theater PC (application software)
ARM operating systems
Embedded Linux distributions
Free media players
Linux distributions used in appliances
Linux-based devices
Linux distributions