DE setup for laypeople serving home media (host) and as a game server (client)

Posted by Snoo44080@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 1 comments

Hello All! I am currently running a headless debian server, however the need to use a desktop environment has arisen! I am looking for recommendations for a desktop environment similar to that found on a smart tv. \- The main use case will be to access local services and specific websites e.g. netflix/jellyfin/youtube but also bare metal software such as steam as I'm planning on using this to do steam link with my gaming desktop (The gpu in the server is just there for transcoding and very small llm applications). \- It needs to be controllable by a remote, ideally designed with remote use in mind e.g. PS/xbox remote \- User access/control needs to be extremely limited, I don't want anyone capable of accessing system level settings, files etc... The only access should be through my portainer instance, sftp containers, and ssh. The people using this are not capable of using anything more complex than an apple or android smartphone, they cannot even use macos or windows!!!! I would prefer to completely block their access to the system settings because of this. \- I'd really appreciate it if it was lightweight, nothing cpu or gpu intensive, the thermals on the server are not built for anything with insane power draw, the whole thing maxes out at 150 watts, which is what I built it for. \- I'm currently thinking of using linuxservers steam os container and then running everything through a web browser DE, but there are a lot of details to figure out for this, and lots of places for things to go wrong, looking for peoples thoughts before pursuing this. \- I don't want to fork out hundreds for a half capable client when the server is sitting there with cpu, memory, and gpu overhead to spare, it's also all 99% wired in for it, so no one please suggest nvidia shield, chromecast 4k etc... Thank you!! If there is anything that you guys know of and can recommend that is well supported in debian stable or debian backports please let me know! I'd really appreciate it! Also, Happy new year all!