For context: I personally use a 2015 Intel MacBook running Linux connected to my tv, and use a small wireless keyboard and trackball to control it from the couch. I’m actually planning on checking out KDE Connect after seeing it on https://hexbear.net/post/7662659

I’ve been researching some simpler options for my own parents since they use Roku which is somewhat limited and has ads. But a mini PC would be too complex for them. They need something with a simple remote and automatic updates. I think an Android box would make sense for their use case. I plan on installing something like SmartTube, PipePipe, or Tubular on it.

If your dad thinks he would like to do something like web browsing, email checking, or gaming on the tv, a mini PC is probably gonna do it better than Android TV.

Seal is my favorite app to demonstrate the power of installing apps outside of Google Play

I ran into this for the first time today, and for some reason the video that didn’t play in Firefox with uBlock Origin downloaded just fine with yt-dlp

Are you specifically looking to self-host? These are a few open source and self-hostable projects I’ve been keeping an eye on:

• Discourse for forums
• Stoat for real-time chat (similar to Discord)
• Vikunja for project management / kanban boards (more features than Trello, but simpler than Jira)
• Forgejo for code collaboration (similar to GitHub)