How I turned a regular Linux machine into a fast, beautiful TV experience without buying a Fire TV Stick or an Android TV box.
Samay Kumar August 19, 2026
For the longest time, I thought the only way to make a TV "smart" was to buy something. A Fire TV Stick, an Android TV box, maybe an Apple TV if you're feeling fancy. And honestly, I didn't really want any of them.
I already had a Linux machine connected to my TV, so buying another device just to get a better interface felt a little ridiculous. I also tried Kodi, which is probably the obvious Linux solution for something like this. But Kodi just wasn't really what I wanted. It works, but I never particularly liked using it. The interface, the way applications work, and the overall experience never really clicked with me.
So I started looking for something else.
That's when I found Plasma Bigscreen.
And this thing is honestly amazing.
Plasma Bigscreen is essentially a TV-oriented interface built on top of KDE Plasma. Instead of giving you a traditional desktop with windows, panels and a mouse-driven interface, it gives you something designed around actually sitting on a couch and using a television. Large UI elements, simple navigation, applications designed to work on a TV, and a completely different experience from the regular Plasma desktop.
And, most importantly for me, it's Linux underneath.
The project has recently been relaunched and brought back into the modern Plasma ecosystem, with a refreshed interface and new features. After trying it myself, I immediately understood why I was so interested in it. It feels like someone finally decided that Linux should have a proper TV interface too.
So I made it work
The setup itself is surprisingly simple.
I'm running Arch Linux underneath everything, and Plasma Bigscreen is installed as a package. There isn't some complicated custom operating system or huge stack of services running behind it. It's basically just Linux, configured to behave like a TV.
The main difference is what happens when the machine starts. Normally, I use i3wm as my window manager. For the TV setup, I simply switch that out for Plasma Bigscreen. That's pretty much it.
The underlying system doesn't really change. My Linux installation is still there. The applications are still there. The machine is still doing exactly what it was doing before. The only major difference is that instead of getting a normal desktop, I get a TV interface.
And that is probably my favourite part of the whole thing.
I'm not maintaining an entirely separate "smart TV operating system". I'm just using Linux differently.
There were a few minor problems during the setup, mostly the kind of problems you'd expect when putting together something that isn't exactly a mainstream consumer setup. Nothing particularly dramatic. A little debugging here, a little configuration there, a few things that didn't work exactly how I expected them to.
Eventually, I figured everything out.
And then it just worked.
Now my main goal is making the whole thing completely plug-and-play. I don't want to think about Linux, window managers or configuration files every time I turn on the TV. I just want to turn it on and use it.
And Then There's KDE Connect
This is where the setup gets even better.
I already use KDE Connect, and it turns my phone into a remote for the entire system. I can control the machine directly from my device, navigate around the interface, interact with applications and basically use my phone as the remote control I never had.
And it works surprisingly well.
There's something really satisfying about sitting on the couch, opening KDE Connect on my phone and suddenly having a proper remote control for a Linux computer. No keyboard sitting on the coffee table. No mouse. No weird wireless trackpad. Just my phone.
And because this is still a normal Linux machine underneath, the remote isn't limited to some predefined set of TV applications. I can control basically the entire system.
That's one of those things that sounds small until you actually use it.
The Applications Make It Even Better
The really interesting thing about Plasma Bigscreen is that you're not limited to the usual collection of streaming apps. Because this is Linux, I can experiment with whatever software I want.
For example, I've been playing around with applications like PearTube, which gives me a way to stream YouTube Music, and VacuumTube, a YouTube client designed specifically for TVs. VacuumTube is particularly interesting because it feels like someone took a normal YouTube client and then decided to make it actually enjoyable to use on a television.
And then there's RiveStream.
For those streaming Linux ISOs. :)
Yes, I know.
The nice thing is that these aren't services I had to subscribe to or applications tied to some particular TV manufacturer. They're just software running on my Linux machine.
That's the part I really like about this setup.
I'm not locked into a particular ecosystem.
I Even Tried Waydroid
Of course, there was another problem.
A lot of the software people expect from a modern TV platform is built for Android. Google TV itself isn't exactly something you can just install on a Linux machine as an open-source TV environment, and I wanted to see if I could fill some of those gaps without giving up the rest of my setup.
That's when I stumbled upon Waydroid.
Waydroid lets you run Android applications directly on Linux, so naturally I tried it.
The idea was pretty interesting. If I could run Android TV applications inside my Linux setup, I could potentially get access to a whole different ecosystem of applications without actually buying an Android TV box.
It worked, and it was definitely useful to experiment with, but it also made me realize that I didn't really need to turn my Linux machine into Android.
Plasma Bigscreen already gave me the TV interface I wanted.
Waydroid was more of an additional tool for when I needed an Android application that didn't have a proper Linux alternative.
And honestly, that's a pretty good position to be in.
I don't have to choose between Linux and Android. I can just use Linux as the base and bring in Android applications when I actually need them.
It Actually Feels Like a TV
This was probably the biggest surprise.
I expected the whole thing to feel like a Linux desktop awkwardly stretched onto a television. It doesn't.
Once Plasma Bigscreen is running, the experience is completely different. Everything is large enough to read from across the room, navigation makes sense with a remote, and applications can be launched without having to deal with a traditional desktop.
And it's fast.
Really fast.
There isn't much overhead between turning the machine on and actually getting into the interface. Applications launch quickly, navigation feels responsive, and the whole thing feels much closer to a dedicated TV platform than I expected.
But unlike a dedicated TV platform, I know exactly what's running underneath it.
It's Arch Linux.
And I think that's incredibly cool.
Why Not Just Buy a Fire TV Stick?
Because I wanted to build it.
That's honestly the simplest answer.
A Fire TV Stick would probably have been easier. An Android TV box would probably have been easier too. But I'd still have another device running somebody else's software, with somebody else's interface, and somebody else's idea of what I should be able to do with my TV.
Instead, I already had a Linux machine.
So why not use it?
This setup gives me something that a traditional smart TV doesn't really give me: complete control over the system. I can install whatever I want, change the interface, change the applications, change the window manager, and debug it when something breaks.
And if I don't like something, I can actually do something about it.
That's the beauty of Linux.
Plasma Bigscreen Is Still New
One of the reasons I wanted to write about this is that Plasma Bigscreen isn't something you hear people talking about every day.
It's relatively new again, especially with its recent return and refreshed Plasma 6 experience. And honestly, I think that's part of what makes it exciting.
It's not perfect. There are still rough edges. There are still things that need debugging. Some applications aren't designed specifically for a TV. And getting everything to behave exactly like a polished commercial product takes some work.
But that's also what makes it interesting.
This isn't another review of a device you can buy from Amazon.
It's a project you can actually build yourself.
And once you get it working, it feels incredibly rewarding.
My Little Linux TV
Right now, my setup is pretty simple. Arch Linux underneath, Plasma Bigscreen as the interface, KDE Connect as my remote, and a bunch of Linux applications for watching and listening to things.
And a television that now feels like an entirely different machine.
The funny thing is that I started this because I didn't like Kodi and didn't want to buy another streaming device. I ended up with something I like considerably more.
It's fast. It's beautiful. It's flexible. And most importantly, it actually feels like mine.
I'm still working on making the entire setup completely plug-and-play, but the core idea already works. Turn on the TV, Plasma Bigscreen starts, pick something to watch, and that's it.
And for something running on top of a regular Arch Linux installation, that's kind of incredible.
I don't know how many people are going to replace their Fire TV Stick with a Linux machine after reading this.
Probably not many.
But if you already have a spare computer, a mini PC, or even an old machine sitting around, I genuinely think Plasma Bigscreen is worth trying.
Because apparently, you don't need to buy a smart TV.
You can just build one.
And honestly, I think that's way more fun.
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