By the way, this machine is working great as a media device connected to my audio/visual system. I’ve loaded my videos and music, connected my K400+ keyboard/trackpad as my TV “remote,” installed my VPN client, set up Librewolf and privacy add-ons, bookmarked the video streaming service I subscribe to, as well as weather radar and webcams in my community and abroad that I like to glance at now and then, and set up Goodvibes, FreeTuxTV, and Hypnotix with all my usual internet stations.
In short, I’ve now replicated everything I used to use Roku apps for, and at higher resolution/fidelity, with a lot less navigation/search frustration or “upsell manipulation,” with more fine-grained control via the keyboard than I had with the clunky Roku remote, and of course with a lot more control over my privacy.
Plus, my streaming service hasn’t yet complained about my VPN usage, and to my surprise, hasn’t required enabling DRM, and I still have everything running through Pi-hole for added privacy protection, too.
So… success!
(I realize I could use Kodi or similar media center software, but I actually think I prefer the familiarity and simplicity of access and control via the file manager and web browser.)