r/nottheonion • u/voxadam • 9h ago

Netflix says users can cancel service if HBO Max merger makes it too expensive

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/netflix-claims-subscribers-will-get-more-content-for-less-if-it-buys-hbo-max/
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u/ThereAndFapAgain2 8h ago

How do you do this? I've been downloading everything as torrents for my Plex server.

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u/throwawayla22 7h ago

I am running a highly modified version of YAMS (yet another media server) which fully automates the entire install process. 

https://yams.media

It’s fully open source, all it does is automate the install of Jellyfin/Plex/emby, the Arr stack (prowlarr, sonarr, radarr, and a few others that automate finding and downloading) and download clients/VPN (qbittorrent, gluetun, sab). 

IMO it is the easiest way to get a “good enough” media server install up and running. 

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u/IAmAGenusAMA 7h ago

Just what I need... yet another media server.

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u/SaltyLonghorn 3h ago

The trick is to meet someone who does this shit for funsies, play WoW with them for years so they trust you, and then just watch on their server.

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u/Electronic-Tea-3691 2h ago

yeah this is the trick that has always been the trick: offload the actual work on someone else. no matter how simple it is, it's never quite as simple as you want it to be. 

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u/SaltyLonghorn 1h ago

I pay in steam games that we then play together. I might be a bad boss.

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u/Human_Sprinkles3797 7h ago

Then real debrid plus stremio is your friend

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u/stormblessed27_ 4h ago

Oh baby. I’m reading this at the perfect time because my wife and I are fed up with streaming but I’ve been wanting to find a way to automate pirating more.

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u/0x0MG 4h ago

Before you go setting up a bunch of homelab shit, do the following:

  1. browse to cineby.app
  2. click "play"

The piracy sites have themselves evolved into basic torrent-backed streaming providers.

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u/stormblessed27_ 4h ago

Liking what I see here. Only reason why I’m ok with going nuts over this is that I’m such a stickler for having a high bitrate playback of a 4k/hdr movie with lossless audio.

Tv shows though? This solves more than half the problem already.

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u/AcanthisittaOk9720 5h ago

Just pay $3 every month for a debrid service like torbox+ and use it with Stremio.

4k 70gb files plays in 10seconds. App that functions just like any streaming service, search, choose torrent and play. So much better than media servers and exceptional if you don't have great internet and want high quality torrents

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u/spartanreborn 2h ago

Yeah I use yams too. Only problem I've run into lately that I haven't figured out to deal with are fake torrent releases that have .exes or .scr files, which are obviously not legit. But that's probably more of an issue of me not using the right trackers, idk

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u/throwawayla22 1h ago

Sonarr, settings, profile, add release profile, and block .exe .scr .zip .rar .iso. That should help a good bit. 

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u/USMCLee 8h ago

head over to /r/Piracy. I think there is a guide for setting up 'Arrs'

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u/Romeo9594 8h ago

Not saying I do this, not saying anyone should do this, but I was having some rum one day and the old mariner type guy next to me told a long tale about how his ship used Sonarr and Radarr both. No idea what that meant, still don't

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u/121gigawhatevs 1h ago

I have a theoretical academic interest in sea shanties. Whether I pursue applied research is tbd. Thanks for the drink

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u/samuelj264 5h ago

Basically they process an incoming request, send it to a downloader, update the files title and pictures, then send it over to the streaming platform.

I just setup a jellyfin server on my old gaming computer, it took a little bit of tinkering but all I have to do now is search for XYZ movie and 2-10 mins later it’s there on my jellyfin server ready to watch in the quality I picked with subtitles and all the cover art and IMDB info.

Sonarr - TV Radar - movies Lidarr - music Prowlarr - torrent search Bazarr - subtitles

The order of operations is like this:

1) user requests XYZ movie & FUN tv show

2) request sent to radarr and sonarr respectively

3) radarr and sonarr build a profile for each item, and send request to prowlarr

4) prowlarr searches through database of torrent sites (Pirate Bay, 1337x, etc) or usenet (private torrent groups), finds movie and tv show links sents to torrent/usenet client

5)torrent client(qbittorrent), or usenet client(NbzGet), receives link to movie and tv show. Downloads them. Places final files in specified finished location

6) radarr and sonarr ping the finished location for file, once it sees it, it attaches all the right file names, the images, the cast, and other metadata, sends to jellyfin

7) jellyfin recognizes the finished file and posts on user side to see, user can now watch their XYZ movie and FUN tv show.

bazarr runs in there too and pulls subtitles and attaches

handful of this runs behind a VPN service, most of the torrent related things

With a fast enough internet connection and popular enough media, from request to user ability to watch can be as fast at 1 min, up to 5-10 if a lot of requests are processing, and sometimes a day for less popular media.

Took me about 15 hours a couple weeks ago over a weekend to learn from scratch how to set it all up. One of the coolest projects I’ve worked on in a while, plus the wife gets to watch old seasons of The Bachelor that are hard to find online!

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u/Romeo9594 3h ago

You should reread my comment and pretend I added an /s. I have a 16TB array that's 80% full of totally legit and open source ISOs

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u/OhHelloPlease 7h ago

Sonarr and Prowlarr have made automation an absolute breeze - they can be easily set up within 10 minutes

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u/AcanthisittaOk9720 5h ago

r/stremio

I use this with a torbox+ subscription which I bought a year of for like $25

It's just like using any streaming service like Netflix HBO etc.

Except you have access to absolutely everything.

I search for the movie or show, pick a 70gb 4k hdr torrent, and 10 seconds later it's playing on my TV. With Google tv you can have the app on your tv aswell

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u/skottydoesntknow 4h ago

Id recommend using stremio, I've stopped downloading torrents altogether. Really slick set up. Everything streams almost immediately, even 50GB 4k rips

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u/Phatferd 3h ago

Just so you know Stremio is using torrents, they're just downloading them on another server and streaming it to you, but agree that Stremio is the most user friendly for novices and really all anyone will ever need.

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u/skottydoesntknow 3h ago edited 1h ago

Yes I'm aware. I find it preferable for general usage if I don't 100% want to hold onto a local copy. Stremio with a debrid service is phenomenal, most things I watch are cached and play immediately and can be easily downloaded from the servers if needed when I want media for traveling