As we mentioned previously, the Kodi media player has builds compatible with Linux, Android, and the Raspberry Pi. This last option suggests the possibility of installing Raspbian and then adding Kodi to its configuration, but there is a more direct way to go about it: adopting an operating system specially designed to run Kodi on the mini computer. That's where LibreELEC, a fairly young fork of OpenELEC, comes in.
Earlier this year we talked about the stable version 7.0 of OpenELEC, a Linux distro that basically turns compatible mini computers into Kodi terminals. However, something we didn't mention back then is that OpenELEC has a new fork, called LibreELEC. The definitive separation took place in March 2016 due to "creative differences" between the leader of the OpenELEC project and the rest of the developers. Fortunately, those differences didn't go too far, and both projects continue to grow with a good share of users backing them. Now, there are two details that likely place LibreELEC a step above. The first is a closer connection to the latest Kodi build (just two minor revisions behind, according to available data), and the second is its easy installation.
All we have to do is download a copy of the LibreELEC USB-SD Creator. Inside, we choose the platform that will receive it, start downloading the corresponding image, insert a USB stick or a memory card, and dump the LibreELEC content onto that drive. The rest comes down to installing the card in the computer and searching for our videos in Kodi. The LibreELEC image is small enough to allow for more exotic configurations, including dual boot with Raspbian on a Raspberry Pi using the official Noobs software.
If you have a Raspberry Pi (no matter the edition) sleeping in some drawer, LibreELEC is the ideal tool to assign it a role as a dedicated media player and create your own low-cost Kodi box. The most recent stable release is 8.0.2, but if we use the USB-SD Creator, the images there are based on the beta 8.1.2. Don't hesitate to try both.
