Serviio

... but I would drop it in a heartbeat for something that does the same thing and doesn't require Java.

For my curiosity, why not java ?

It's just horrible, from a system administration point of view.

Also, there's always this nagging doubt that it's ever really working properly.

And finally, because it ensures that Serviio will never have a PPA for Ubuntu so I have to keep manually checking for updates and manually installing them.

I actually ended a ten year love affair with FreeBSD because Serviio was my main remaining server need (now that I no longer host my own websites or mail servers), and Java is that much worse and harder to beat into submission in FreeBSD than it is in Ubuntu.

All the recent security problems with java does leave me a little worried but the fact that I can access my media through a web browser while I'm on the road makes me willing to give up that security.

The security problems with Java are related to the browser plugin only, AFAIK. You can disable that and still keep using Serviio and other Java based apps securely. MediaBrowser is not using the Java plugin either.

Indeed, the latest Zero Day exploit that versions 5, 6 and 7 are vulnerable to does appear to be browser plugin based. So it would follow that if you don't use your server for web browsing there is no security issue with Java.

For me, it's not Java's security issues that bothers me. I find that any software that isn't compiled is a real pain to keep working. Anything that runs in Java, Perl, Python, PHP, relies on Pear etc etc etc ... those are all a nightmare to keep working. Any slight update to the underlying language can cause problems for any/all software that runs on it, and you're at the mercy of the developers to release a fix. At best, you're reinstalling *everything* down the dependency line.

I can see the attraction of Java from a development point of view: you write something in Java and it will run on everything that has a JRE/JVM written for it. And Serviio really is rather good. I've not found anything anywhere near as good. I just can't shake the belief in my head that Java stinks.

Security aside, for me results are everything with this platform..

I think it runs wonderfully, so I will crawl back in my little hole and trust Java and friends.