Consistent with Plex’s decision to switch everyone from the open-source Plex Media Player for Windows (and the Windows Store app) to the (apparently closed-source?) Plex for Windows app, it appears that Plex Media Player’s binary files are already pulled down from Plex’s downloads pages, even for Plex Pass members.
I uninstalled PMP mistakenly thinking that Plex for Windows was a direct upgrade from it (it very much isn’t), only to discover that I specifically use, and depend on, both HiDPI support and TV mode, which are both missing from the Plex for Windows client.
Unfortunately, now I can’t go back and download the PMP binaries for Windows, and the GitHub releases on the project itself are only for its source code and not its built binaries.
Is there anything I can do in this situation? I honestly and truly regret “upgrading” to the latest Plex for Windows player app, and as a matter of pure principle I would always, ALWAYS prefer to support the open-source option when I can. To see Plex moving from a FOSS player to a closed-source one that is worse is sad enough, but for it to be such an abrupt move that those of us who want to use PMP can’t even go back to doing so is a real shocker.
Can we please, at least for now, get PMP’s binary downloads back?
For anyone else who’s curious about this, it appears that the binaries are still available (for now, at least) through the Plex EOL announcement here: EOL for Plex Media Player
It’s unclear how long the binaries will continue to be built, or whether the open-source repository associated with PMP will continue to exist after that point. The binaries aren’t hosted via the PMP GitHub releases, so this is the only place to get them.
As an aside, I want to roundly condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Plex’s decision to abandon free and open-source software by switching from PMP to Plex for Windows/Mac. As both a lifetime Plex Pass holder and an open-source developer, this move is not only an unfortunate spit in the face of the vast and generous open-source community upon which your software stands, but in replacing a powerful and feature-filled OSS tool with a hobbled, half-competent closed-source alternative, you’ve done us all a huge disservice. All around, this decision was a mistake.
