OpenELEC (acronym for Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center) is a linux distro intended for use as a media center, more precisely in conjunction with Kodi (for many years known as XBMC). The main objective is to offer a platform that allows the most powerful performance possible, and a really fast system startup, all framed by an installation process that does not take more than 15 minutes. We met its first stable version back in October 2011, and a few hours ago OpenELEC 5.0 arrived.
It is based on Kodi 14 (Helix) and there is a lot of work in conjunction with developers of the media center so it is to be expected that integration and performance will take a significant leap in quality. A lot of work was done to finalize the change of nomenclature from XBMC to Kodi, not only in the aesthetic aspect but also in the code and in the background operation (services, symbolic links, storage, configuration files, etc).
It is precisely because it is the first version in which such a big change occurs that its developers urge anyone who is going to update from a previous version to safeguard everything through a backup. In other respects, arrives with the Linux kernel 3.17 and the change from OpenSSL to LibreSSL. Additionally, Freescale imx6 support was added for various set-top-boxes such as the Cubox TV, and on the contrary, support for the original Apple TV (mk1) is discontinued due to hardware limitations (remember that that first device from the Cupertino company was more than anything a hobby that later began to gain prominence).
Download OpenELEC 5.0