OSMC developer documentation will provide you with an insight in to the development and build process of OSMC. It also provides information regarding policies, recommendations and justifications involved in the development process.

This should be considered the official and complete resource all OSMC development and technical specifications. It has been compiled by OSMC and aims to aid further contributions and development. Not every aspect of OSMC will be covered, but core packages will be and worked examples will be provided.

OSMC is based on Debian and considers itself a derivative. We have chosen the Debian base as it is robust, stable and proven. It provides long term support which OSMC can build upon. The APT packaging system is highly reliable and well documented. OSMC has chosen Debian over other APT based systems such as Ubuntu for a variety of reasons:

  • Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian. It makes more sense for OSMC to take packages at the nearer source. The Ubuntu release cycle is much more frequent, which makes it more challening for OSMC to track upstream and quality assure
  • The roadmap of Ubuntu is unclear. Ubuntu has frequently been a proponent of the NIH (not invented here) approach. It has spearheaded Upstart, Mir, and is now looking at implementing Snappy as its package management system. OSMC needs a stable base to work with, rather one which constantly moves. It is for this reason OSMC bases itself upon Debian and avoids rolling distributions such as Arch.
  • OSMC hopes to one day be recognised as an official Debian derivative. There will be worked involved in achieving this, but it is going to be easier to achieve this if OSMC is able to follow upstream guidelines which are documented clearly and publicly.

OSMC features Kodi as its main frontend software package. Many adjustments have been made to bring it in line with the OSMC experience. OSMC works with Kodi developers directly to improve the software experience for all users of Kodi.

Thank you for your interest in improving OSMC

Sam Nazarko,
Founder and Lead Developer