Running LaunchBox and Big Box on Linux

[Whatscheiser]

On 12/30/2025 at 11:12 PM, Glauco Fox said:

I moved to Linux as well and am using ESDE but I have a huge library, and it's media scanning process is awful, I even tried a third party tool but it doesn't work the same.
It sucks that they went with C# for the development of launchbox and now it's stuck in Windows. I'm hoping, with AI agents help, they will port it to Java which is pretty similar to C# and make it OS independent.

I have the same experience. I actually really like ESDE and the customization is amazing if you're willing to get into just a little bit of scripting/skinning. Library build out is rough though. Especially for custom content. The built in metadata scanner really is pretty shit compared to LaunchBox. That said, it does mostly find what its looking for. 

ESDE is a competent BigBox replacement, no doubt. But I miss LaunchBox for the actual library build out side. I like using the GUI for that, I like seeing it take shape. It just feels like a more straight forward workflow. It was easy to look at how it works and understand it. ESDE is a bit of a mystery there by comparison until you really dig into it and experiment. Even though I do have a pretty good understanding of it now, building inside of it still feels a bit abstract compared to LaunchBox. Most of the actual library build out takes place in xml files and file folders. Fatigue sets in a bit faster when I'm doing custom libraries because so much of it is just juggling data and refining images outside of the actual software. Then I am launching it here and there just to see how its looking. It doesn't feel like assembly and curation in the same way LaunchBox does.

LaunchBox could easily become the Linux go to just by making the curation process more straight forward and accessible than its competition. As usual in the Linux world, there isn't really anything out there that cares as much about UI and user experience as it does it's over all ability to function.