Jellyfin's Founders Are Leaving the Project: A Change of Leadership

The Jellyfin project — the free media server that has become the leading alternative to Plex — is undergoing a change of leadership. In an official post on the project's forum, lead Joshua Boniface and core team member Anthony announced that they are stepping down. Earlier, on Friday, another member — Andrew — had already announced his departure from the project.

Reasons for leaving

Boniface explained his decision by pointing to personal circumstances: he could no longer devote the necessary time and energy to the role, having run into severe burnout and risks to his own mental health. In his words, the time had come to step aside so as not to carry out his duties at an unacceptable level.

He stressed that the handover is proceeding peacefully and with well-established communication, so there is no reason to fear a hostile fork. The post's heading is accompanied by an ironic remark: “Don't worry, there are no jellyforks here.”

Anthony's motives are different. He hasn't touched the code much for a long time, but he worked on the backend and dealt with the app stores. Over nearly eight years, it had become increasingly hard for him to set aside free time for Jellyfin, and now his life is changing and other matters are taking priority. Even so, he is willing to take part in a smooth transition, even if it takes a whole year.

Looking back on seven and a half years

Boniface recalled that when he started the project, he had counted on a few hundred — at best a few thousand — users and a couple of favorite features. Seven and a half years later, Jellyfin has become, in his words, the number one free media server: a real alternative to Plex for millions of server administrators and, probably, ten times as many ordinary users. The parent project from which Jellyfin once forked has been left far behind.

“We've proven that free software works and that there's demand for it,” he summed up, expressing the hope that Jellyfin will outlive its creators and offering thanks with what he called a parting “happy watching.”

Both departing members emphasize that the project remains in the safe hands of a team that has in fact driven it forward for many years. Development of Jellyfin will continue.

Source: Hacker News