I set up a Linux pc to replace my smart TV and add some gaming capabilites. It took some time but I learned quite a lot (Thanks to Debian and Arch wikis). And I haven't missed any TV functionality.
The launcher is flex-launcher on a labwc environment/compositor on a Debian stable distro. (For testing and easy setup, I also did it on Ubuntu Gnome but I don't need a full DE in the background that I don't use. But it's adaptable to other distros and DEs.)
It's now fully usable with a gamepad including turning the TV on and off, so I have also fully replaced the TV remote.
I hope some people may find it interesting. It was also quite a lot of fun, actually.
I can't believe I never heard of Flex-Launcher - it's exactly what I've wanted for years. Every search for something like this would always bring up the never finished, forever worked on Plasma Bigscreen.
You should definitely do a write up on your set up. It would definitely be great for beginners to have this layout. Are you sorry running any containers, like Podman/Docker stuff or am Arrstack?
I'll try to do a writeup.
No containers (I actually have zero experience with containers). But if you know how to use them, it should be possible.