Kodi
Drop-in replacementFreeThe same app from the same team, built for Linux. Nothing to relearn.
Your files: Your video and music files are read in place. Copying Kodi's data folder across brings the library and settings too.
Does Kodi run on Linux?
Verdict: Yes
Yes. Kodi is a native Linux application, listed by Team Kodi on the same download page as the Windows version.
Team Kodi build Kodi for Linux themselves and always have. The download page offers Windows, Linux, Android, Raspberry Pi, macOS and more, and the Linux version is the same app with the same interface, skins and add-ons.
Getting it is simple. Most beginner Linux systems carry Kodi in their app store, and it is on Flathub, so it installs with a click.
Your setup can come with you. Kodi keeps its library, settings, skins and add-ons in its own data folder, so copying that folder from the Windows machine brings across your watched marks and sources. If you would rather start fresh, just point it at your media folders again and let it rebuild the library.
Your media files themselves are untouched. Kodi never moves or converts them, it just reads them where they sit, including from a drive or a network share.
Kodi on Linux, and alternatives
Plex
Close matchFree with paid extrasWorth a look if you want to watch the same library on a phone or a TV as well. Official Linux app and server, but it is an account-based service.
Your files: Reads the same media files. Watched history lives on the Plex server rather than in a local folder.
VLC
Different way of workingFreeIf you only ever used Kodi to play a file rather than to browse a library, VLC does that with far less setup.
Your files: Plays the same files. No library, artwork or watched marks.
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