It's true that all the rebooting and maintenance, as well as security vulnerabilities, presented by PCs are a drag, and there's every reason to prefer a well-designed streaming appliance.
On the other hand, the appliances (since they ARE networked computers) often put all that out of sight, which is fine until one of those vulnerabilities or maintenance problems crops up. In general, dedicated linux units are the safest route here. A good open source but integrated package of hardware and OS build, with DSP, streaming, etc. would be an attractive appliance. ANd it could be a lot easier than installing camilla, moode, and a screen on your raspberry pi, plus any connection hardware you need.
On the other hand, the appliances (since they ARE networked computers) often put all that out of sight, which is fine until one of those vulnerabilities or maintenance problems crops up. In general, dedicated linux units are the safest route here. A good open source but integrated package of hardware and OS build, with DSP, streaming, etc. would be an attractive appliance. ANd it could be a lot easier than installing camilla, moode, and a screen on your raspberry pi, plus any connection hardware you need.