Support difference for UbuntuGnome Vs vanilla Ubuntu with Gnome added

As Gnome is a desktop environment, I imagine a vanilla Ubuntu with the Gnome DE installed would be supported for five years. Ubuntu Gnome, on the other hand, is supported for three years, like Xubuntu and Lubuntu, and probably others.

For a Kodi/Plex server, though, I wouldn't bother with Ubuntu. I'd go for a Ubuntu minimal install and add a desktop and Kodi or install Xubuntu-core and do the same. You could just install the server ISO and Gnome DE. You don't need 80% of what you'll get with Ubuntu for a media server (including the Unity desktop environment).

Here's a link for Xubuntu-core. Get the ISO from the community ISO link down the page some. For Ubuntu minimal, just do a search for that, 'ubuntu minimal'.