Minidlna was ported from ReadyDLNA, a DLNA compliant server. If your product complies to DLNA then it should work. There is no transcoding with this version so the media format on the FreeNAS device would need to be stored in a compatible for mat for your device. For example a PS3 will accept a VOB file so if your video is in VOB file format, it will play fine. The PS3 does play many formats, this is just an example. I store all my video rips in VOB format. If you need transcoding then you will need to wait for a plug-in for something like MediaTomb. Keep in mind that transcoding requires a decent CPU in your FreeNAS device.
Once FreeNAS 8.0.3 hits the streets, if minidlna is not included I will post a version with it installed. If you want something now just send me a PM and I'll give you one of the latest working builds I have. You will still have to follow the instruction in post #19 of this thread to enable and configure it.
8.0.3 won't have minidlna, transmission, or daapd, in part because it doesn't have the build bits required to make things work (porting this isn't hard if you hack freenas-common, but it's still a bit of a bear). I can do this, as a side project, but it wasn't the main intent behind 8.0.3 [8.0.3 was intended to bugfix stuff from the 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 release(s) as noted in that thread].
The first draft of the plugin framework is wrapping up and I'm going to be the guinea pig creating the PBI and plugin for minidlna (or mediatomb if someone could send me directions on how to interface with it outside of the mediatomb web GUI as transcoding would be nice...), I'll go ahead and create whatever plugin needs to be generated.
If DLNA, torrenting, or iTunes support is critical to you, I'd jump to 8.2 when it comes out. Otherwise I'd hang tight until 8.2.1 is released (trying to hit 2-3 month release cycles depending on my free time, 'critical-ness' of any fixes, etc).
@James144
A PC doesn't typically have a DLNA server so you typically have to install a DLNA server so your devices can see the files on your PC.
You can get it with Windows Media Player, VLC, or Windows Media Center IIRC (VLC for sure, but it didn't really work as expected).