Alternative to Windows Media Center

tronator

Hammyman wrote: »

ASSUMING YOU KNOW HOW TO USE LINUX to a technical level which is completely unavoidable (no Windows back end) as several things require knowledge of the *nix filesystem and using command line...

This is something people keep repeating and which doesn't get more true the more they repeat it. Recently I helped a friend to setup a MythTV system and can't remember using the command line. And distribution like Mythbuntu or KnoppMyth make it very easy these days to set everything up.

Hammyman wrote: »

First hurdle is just getting the thing working. For example, first you've got to configure a master back end which, surprise surprise, involves opening up a shell and its back to 1994 and entering commands into a command prompt

Why do you need a command prompt to configure the backend? It's all done via a GUI. And what's wrong with a command prompt? Even MS acknowledged that sometimes a CLI is more efficient and introduced the Powershell after laughing about Linux for many years. Welcome to 2010.

On the other hand I wish there was a way to configure it from the command prompt, because then you could setup a backend machine without the need of a gui and leave it in the attic or the cellar...
Ok, it can be done remotely, but GUI still uses resources on a server.

Hammyman wrote: »

You've got to know that a loopback network address is 127.0.0.1 for example. You've got to create a "storage group" and then create a directory for that group to use otherwise you can't record. Get that wrong and when you configure the front end you'll find that the whole thing doesn't work and when trying to sort the whole bloody mess out, a full re-install of OS can tend to ensure.

Compare that to Windows Media Center where all you've got to do is basically pop in your postcode and select whether you want analogue or DVB-T if you've a tuner card that handles both and then goes off, downloads the EPG, finds music, video and photos and sorts it all out for you.

Oh yes, I remember. When I used it there was no EPG for all the +1 channels, so I couldn't record The Simpsons on Channel 4+1. And can MCE reschedule my favorite show automatically if there is a conflict with another show? And how many shows on the same multiplex can you record with one tuner? ...

And I don't wanna start with more advanced features such as automatically downloading and converting my favorite video podcasts...

Hammyman wrote: »

There is a reason MythTV isn't at version 1.0 yet.

LOL, what has the number of the version to do with how stable it is? It's just a number. Latest stable version is 0.23.1. And? Windows Vista doesn't even have a version number...

I also never said that MythTV is as easy to setup as MCE. But once you got it running you get rewarded with much much more features...

fwor

Hammyman wrote: »

First hurdle is just getting the thing working. For example, first you've got to configure a master back end which, surprise surprise, involves opening up a shell and its back to 1994 and entering commands into a command prompt

How long ago did you last try to do a MythTV install? The last three or so I've done have needed no command line at all. The Mythbuntu Control Centre (which is just an application which is in the Ubuntu repositories - you don't need to use the Mythbuntu distro to be able to use it) makes that completely unnecessary, provided you are using compatible TV card hardware, and the range of supported hardware is in my experience very good.