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Also legally who's responsible to release the sources: the OEM (DLink), the design house (Redsonic), or the company who probably customized the kernel for the SI8210 (Sigma)?

I've called D-Link before myself trying to get that code and of course they'll refer you to RedSonic who of course will refer you to SigmaDesgins.

quick update--nothing new! go figure. I had a hard time getting in touch with dlink last week--waited on hold for about 40 minutes a day for 3 days straight. Got bounced around to a few departements and finally was told they don't release 'that information'. Not really surprised I guess. I'm a little disapointed they didn't at least respond to the letter though although they had absolutely no incentive to. I'll move on to Redsonic I suppose.

Try Sagetv http://www.freytechnologies.com/
  It supports and has for some time all the things myth just came out with in their new release plus it works with media extenders like Hauppauges media extender. And it stores recordings in Mpeg2 and 1 as well as supporting Mpeg4/divx.

i like my decision i upgraded the HD of my first unit within the first week of buying i. i paid the lifetime subscription free soon after which by now has paid off when compared to paying per month. however, i have a second unit that i've been paying 6.95/mo (discount from the regular 12.95 for single unit owers b/c i have multiple units) for a few months now. i've been lazy about picking up the phone to get the lifetime subscription (if it were 12.95/mo i would have gotten the lifetime sooner). now, i can't seem to justify paying for lifetime of $299 when i can a SageTV with a dual tuner and remote for my PC...at less than that. This product seems to be (i haven't tried it myself yet) a cleaner setup than MythTV or FreeVo. SageTV also offers its service with no subscription required....so yeah that's the conflict i have now.

The trouble comes in that it is practically impossible to have one machine do lots of things well. It may do them all, but not as well as a machine designed just to do that single function would.

Examples: an actual TiVo is vastly superior to a PC w/ video capture and PVR software (with the notable exception that you can't burn shows to DVD... I'm talking strictly UI and stability). A DVD player may be great for watching movies, but the built in MP3 playback is usually pretty crappy.

I used to be an all-in-one kinda guy too... now I am starting to move towards a single machine for a single use philosophy. My TiVo is great, I am going to get a Gamecube soon, and just forget about dual booting XP so I can stick to Linux for all my desktop needs, etc.

Just my $.02.

Yes,

There are plenty of guides on how to use different types of remotes and IR controllers on the Sage TV message board

What are you talking about? Microsoft has nothign to do with SageTV. It's produced by a small company (like 2 guys small..) called Frey Technologies

Maybe you're thinking of media center or something..

xmltv for open source listings. Read about it here.

Works with the front end of your choice (a few suggestions)

Linux:
MythTV.
Freevo.

Windows:
SageTV.
MyHTPC.

Also, LOTS of good reading at the Home Theater Forums (the Linux forum is embedded under that link).

All of the above systems allow you to use on-screen listings, search for programs by schedule, name, category, etc. They learn favorites and do everything tivo does, best I've been able to tell.

I've been a Tivo user for a year and a half now. Couldn't live without it - until I get my HTPC set up and running the DVR for me on my home network. Just got the green light from my fiancee for that summer project.

DIY is only complicated b/c there wasn't an easy to use solution out there for a long time.

I'm using SageTV from FreyTechnologies and it totally rocks. And is passes the biggest test: It is wife-friendly.

Among cool things: multi-tuner support (3 is a common setup), a network client (access your whole media library from anywhere), all the trick-play features you could ask for, and a great support environment. The app is written in Java, and these guys turn out a stable new release every other day or so!

And the DIY mod's I've added: The output is remodulated onto an unused TV channel (123), and I have IR receivers around the house, which transmit the signal over the same coax that brings in the picture. So I have "Tivo in every room". I can stroll about the house pausing TV between rooms. I also have a wireless kb/mouse combo that provides emergency net access ;-)

Yes, it's $50 (plus $5/mo or $50/yr for listings). But it's a kick-ass product. As a final plug: I have a friend who owns a Tivo and he's selling it to build a system like mine.

and while the WinTV-PVR's do have their problems, most of them are because of Hauppage's software... even for the PVR-250, you can get better software out there then what Hauppage uses.

for example, you can get SageTV.

personally, i think the best alternative to this would be a ReplayTV. for $400 dollars, you can have a receiver, tv interface, and timeshifting / recording up to 80 hours. the reason i say ReplayTV over TiVo is because the ReplayTV also has an ethernet port, with which you can transfer stuff to your computer, and burn it on CD / DVD, using software from sites such as this one

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