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New Linux Set-Top Project
An anonymous reader says
"Linux4.TV is the official open-source website for interactive set-top box technologies based on the National Semiconductor Geode? SC1200 integrated processor and SP1SC10 development platform." Looks to be an interesting project, although since they require registration to download stuff, I'll never know.
I hear their mailing lists require registration as well. Those bastards!
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
a) Your clock is off.
b) Their clock is off.
c) It's an honest mistake.
d) It's a conspriracy involving time travel - since you've discovered it you may be marked for elimination.
BlackNova Traders
just imagine the redhat boxes will be tuned to nickelodeon all day, debian boxes to a mixture of simpsons and the science channel and slackware boxes will only work will black and white low res (but fast and powerful) 1920's bmovies. Of course the *BSD version will be hard to find and the MacOSX box will be so user freindly that u never lose the remote.
an xp version will only show adverts and will crash after excess channel hopping (patch to follow)!
Do Unto Others As You Would Have Others Do Unto You - ONLY HARDER!
Read the GPL sometime. Requiring a registration to download isn't a GPL violation. As long as they provide source to anyone who gets binaries and they don't try to add any restrictions on re-distribution and modification they're not in violation.
There, you can buy the bare machines in bulk...
Realize, however, that a Geode isn't a speed demon- never was.
National has yet to sell any set-top solution and most of the set-top vendors have yet to make a dent in things.
Why?
Because the software's nothing like a PC- even though people don't want a PC, they want the Web to look and act like the PC on the box. It's also because they've been using underpowered chips like the Geode to save on costs (The bill of materials on most Geode based boards is ~$100US.)
That's about to change...
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Problem is there isn't any 8vsb (Read HDTV) support in the platform yet. Which makes me question the long term vision of the project.
Right now most of the current crop of 8VSB computer hardware is based on the TeraLogic Janus platform. While the platform is certainly offers nice features and would be easy to integrate with any open source STB I doubt it will never see the light of day in Linux. Two years ago Teralogic was all over Linux. They sent mail to various lists, offered sample cards. Times have changed. Asking about linux drivers or even docs gets curt responces from the devel team. [Insert standard MPAA rant here].
So, while an actual opensource platform is a cool idea, certainly giving more features than Tivo or WebTV, long term, I just don't know if it's worth while.
What would you want in such a box?
"No User Serviceable Parts Inside". The end user doesn't open the box. This is TV, not PC.
So no PCI slots. PCMCIA slots, maybe.
Several disk drive bays, with disks installable by non-technical end users. (Device Bay, the packaging spec for plug-in 1394-compatible drives, would have been great for this if anybody used it.)
Set-top-box form factor. Slim, not PCI board height.
Well-shielded tuner section. Must work in fringe areas with poor antennas. (VCRs have this now, but most tuner cards for PCs don't do it well.)
No matter what, it always boots up. If a disk gets corrupted, or a hard drive crashes, you can still watch TV, even if you can't record. The base software belongs in a PCMCIA ROM card.
(OK, developers can use a flash card.)