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Additional Software for a Homemade PVR?

Posted by Cliff on from the it's-the-extras-that-make-it-special dept.

MankyD asks: "I'm almost done loading up a new Gentoo installation paired with MythTV and a hardware MPEG2 encoder. I'm looking forward to finishing but before I let it loose upon my television, I was wondering what else I should compile in. Samba File sharing? A webserver (for watching shows on the road)? A CPU/Memory monitor? An additional media player? Not to start a flamewar, but should I do KDE, Gnome, Enlightenment, or some other window manager (especially when viewed on a TV screen)? What bells and whistles can I add to make my system that much more complete?"

1 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Ick! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    You have to.. compile.. these options in? Ewww. Is Linux really that monolithic and stagnant? So far your machine exists solely for the purpose of being set up. What exactly is the point here?

    FYI, there is a completely pre-built solution that requires minimal set up. You may have heard of it. And it's not that expensive either ($129 from NewEgg).

    Sorry, but the "install and run" ease of use vastly outweighs the "install, sync source, recompile, swear loudly, tweak, recompile, reinstall, guess, finally get working then a new version comes out and you have to start all over again" mess that is dealing with Linux. If I was employed as a sysadmin maybe I'd give a damn. Otherwise, what really is the point? Especially for a home entertainment center. Getting repeatedly punched in the throat by Linux was fun.. about 10 years ago.

    (A one-time Linux advocate who loves that Windows XP on the desktop is effectively hassle-free compared to Linux).