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Could I Run a TV Station on Linux?
JesusQuintana asks: "I'm working with a low-power television station to update their playback system. Currently they're using tape and I've been tasked to move them to computerized playback (MPEG-2, etc.) There are proprietary solutions (very expensive) and there are companies that bundle software with Windows and standard x86 hardware. Overall, they are generally unimpressive and won't sell the software without bundling it with their own hardware. (They won't let us buy our own storage.) We have the expertise to build our own infrastructure (NAS, redundancy, etc.), but really just need the equivalent of iTunes for high quality video. There are lots of other pieces needed to complete the work-flow (such as encoding the media), which could be accomplished on Mac or Windows or even Linux. But what about playback? We need something that will play back these files at their scheduled times (perhaps scheduling cron jobs to change playlists) to broadcast quality hardware (SDI or YUV video). Could we run a TV station on Linux?"
I have been wondering the same thing. I was expecting to be a little more elaborate, and generating the content in realtime. OTherwise, I would think that things like geekradio might be modified to fit commercials, show snippets, station announcement, etc.
The real question in doing a TV station, is how to get a license for the LPTV station? THe FCC website talks about having to check the website for when the application window is active, and they only allow license applications when they think it is convenient for them.
Also, you need a place to put the antenna, nevermind the equipment costs. Can I stick an antenna on my house? Can I use this old dead tree? I haven't been able to find out that sort of thing just yet. FCC and the City of Pittsburgh obfuscate their rules and regulations, it is a bit hard to figure out some of these things.
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
Wow. That really didn't come out right. English is my first language.
Paul Grosfield - the quicker picker upper.
Actually, sometimes I'm completely flummoxed by what gets on Ask Slashdot. If you ask about a really specific problem that only applies to you, you might get on (TV Station on Linux, Audio Card for Poscasting, ...)
/vent-off
When I ask about a Smart Network Switch, I get rejected.
(Specifically, I wanted advice on a 24-port gigabit switch with some management features, including VLAN & CoS. I was thinking that LAN party people & people who use in SMB would know. This is where the world is going, and the $300 range is Linksys, DLink, and a company I don't like - I thought that a lot of people here might have the same issues, but noooooooo.)
Ask Slashdot is not really about asking real questions and getting real advice. It is primarily for entertainment reasons like the advice columns in teen/women's magazines.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Netgear ProSafe SmartSwitch GS724T does what you want I believe. Some intelligence, but cheap. All gigabit ports, and you can buy SFP's to uplink to a fiber gigabit network (which I do).
The Dell PowerConnect 2724 is pretty good - web managed, vlans, etc.. and only $258 right now. http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetail s.aspx/pwcnt_2724?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04
in otherwords, hire Mr.(Ms. ?) tgatliff (311583) NOW
-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ *** http://www.mountainfort.com *** +-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-
eBay usually has good deals on used Cisco Catalysts... Something like a 2924XL would suit you well. 3Com might also have something.
I'd steer clear of D-Link, Netgear and Linksys...
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.