Linux exceeds OS X in some way, just like OS X exceeds Linux (or BeOS or Windows) in others. You "get what you pay for.." is an insult to all the hardworking OSS coders and the academic ones before them. Apache is a great example of how you don't always get what you pay for. Or Mozilla. Or the BSD code OS X was built on.
"Virus experts suggested MyDoom's author was a fan of the Linux open source community..."
While I agree with your cautionary note, I think this particular quote is a bad example. A fan immediately connotates a hanger-oner, something less then a leading member. Your absolutely right to point out that this kind of hijinx could easily backfire creating a PR nightmare, but there is some resilience (and dare I say: intelligence?) that stand between this and that.
post. But as to the being surprised, you should read his biography. Linus is much more quirky person then I'd have imagined. Possibly on an evil genius level. Definitely a good mix attention dodging super star and good old fashioned black humor. God bless Europe!
There's no way in the world anyone would ever actually USE dos. And Microsoft KNOWS it!!
Software audits are coming! Software audits are coming!
:-)
Okay, I'm joking. But seriously aren't there more honest to goodness uses for a Linux PC (if you want a free OS)? I mean dos, isn't that Unix's retarded half cousin? I guess if it would let you play Duke Nukem..
With the WinTV-PVR-350 mythtv has come a long way for support. It is the primary (only?) hardware based Mpeg encoder supported under MythTV so the authors have put a lot of work to get drivers working and integrate it. As usual (I'm starting to do that broken record thing) I'd heartily recommend trying it with Mandrake. The configuration applications included with Mandrake are pretty much top of the line for a Linux distro. Drakxtv should handle tuning your card without any trouble.
If you configure Urpmi (like apt-get) to use the Thacs and PLF resources you can forget compiling ANY of the apps neccisary to get MythTV installed. Not that I'm knocking dedicated hardware PVR's but I hear so many reports of terrible experiences for almost invariably the same simple (or not so simple) mistakes. My first go was pretty much the polar opposite to most Linux PVR stories. Under the right circumstances it works pretty get (and is SO flexable).
Thanks again for the info. Nice to have a decent conversation on/. without trolls and AC flaming all over the place.
Amen to that. This is one of those topics (along with GUI design) I feel pretty strongly about and unlike the latter I have a good amount of experience with (and had the good luck not to have such a bad experience with trying to set up).
I did realize the DVarchive wan't the PVR (might have read it after I'd posted the first paragraph). It looks like a great idea for the Tivo (better then hacking it to get the same effect).
As for the rest of the questions I think the answer is YES (mainly). When I set a program to record the options are:
Dont record this program
Record this program in this timeslot everyweek
Record this program when its shown on this channel
Record this program when its shown anywhere
As for more advance/wild card searches I've never needed it and I don't know if they are planned (or implemented). MythWeb will let you access the program guide and schedule recordings via your favorite web browser from anywhere that you've permitted access to the computer running it. It sounds like you've got a pretty good setup already though. MythTV will do almost everything you need (and some you haven't specifically mentioned) but with the added headache of doing it in an operating system you might not (or might!) be as familiar with. If you where starting from scratch and didn't already have a working system in place I'd recommend you read over the feature set and see if anything you see is an absolute must have. But you've already pioneered your system under XP. Cost is about what you'd figure and depends mostly on what type of hardware you have laying around. Software is all gratis. The scan converter would be arond $70 and extra WinTV-PVR-250's around $120 (each) I think. Add at least one BIG hard drive and this isn't as inexpensive as a Tivo. But I got pretty sick of doing all of my multimedia from my computer and between that and the upgradability this suits me my television has as much horsepower as my personal PC!
Anyhow, you've got a great sounding setup. Hows Tivo handle Mp3's and web browsing?
On the one I have I would, but most of the other good ones have a number of different outputs like that XP Pro with the composite, S-Video, YCbCR (component) and RGB video output. That should cover you for just about any modern (or not so modern) TV. The picture quality is a lot better then I got out of my Nvidia's TV out and I had no idea how bad it was until I got this working.
Ya, component is pretty important if your doing HDTV (at least on my set). I'm using the GrandTec Ultimate 2000, but its pretty much a pass through and I have to set modeline that make my head hurt. I'd try (I guess I probably will try) the GrandTec Ultimate XP Pro next. It lists composite, S-Video, YCbCR (component) and RGB video output. The trouble with the modelines is some software will take control of the video card directly and switch it to a mode that my HDTV can't support. The GrandTec Ultimate XP Pro should do the conversion itself in hardware, I got the one I did because I thought it would be better to have one I could configure to support ANY resolution supported by my video card and TV. But its a huge pain in the ass and they don't really work well together without a regular converter to bridge the gap (I guess my video card wasn't really designed for HDTV output).
I don't have any experience with that. It looks like your talking about a solution to a different problem. The VGA out on a video card is fine for anything that takes VGA in, likewise probably with the DVI card. It was taking the s-video out from the Nvidia cards and plugging it into the composite female/male converter then into my HDTV instead of YCbCR (composite) that was causing most of the trouble. Also the quality of the TV out video (or the cost of a high enough quality card).
I'm using a
GrandTec Ultimate 2000 but Tigerdirect carries a lot of them. Look for something that can output to the highest resolution you'll need (XVGA at least if you'll be plugging into a HDTV). Otherwise get one thats has the right price. I've seen a few higher priced ones, but have yet to see any advantages (other then a lighter wallet). I've used the AVerKey iMicro with my only complaint being the output resolution (I'd just bought a new HDTV and wanted more then standard NTSC TV out).
Well, for starters: no java. Probably wouldn't be my first choice for a software platform to build a PVR around (maybe just my bias, Xnap works GREAT).
DVArchive looks like a good solution in combination with the Tivo. (Sorry the formatting gets a little scrunched here, Slashdot has this weird thing about how many line breaks you use and I've hit the limit so I had to take some out.) To be honest a Linux PVR really only suits either a Linux user or someone who is interested in using Linux. There a lots of choices right now.
I'll try to summarize a few of the benefits that made the Linux/Mandrake/MythTV solution eclipse the rest for me.
A. I wanted something that could access ALL my current multimedia content from the comfort of the living room. Some things are just better done from the couch (like watching Red Vs. Blue videos with my wife).
B. I wanted something I could upgrades. I've been doing it with my computer for years and it just makes sense to me now.
C. I wanted to throw away the VCR. After doing so many things digitally having a poorly designed user unfriendly VCR to deal with was not going to continue to work for me.
D. Of course I wanted Pause/Rewind/Record/OSD/TV Guide etc.
E. I wanted it to work with the rest of my network (ie access files on my PC, connect to the internet, etc).
F. With all that I wanted to be able to most of the things I do on the internet with my normal computer, like check my email during commercials.
G. I wanted it to be easy to use and even easier to set up, so I needed it to run on Mandrake. MythTV rpm's are provided by both the PLF archive and Thacs which I typically configure urpmi to use (basically rpm, with better dependency handling and Debian style internet downloading).
I'd been using Linux for years so it was perfect as a platform and when I read the list of features in MythTV I was set. Heres a short rundown on the main modules:
TV
A. Watch/Play/Pause/Rewind/Commercial Skip/Auto Skip
B. Schedule Recordings/Delete Recordings/Program Finder (alphabetical)/Program Guide (TV Guide style)/Manual Schedule (set date/time/channel/length manually)
C. Scheduling Priorities (rank programs importance by different criteria to auto fix recording conflicts).
D. Fix Scheduling Conflicts (as above, but by hand).
Music
A. Select Music (similar to Zinf's MyMusic interface, listing all available music by artist with albums then songs as a subcategory).
B. Play Music (plays your created playlist with visualization plugin options, stop, ff, rr, pause and shuffle options including random and 'smart').
C. Import CD (low/medium/high/perfect in Ogg or Mp3 with CDDB look ups and tags. Ejects disk on completion, I like that function).
D. Scan for new music. Probably know that one!
Games
A. Roms! I don't use it, but I've got Donkey Kong Country and Tux Racer on there.
Images
A. Image collection viewing, slide shows (and untested by myself digital camera support).
Videos
A. Mplayer supported video video support by default (includes VOB, Quicktime, Microsoft video, Real, AVI, Mpeg and just about anything else you can throw at it). Totally configurable by extension (should you like to run a different player for certain types, or a different set of command line options - for the nuts).
B. Video manager includes IMDB Movie lookups with support for description, director, rating, runtime, IMDB number and cover art. Also hand configurable (handy if you cant find it, but have the cover art and like to keep things browsable).
C. Browse Video (like above, nice to 'flip' through your video collection using old fashioned eyes).
D. Video List (if your in a hurry and just want to go to the video).
VGA to NTSC video converter and any good quality video card. You'll get much better video then I've seen coming from most graphic cards TV out (by a long shot) and hardware over/underscan to help fit your video perfectly to your screen. They cost under a $100 so it'll probably save you money too.
His major fault.... He purchased a Win-TV 250. This card is pretty good actually with onboard hardware mpeg2 encoding. (I own a 250 as well as a vanilla hauppage win-tv) The drawback to the Win-TV 250 is it does not have tv out. He should have spent a couple extra bucks and got the 350.
The WinTV-PVR-250 is well supported in MythTV which is currently the most mature linux based PVR package and from experience I would recommend a VGA to NTSC video converter WAY before I'd recommend using any cards video out. They will give you much better quality, little perks you don't know you'll need like in hardware under and over scan and can easily be picked up for under an hundered (extra) dollars.
here. I've been using MythTV under Mandrake for over a year now with none of the problems you described including commercial skip. With the combination of Zalman fan for the noise and WinTV-PVR-250 for the high quality hardware Mpeg 1/2 encoding you should be set. If your waiting, this is it. And you get a hell of a lot more functionality (and upgradability) for your buck. And if Linux gaming keeps picking up the way it has, you can kiss that Xbox goodbye too.
I don't mean to be a fanboy...
on
Build Your Own PVR
·
· Score: 4, Informative
But I built my PVR over a year ago and had a great success the first time. Here's what I learned:
1) I use Mandrake and unless your using Debian or Gentoo I'd suggest using it simply because MythTV rpm's and ALL their dependencies have be set up by our good friends at Thacs and PLF.
2) Use MythTV ABSOLUTELY. I was lucky enough to start with it, but it has been one of those rare bits of software the continues to surprise me with *both* its design and implementation.
3) Make sure you have enough horse power, I'm using an AMD 1800 and its enough to get the job done. I'm sure some have done it with less, but I've found a couple of occasions its been a little tight.
4) Use the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250. Its supported under MythTV (thanks to their hard work) and will give you Mpeg1/2 recording in hardware.
5) Buy 2 Hauppauge cards. MythTV supports PIP and I think the coolest thing is to be able to let the kids watch one program while the other records in the background.
6) Use a VGA to NTSC video converter. Preferably one that uses its own hardware to convert the signal (I'm using one that is more or less a pass-through and had to set up some pretty weird modelines). You will not regret this.
7) Don't get stingy with the hard drive space! They are pretty cheap now and even having two 120 gig drives THINGS GET TIGHT. All day marathons of your favorite programs can unexpectedly create 100's of gigs of unwatched TV shows (add to that ripped DVD's and your entire Mp3 collection..).
8) Just a reminder: Use Mandrake. Its OSS, its friendly enough for your wife/kids/visiting friends and will install MythTV (or a MythTV update!) in a single shot. Just make sure to configure Urpmi (which will apply to Rpmdrake simultaneously) with the PLF and Thac resources (you'll find how to configure them in the links I provided). Aside from have the MythTV packages they have a lot of really good (and really useful) multimedia software and after all the funniest part of having a homebuilt PVR that does more then most commercial packages is that its really a complete computer, so you might as well use it.
Like I said, I built mine over a year ago. I haven't stopped gloating since. Commercial detection, DVD ripping, dual WinTV-PRV containing, upgradable, themable and totally configurable home video entertainment at its best. And for the times your bored with that you can try a little gaming on the big screen (right after checking Slashdot and reading your email of course!).
I agree that things are heating up. Novell is in a very interesting position. Mandrake still has a couple of advantages, mainly they have probably got one of the most active (for a commercial distro) communities surrounding them. Package resources like THAC and PLF keep a steady stream of great easy to install (newbie friendly) software available (like the whole MythTV package WITH all dependencies). Their entire approach to business will keep some users very dedicated (all MandrakeSoft created software is released under the GPL).
That said, as I mentioned in an earlier post, they are slightly falling behind in total integration, but maybe now that they are in the black they can afford to be a little more aggressive in the R&D department.
PS: Good of them to put the end user text editors in the instalation. Joe, and Jed come to mind.
I'd vote nano. Debian did and I love it (basically pico, if it had a better name it would almost be perfect).
Slashdot Mirror
Linux exceeds OS X in some way, just like OS X exceeds Linux (or BeOS or Windows) in others. You "get what you pay for.." is an insult to all the hardworking OSS coders and the academic ones before them. Apache is a great example of how you don't always get what you pay for. Or Mozilla. Or the BSD code OS X was built on.
Remember, IE isn't part of the Windows operating system (its just additional software). Linux isn't required to run Mozilla. Mmmmmmm.
"Non clickable hyperlinks"
;-)
Sometimes big businesses manage to go so far forward they actually break the space-time continuum and move backwards!
WOW!
"Virus experts suggested MyDoom's author was a fan of the Linux open source community..."
While I agree with your cautionary note, I think this particular quote is a bad example. A fan immediately connotates a hanger-oner, something less then a leading member. Your absolutely right to point out that this kind of hijinx could easily backfire creating a PR nightmare, but there is some resilience (and dare I say: intelligence?) that stand between this and that.
If this isn't poetic/postapocoliptic I don't know what is. Truth, always stranger then fiction.
post. But as to the being surprised, you should read his biography. Linus is much more quirky person then I'd have imagined. Possibly on an evil genius level. Definitely a good mix attention dodging super star and good old fashioned black humor. God bless Europe!
The city is expensive as hell. But thats the sort of thing that would probably drive me back here in a little under a month.
;-)
There's no way in the world anyone would ever actually USE dos. And Microsoft KNOWS it!!
:-)
;-)
Software audits are coming! Software audits are coming!
Okay, I'm joking. But seriously aren't there more honest to goodness uses for a Linux PC (if you want a free OS)? I mean dos, isn't that Unix's retarded half cousin? I guess if it would let you play Duke Nukem..
with the latency you'd never be able to game! ;-)
With the WinTV-PVR-350 mythtv has come a long way for support. It is the primary (only?) hardware based Mpeg encoder supported under MythTV so the authors have put a lot of work to get drivers working and integrate it. As usual (I'm starting to do that broken record thing) I'd heartily recommend trying it with Mandrake. The configuration applications included with Mandrake are pretty much top of the line for a Linux distro. Drakxtv should handle tuning your card without any trouble.
If you configure Urpmi (like apt-get) to use the Thacs and PLF resources you can forget compiling ANY of the apps neccisary to get MythTV installed. Not that I'm knocking dedicated hardware PVR's but I hear so many reports of terrible experiences for almost invariably the same simple (or not so simple) mistakes. My first go was pretty much the polar opposite to most Linux PVR stories. Under the right circumstances it works pretty get (and is SO flexable).
Thanks again for the info. Nice to have a decent conversation on /. without trolls and AC flaming all over the place.
Amen to that. This is one of those topics (along with GUI design) I feel pretty strongly about and unlike the latter I have a good amount of experience with (and had the good luck not to have such a bad experience with trying to set up).
Besides you told me a lot I didn't know.
I did realize the DVarchive wan't the PVR (might have read it after I'd posted the first paragraph). It looks like a great idea for the Tivo (better then hacking it to get the same effect).
As for the rest of the questions I think the answer is YES (mainly). When I set a program to record the options are:
Dont record this program
Record this program in this timeslot everyweek
Record this program when its shown on this channel
Record this program when its shown anywhere
As for more advance/wild card searches I've never needed it and I don't know if they are planned (or implemented). MythWeb will let you access the program guide and schedule recordings via your favorite web browser from anywhere that you've permitted access to the computer running it. It sounds like you've got a pretty good setup already though. MythTV will do almost everything you need (and some you haven't specifically mentioned) but with the added headache of doing it in an operating system you might not (or might!) be as familiar with. If you where starting from scratch and didn't already have a working system in place I'd recommend you read over the feature set and see if anything you see is an absolute must have. But you've already pioneered your system under XP. Cost is about what you'd figure and depends mostly on what type of hardware you have laying around. Software is all gratis. The scan converter would be arond $70 and extra WinTV-PVR-250's around $120 (each) I think. Add at least one BIG hard drive and this isn't as inexpensive as a Tivo. But I got pretty sick of doing all of my multimedia from my computer and between that and the upgradability this suits me my television has as much horsepower as my personal PC!
Anyhow, you've got a great sounding setup. Hows Tivo handle Mp3's and web browsing?
On the one I have I would, but most of the other good ones have a number of different outputs like that XP Pro with the composite, S-Video, YCbCR (component) and RGB video output. That should cover you for just about any modern (or not so modern) TV. The picture quality is a lot better then I got out of my Nvidia's TV out and I had no idea how bad it was until I got this working.
Ya, component is pretty important if your doing HDTV (at least on my set). I'm using the GrandTec Ultimate 2000, but its pretty much a pass through and I have to set modeline that make my head hurt. I'd try (I guess I probably will try) the GrandTec Ultimate XP Pro next. It lists composite, S-Video, YCbCR (component) and RGB video output. The trouble with the modelines is some software will take control of the video card directly and switch it to a mode that my HDTV can't support. The GrandTec Ultimate XP Pro should do the conversion itself in hardware, I got the one I did because I thought it would be better to have one I could configure to support ANY resolution supported by my video card and TV. But its a huge pain in the ass and they don't really work well together without a regular converter to bridge the gap (I guess my video card wasn't really designed for HDTV output).
I don't have any experience with that. It looks like your talking about a solution to a different problem. The VGA out on a video card is fine for anything that takes VGA in, likewise probably with the DVI card. It was taking the s-video out from the Nvidia cards and plugging it into the composite female/male converter then into my HDTV instead of YCbCR (composite) that was causing most of the trouble. Also the quality of the TV out video (or the cost of a high enough quality card).
I'm using a GrandTec Ultimate 2000 but Tigerdirect carries a lot of them. Look for something that can output to the highest resolution you'll need (XVGA at least if you'll be plugging into a HDTV). Otherwise get one thats has the right price. I've seen a few higher priced ones, but have yet to see any advantages (other then a lighter wallet). I've used the AVerKey iMicro with my only complaint being the output resolution (I'd just bought a new HDTV and wanted more then standard NTSC TV out).
The GrandTec Ultimate XP looks pretty good.
I'll try to summarize a few of the benefits that made the Linux/Mandrake/MythTV solution eclipse the rest for me.
I'd been using Linux for years so it was perfect as a platform and when I read the list of features in MythTV I was set. Heres a short rundown on the main modules:
VGA to NTSC video converter and any good quality video card. You'll get much better video then I've seen coming from most graphic cards TV out (by a long shot) and hardware over/underscan to help fit your video perfectly to your screen. They cost under a $100 so it'll probably save you money too.
His major fault.... He purchased a Win-TV 250. This card is pretty good actually with onboard hardware mpeg2 encoding. (I own a 250 as well as a vanilla hauppage win-tv) The drawback to the Win-TV 250 is it does not have tv out. He should have spent a couple extra bucks and got the 350.
The WinTV-PVR-250 is well supported in MythTV which is currently the most mature linux based PVR package and from experience I would recommend a VGA to NTSC video converter WAY before I'd recommend using any cards video out. They will give you much better quality, little perks you don't know you'll need like in hardware under and over scan and can easily be picked up for under an hundered (extra) dollars.
here. I've been using MythTV under Mandrake for over a year now with none of the problems you described including commercial skip. With the combination of Zalman fan for the noise and WinTV-PVR-250 for the high quality hardware Mpeg 1/2 encoding you should be set. If your waiting, this is it. And you get a hell of a lot more functionality (and upgradability) for your buck. And if Linux gaming keeps picking up the way it has, you can kiss that Xbox goodbye too.
about these things. I met my best friend, my wife and my rabbi on friendster. I'm not even jewish!
;-) Sorry.
Before there was the SCO Group there was Caldera/SCO and these two groups where very different.
Jan 2000
Jan 2001
Jan 2002
Jan 2003
And of course present
I agree that things are heating up. Novell is in a very interesting position. Mandrake still has a couple of advantages, mainly they have probably got one of the most active (for a commercial distro) communities surrounding them. Package resources like THAC and PLF keep a steady stream of great easy to install (newbie friendly) software available (like the whole MythTV package WITH all dependencies). Their entire approach to business will keep some users very dedicated (all MandrakeSoft created software is released under the GPL).
That said, as I mentioned in an earlier post, they are slightly falling behind in total integration, but maybe now that they are in the black they can afford to be a little more aggressive in the R&D department.
PS: Good of them to put the end user text editors in the instalation. Joe, and Jed come to mind. I'd vote nano. Debian did and I love it (basically pico, if it had a better name it would almost be perfect).