[mythtv-users] MythTV/HTPC Linux Distribution?

[jas]

I think it's a great Idea!

It could as you mention use ZeroConf/Rendevouz to automatically 
aggregate tuner(and other) resources so that if the local one is busy 
it could request a program be recored on another machine and made 
available or transfered.....

You might even be able to retroactively be able to record a 
program....You find a program in the listing that you like, but the it 
was yesterday and the machine could ask if any of the other machines 
did record it and if it did request a copy to be transferred....

Personally I'd prefer such a solution to be Debian based so that I can 
use apt-get to keep things nice and up to date. I also like the distro 
being dedicated to GLP and non comercial

just my 2 cents worth. If I can do anything I'd like to help.

rgds
anders

PS. The Freepia distro seems to be such a distro (almost) dedicated to 
specific hardware (via epia m boards) and Freevo, even if it's based on 
RH73 it's really nice and very compact (less than 40mb)

On Tuesday, August 12, 2003, at 05:35  PM, darco wrote:

> This is an idea that has been floating in my head over the past week. 
> I'm not sure if I should post this to the mythtv-dev list, but I 
> figure it's ambiguous enough, so I'll just post it here.  For all I 
> know, someone is already working on this. It just seems like the 
> logical next-step in the search for the mythical digital convergence 
> box.
>
> I am fairly new to MythTV, as I just set my box up last weekend. I 
> consider my knowledge of Linux to be that of a competent 
> sysadmin--perhaps a bit more. I am an experienced software developer, 
> and over the past year I have been developing on Linux exclusively.
>
> In setting up my Asus Pundit last weekend to be my new MythTV box, I 
> came to the following conclusion: None of the current distributions 
> are really "ideal" for a MythTV/HTPC "Appliance".
>
> Being a long-time RedHat user (and a recent tinkerer with Gentoo), I 
> decided that RedHat would NOT be a good choice, and I chose Gentoo. 
> But even Gentoo is not really ideal. There are still countless 
> "useless" packages that have been installed. I have spend hours 
> fidgeting with settings trying to get everything working "just-right", 
> only to watch everything grind to a halt as I change the hostname from 
> "localhost" to "pvr".
>
> I was wondering what interest there was out there for a "MythTV 
> Appliance" Linux Distribution. This distribution would not be suitable 
> for general-purpose computing, but would aim toward being a sleek, 
> small, and fast fully-featured MythTV/HTPC Linux distribution.
>
> ie:
> 1) Boot up the disc
> 2) Select your options, features, and software
> 3) Watch the software install
> 4) Reboot and Configure hardware
> 5) Watch TV!
>
> Here are a few potential out-of-the-box features of a MythTV/HTPC 
> Distribution:
>
> 1) MythTV, MythMusic, MythWeather, MythDVD(which would probably be out 
> by the time a distribution could be put together), etc...
> 2) Out-of-the-box web configuration interface (MythWeb, and more)
> 3) File Sharing (Samba, NTFS, ftp, http)
> 4) Universal Plug-N-Play support (I've only seen this in routers, but 
> it could be useful for making configuration even easier on windows 
> boxes)
> 5) Rendezvous Support (Handy for macintosh computers, and really easy 
> to implement)
> 6) LIRC Support (Duh....)
> 7) LCD Support (For displaying the channel, the current video, the 
> current song, the news, the weather, who knows)
> 8) Package-Based system for upgrades and enhancements
> 9) Parental controls (ie: passwords, ratings, viewing quotas, user 
> logins, etc.)
> 10) Anything else that would be suitable for an HTPC appliance.
>
> Having such a system would save hours of configuration time, as well 
> as hours of maintenance/upgrades -- especially if you have multiple 
> MythTV Boxes.
>
> If there are enough people interested, I wouldn't mind helping setting 
> something like this up. Feedback would be much appreciated.
>
> --- darco
> http://www.deepdarc.com/
>
> PS: Just in case, HTPC=Home Theater Personal Computer
>
> PPS: Hell, now that I think about it, Rendezvous could be useful for 
> more than just Macintosh computers... Imagine building and adding 
> another MythTV/HTPC Linux box onto the network, plugging it in, 
> turning it on, and be automatically recognized by the other MythTV 
> Boxes. Adding Rendezvous support isn't that hard either... Argh, I'm 
> digressing again...
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users