[mythtv-users] Minimizing a Distribution

Robert Middleswarth robert at middleswarth.net
Fri Feb 28 21:31:04 UTC 2003


1) If you want to do something like Gento is doing with a custmer 
package manger and installer then yes you would need to worry about most 
of those things.  Hower most if not all of those could be bypassed with 
a Redhat Kicker File or Some form of Debian install script assume debian 
had something like kicker.  Select only the packages that need to be 
installed.  Put them all together in what would be 1 or 2 CD install set 
and publish the ISO's.

2) Most Project I feel this would be overkill to create a distribution 
for but myth isn't being designed to as a standard app. it being 
designed to be more of an embeded app running on standard hardware.  Big 
Different There.

3)Not in direct repones to you but to other posts.  I agree that it is a 
good idea to keep myth distro indepented as possible and that packages 
are good to keep up with.  However there are several people on this list 
who aren't programers but are sysadmins who could create something like 
this.

There would be several tought questions to answer before a offical 
myth-distro could be created.

1)What to base if off of.  Redhat, Mandrake, Debian, Gento, etc. 
 Everyone has there pet distro and my guess is that would be the hardest 
part of the process.

2)Where to host the ISO's / Updates / Everything else.  I think 
everything could held in 1 CD but that is still a 600 Meg ISO's and 
updates that would have to be setup.

Ray Olszewski wrote:

> Is trying to move MythTV from a sophisticated app to a 
> mini-distribution really a good idea? Personally, I doubt it. Consider 
> some of the things that such a distro needs to deal with:
>
> 1. All the standard kernel-related issues regarding 
> filesystem/partition types, NIC drivers, sound-card drivers, v4l 
> drivers, and more.
>
> 2. All the usual X issues, including kernel framebuffers.
>
> 3. All the TV-out issues ... and remember that many TV-out systems 
> (Matrox, ATI, nVidea) require specialized framebuffers, X drivers, 
> &/or control apps (matroxset, atitvout, nvtv). The Matrox framebuffer 
> patches for enabling TV-out are specific to kernel 2.4.19 (and 
> 2.5.something_or_other) ... are we willing to live with that kernel 
> restriction indefinitely, or will "MythOS" need to include multiple 
> kernel choices?
>
> 4. All the 802.11 issues, some of which require modules outside the 
> kernel (e.g., linux-wlan-ng for Prism-based cards).
>
> 5. All the lirc issues for people using remotes.
>
> 6. The usual distro-level issues involving updates, particularly 
> security-related patches.
>
> 7. Incidentals like setting up networking, handling time sync'ing via 
> ntp, and providing for remote-access options (ssh? smb mounts? nfs?).
>
> I'm probably leaving some important questions out, but this list 
> already seems big enough to give one pause.
>
> Although I've only installed MythTV on a test basis up to now, that's 
> because my work involves addressing these other issues in the context 
> of developing a dedicated Linux-based video platform. My take on them 
> is that getting it all worked out when you can select specific target 
> hardware to develop for is bad enough. Trying to create -- AND 
> maintain -- a distro that handles all possible (or at least all 
> plausible) hardware combinations is a lot of work, and it would 
> distract the developers here from improving the core functionality of 
> MythTV as an app.
>
> Perhaps some of those of you who have (below) described your own 
> configurations would take a minute to consider, then discuss, how easy 
> or hard it would be to generalize your approaches to handle the 
> variety of sound cards, TV cards, video displays, NICs (including 
> wireless), and other hardware that we see discussed here regularly.
>
> I suspect a more modest initial goal -- a FAQ-like document describing 
> approaches to setting up a host for running MythTV, as someone 
> suggests below -- is a more realistic target, at least for the short 
> term. Included here could be device-specific advice for, at a minimum, 
> the various TV cards, sound cards, and TV-out display possibilities. 
> This alone would eliminate a lot of the repeated Q&As and the "search 
> the list archive" responses I see here on this list.
>
>
> At 09:48 AM 2/28/2003 -0800, Larry Matter wrote:
>
>> At one point, there was discussion on this list to create a 
>> MythTV+distro
>> on a CD.   Not sure what happened to that.
>>
>> The idea was you could plunk a CD into a machine, reboot, and you have a
>> MythBox.  Personally, I'm not that interested in this solution.
>>
>> My personal interest is to create a disk image that a small, quiet, and
>> diskless frontend box could boot over the lan.  I'm sure everyone 
>> else has
>> slightly different needs.
>>
>> But we could at least compare notes toward these ends; like trimming 
>> down
>> the distro, best lightweight window manager, etc.  There is actually 
>> a lot
>> of this information already scattered accross the archives, but it would
>> be nice to gather it all together in a FAQ or somesuch.
>>
>> Larry
>>
>> > I am for this too.  I would love to have a small, light weight install
>> > for my  media center.  I do not have a need for a desktop attacehd 
>> to my
>> > 61 inch TV :-)
>> >
>> > My vote would be to base it on gentoo and create a "live cd" for the
>> > install.   Nothing to compile.
>> >
>> > --Ken
>




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