[mythtv-users] Distro

[Kevin Hulse]

On Sat, Oct 28, 2006 at 10:38:38AM +1000, Leighton Brough wrote:
> Brad DerManouelian wrote:
> > Wondering which distro is giving people the least frustrations. I  
> > considered doing KoppMyth, but is this something I can easily change/ 
> > add to when required?
> My first mythbox build used Debian and 0.18, and while I can see folks 
> on the list who are happily using this distro, for me it was a world of 
> pain. Ultimately choice of distro is largely a matter of taste, I guess, 
> and it depends very much on what you want your myth system to do. The 
> things that were a bad fit for my mythbox were:
> 
> - The Debian release cycle is quite slow, and what is finally released 
> is is very "stable" (i.e. not the latest version).

	That's why you don't use "stable" unless you're running
a bank or something. You run "test" or "unstable". Compared to
other distros, the non-stable versions of Debian are generally
good enough.

> 
> - The install seemed bloated: lots of stuff got installed that really 
> wasn't relevant to a dedicated mythbox, especially when I installed X 
> support. Also lots of daemons are setup by default, which may or may not 
> be necessary.

	Doesn't sound like Debian. A basic Debian install won't even
install X or basic debugging tools.

> 
> - The package management became more of a hindrance than a help - mainly 
> due to my attempts to install more up-to-date versions of things (e.g. 
> PAM, so I could use real-time threads), I found I had a real fight with 
> this from time to time.

	If you're using the glacial version of Debian, I could certainly
see how this could be a problem.

> 
> - I had to compile my own kernel to turn on features I wanted (e.g. XFS, 
> if I recall correctly).

	That's a matter of luck. On occasion the combination of what
you need and what's prebuilt into the kernel will create a condition
where you need to build your own.

[deletia]