[mythtv-users] Supporting schedulesdirect.org

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Aug 7, 2007, at 8:04 PM, Robert Current wrote:

> On 8/7/07, Kevin Hulse <jedi at mishnet.org> wrote:
>>         The lack of HMO features in the DTivos is one of the big  
>> reasons
>> I built my MythTV setup. I had gotten used to those features with my
>> generic S2 Tivo and found "downgrading" with DirecTV to be a real  
>> buzz kill.
>
> Exactly...   There are a couple of camps of thought here, and I'm in a
> few of them.
>
> On the one hand, I LOVED my TiVo, and reluctantly went to MythTV.  I
> built a MythTV box out of curiosity, for kicks, I always liked playing
> "system admin" in Linux.  But it never matched the slick interface,
> ease of use for my family, and elegance of my TiVo.  Every detail
> polished, even the remote, I've never seen a more comfortable or
> natural piece of hardware.
>
> But in time, MythTV became functional enough, so I figured there was
> no point in paying the extra $6/month anymore.  I have both, and if it
> came down to $$, I'll be very happy switching back to simple life with
> TiVo.

Settling for mediocrity is always an option. MythTV was instantly  
more functional than my Tivo the day I got it running. Sure, I've had  
downtimes and frustrations, but my family has come accustomed to not  
watching commercials and having TONS of video content at their  
fingertips so we can never go back.

> On the other hand, I have a number of friends who didn't have the cash
> for a TiVo.  I spent considerable time converting old, second-hand PCs
> into MythTV systems for them.  If I walk away from MythTV, they will
> be SOL.  One once said, "if I had to choose between a bigger TV, or a
> smaller TV than I have just to keep the recorder, I'll go with a
> smaller TV."

MythTV is certainly not a consumer-ready product. Friends come over  
and are amazed by it and immediately want one. I absolutely refuse  
and explain the time and effort I've put into my system that seems to  
them to run so smoothly.

> Then, on the third hand, you have people like Michael T. Dean up
> there, who are happy to do the admin issues, pay lots of money, and
> put up with all the hassle.

This is me, too. And this is who should be using MythTV. Again, this  
is not a consumer-level product. If you can't build from source,  
track down a networking issue, figure out why your kernel upgrade  
made your capture cards disappear, you need to either invest the time  
to figure that stuff out or wait for MythTV 1.0.

> So, the question is, what are most MythTV users?  In my life, most are
> of that Second Hand type...  Which makes me sort of sad during this
> recent debate.

No one said it was going to be cheap. No one said it was going to be  
easy. Remember, this is a system built to serve one man's needs. If  
anyone else uses it, cool. If other people want to contribute to help  
it work better for them without disrupting that one man's needs,  
cool. If you can't be bothered to figure out how to get tv listings  
data without paying for it, too bad.