[mythtv-users] How to avoid upgrade headaches

[Steve Peters - Priority Electronics]

Hello mythtv users,

It seems that each time i upgrade ubuntu, something that did work great, 
now doesn't work so great. Going to mythtv 0.22 forced me to upgrade 2 
versions. I had been pretty hesitant to upgrade ubuntu because of the 
issues.

Vdpau doesn't work with this new upgrade even though i am running an 
nvidia 9500 and the 185 drivers mythbuntu installs, nor does half of 
mythweb, and the main kicker is that my sd recordings don't fill my 4:3 
tv but are squished about 50 pixels on each side when you play them. You 
gotta love that.

So I was wondering, what do you guys do to avoid this constant 
"upgrading" problem. I know I could go with slackware, but I'd really 
like something that is simpler. Debian seems good, but how would I go 
about upgrading myth to the new version when that comes out? Also, the 
mythbuntu control center is pretty sweet and really makes it easy to get 
things like remotes and transmitters going, so would I miss that by 
going to Debian?

Is there a solution out there that is fairly simple to setup and will 
not need to be totally upgraded every time a new version of mythtv comes 
out? I have no problem updating the packages that mythtv requires, it's 
just the whole system that I don't want to upgrade. I'm fine with doing 
an upgrade every couple of years, but every six months is just too 
often. Why upgrade when the system works great anyways. Well, I was 
forced to this time to get the new mythtv features.

The issues I have are very hard for me to diagnose and fix, so a clean 
install seems to be the best option. But to have to do that every 6 
months when something breaks is just out of the question.

Am I way off and this is only an Ubuntu issue and most other distros are 
fine?

-Thanks for any ideas.
-Steve