<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:730227001;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:794718728 67698703 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1
{mso-list-id:2137789686;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-1033622796 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l1:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>We’ve seen dozens of messages fly by about how good
the MythTV user experience is in the last few days, expressing many different
opinions. I think it is important to split MythTV into components when
considering this:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<ol style='margin-top:0in' start=1 type=1>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Setup and configuration<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Recording scheduling.<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Navigation and recorded TV
playback.<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Plugins<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ol>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>This is obviously an arbitrary breakdown, but I think it is
a reasonable one.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>1. Setup and configuration isn’t perfect, but it
isn’t horrible. I followed some guide (Jarod Wilson I think) and
had no trouble with the initial setup. I think I would have had
difficulty without a guide to follow, and that’s clearly a shortcoming.
Another pet peeve of mine about the setup is the mixing of backend and frontend
configuration. I think these should be clearly separated. But
realistically, I don’t do this often, and I can live with it. Does
it hold back MythTV adoption? Hard to say, but I doubt there are many
non-techies running MythTV.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>2. Recording scheduling. In our house, I do all of
this, so nobody else has to worry about it. It was a little confusing to
me at first, but I learned. Could it be better? Sure. Would
it be too complicated for my wife and kids? Probably not, because they
have the benefit of me to tutor them.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>3. The navigation and playback experience I think is
quite good in Myth. My wife and kids have no trouble watching TV shows.
There are some small inconsistencies and annoyances, but none significant
enough for me to even remember them. Overall it is quite intuitive.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>4. The plugins are the weakest part of Myth, but that
shouldn’t be surprising. There are some huge inconsistencies even
in the “official” plugins. I hope that some of these are
fixed. But look at it this way: the developers had three
choices: 1. Fix a plugin to make it consistent. 2. Make
it an official plugin despite the issues. 3. Refuse to make the
plugin official. While the first option would have been nice, it would
take time and effort. That leaves two other options. I would prefer
them to pick option two. If it is too inconsistent for me, I can chose
not to run the plugin, but at least I have the option. And the more
people that use a plugin, the greater the chance that someone will exert the
effort to fix it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>So, there you have it. My view. Some will agree
in whole or in part, some won’t. But I really hope that people will
separate their plugin criticism (in particular) from the rest of the system.
View the plugins as an optional component that you could choose to run or
not. If you want to criticize MythVideo, criticize that plugin, not
MtyhTV as a whole.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Doug<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>