Incidentally, I have remotely configured a Mythtv box using ssh and vnc. It took a little coaching over the phone to get it up enough for me to work on it though. The first time my friend installed the system he promptly forgot the root/user account passwords because he didn't think he'd need them again. Then I had to talk him through setting up redirection on his router to open port 22 and point it at the box. It was fairly smooth sailing from there. I used knoppmyth (now linhes) as the OS on that system.<div>
<br></div><div>It's not up anymore though, he's switched between cable and satellite a few times and just uses their DVR now.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 1:37 PM, Brian Wood <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:beww@beww.org">beww@beww.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"><div class="im">On Friday, December 10, 2010 11:30:39 am dargllun wrote:<br>
> Am 10.12.2010 09:26, schrieb okcancel:<br>
> > I need to *remotely* help a non-technical relative setup Myth.<br>
> > He will follow basic instructions like point, click, type,<br>
> > connect keyboard, mouse, network cable, coax cable, etc.<br>
><br>
> May I ask what exact added value your relative is looking for? I mean<br>
> over a standard HD recorder / PVR box you can buy anywhere?<br>
><br>
> Don't get me wrong, I'm all pro MythTV (obviously) but I've been<br>
> asking myself a couple of times why I still bother... The answer is<br>
> of course that it's just one of my hobbies. I just like the tuning<br>
> (no pun intended) and puzzling, upgrading, breaking and getting them<br>
> up again. But these are technical, geeky reasons. I believe the main<br>
> benefit of MythTV recognized by non-technical people would be the<br>
> commercial skipping function. And maybe the fan-art. But all in all,<br>
> I'd still wonder if it was worth it. How does the system perform<br>
> over a longer uptime? How do you handle upgrades (system and<br>
> mythtv)?<br>
><br>
> I'm sorry if this sounds too negative or even heretical to you or<br>
> others. Also, I'm happy for all success stories we could read here,<br>
> hats off to all of you. I also know that if you just leave a running<br>
> system alone, it's probably pretty stable. (I know I shouldn't be<br>
> upgrading constantly on all fronts.) I'm not saying it is<br>
> impossible, but I somehow doubt it's worth the trouble and time.<br>
<br>
</div>I have to agree with you, trying to get a non-technical users up and<br>
running with Myth can be a real trial, especially if they have no prior<br>
experience with Linux and CLI interfaces.<br>
<br>
I agree commercial skip is probably the most visible advantage for non-<br>
geeks. There are others, but it takes a while to notice and get used to<br>
them.<br>
<br>
But I've come close to losing friends by trying to get them to adopt my<br>
own personal hobby, which is what Myth is for a lot of us.<br>
<br>
I did manage to set up an SD-only machine using an older version of<br>
Mythdora that is stable and robust enough to be used as an "appliance"<br>
for my friend, but it was not something I would do again.<br>
<br>
The sort of person who learns how to use something by just pushing<br>
buttons will be in a lot of trouble even if you hand them a perfectly<br>
working Myth system.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>