[mythtv] [patch] Channel visible indicator

[Kevin Kuphal]

> I'm not saying that this is a useless feature, I'm just 
> pointing out that there ARE alternatives that work today and 
> give you (almost) exactly what you want.  Having the ability 
> to turn on HBO or Encore when the cable company gives you a 
> month (or weekend) free sounds like a very useful feature.

For me it is all about the end user experience.  As I use MythTV I'm trying
very hard to put myself into those shoes.  Sure I can edit the XMLTV
configuration or I can NULL out the channel ID in the database or I could
even write myself a little script to just delete the offending rows every
night if I wanted to, but as the product matures and we envision a day where
maybe, just maybe, this product might work its way into a consumer system,
these little end user things are going to make or break it.  

It is in a vein of a suggestion I posted that hasn't made it into a feature
yet to have a "System Messages" screen where stuff that is important for the
user to know is logged into the DB (or other system) and displayed where the
user can read it and delete.  Things like "Could not get channel information
today" or "Error transcoding X file" or whatever that might be important for
a user to know that they might never find out unless they went down to the
OS level and checked some log files (assuming it was even logged there).
Anything we can do to increase the novice user acceptance factor the better.

I'm not try to be preachy here.  Just my .02 on the matter.  I hope Issac
sees it that way as well to apply the patch and then we can add in a setup
screen with tick boxes for configuring the field.

Kevin