[mythtv-users] MythTV vs. SageTV vs. Etc....

[Jeff Monks]

> So, how do we feel about how Myth stands up against the competition? Linux
> is undeniably more stable in general, but support for the hardware is behind
> that of the Wintel world. Truth be told, my general wish for my PVR as it
> stands is an easy way to archive my shows to DVD-Video. 

I think (just a guess) that you'll find most of the people here don't 
really follow "the competition" too closely.  Myth was begun as a project 
to scratch an itch Isaac had, and others with the same itch joined in, and 
those of us who have settled on Myth are using it because it works for us.  

Is there room for improvement?  Yes.  Can we get some good ideas by 
looking at what other products can do?  Probably.  Will features be added 
just to make Myth "competitive"?  Most likely not.  The development path 
will follow the interests of the main developers, with peripheral input 
from the community.  If anyone wants to do DVD writing badly enough, it 
will get done.  If it's not of interest to anyone with the programming 
skill to do it, it won't.  That's the nature of open development.

> Right now, it isn't
> easy for me and if Sage or anyone else can give me the PVR functionality of
> Myth, with an easy archival tool (and yes, I know several on the list have
> talked about development of such a system) I will take a hard look at it.

If what you want is completely solved by using one of the Windows products, 
then use that, and not bother with Myth.  I think you'll find a large 
percentage of people on this list use Myth precisely because it's NOT a 
Windows product.  They want something that runs on Linux, for a number of 
personal reasons (I, for one, would never trust anything as important as 
TV watching to Windows...  <grin>).  So products like SageTV, no matter 
how good they may be, won't satisfy these people's needs.

I don't mean this to sound like a "love it or leave it" speech, because I 
don't think anyone here really feels that way.  But if you are genuinely 
uncomfortable using Linux, then maybe one of the Windows products really 
is the way to go, at least until you have more confidence in your Linux 
knowledge.  

I've told a few other newbies repeatedly that Myth is a tough "my first 
Linux" project.  With install guides and distros like KnoppMyth out 
there, it's a lot easier to get going than it used to be, but if someone 
with no Linux experience gets it going using a step-by-step approach but 
doesn't understand anything they've done, it will ultimately not be a 
very good experience for them (as you alluded to - when things break, you 
don't know where to look, how to get more information about what's going 
on, how all the parts of Myth fit together, etc).

That said, Myth is really an amazing piece of work for such a small group 
of developers in such a short time.  And it can be a great learning 
experience for Linux newbies if they approach it as such.  But if you just 
want something you can plug in and start watching TV, it's not really for 
the faint-hearted.