[mythtv-users] Mythtv .19 live watching

[chris at cpr.homelinux.net]

On Fri, Jul 14, 2006 at 10:41:40AM +0300, Osma Ahvenlampi wrote:
> I'd think that would be fairly obvious, if you consider not the current
> implementation, but what a user would expect to happen with a TV set:
> 
> d) display live tv, but show a message over the OSD that storage space
> is not available, so time-shift capability and recording are disabled.

BINGO!

The reason this list devolves into design wars ("there's a problem 
with Myth's implimentation!" vs "if you want it improved then code 
it yourself!") is because some of us start from the position of 
"what should myth do, given limitations caused by past 
assumptions?" while others ask "what would Aunt Tillie expect?"

In the real world, when a VCR reaches the end of the tape it either 
stops recording (the "storage is critical so I'll panic" model) or 
else it rewinds and starts at the beginning of the current tape 
(the "storage is expendable so I'll eat my tail" model).  It 
doesn't reach over to your rack of videos and say "you haven't 
watched this movie lately so I think I'll write over it".

The intuitive solution when you don't have any room to record live 
TV is simply to not record live TV.

This is not the same as deciding whether or not to auto-expire a
low-priority recording to make room for a higher priority recording.