[mythtv-users] RANT: MythTV has a *horrible* end userexperience.

[Yan Seiner]

Leen de Braal wrote:
>> Okay, so you have ranted ;-)
>>
>> Now, why not scratch that itch and do something about it? I have
>> worked on several open source projects and whilst of course
>> constructive criticism is never a bad thing and often helps the
>> developers understand the users requirements, quite often these things
>> are not fixed in a timely manner due to a lack of resources.
>>
>> This is the beauty of Open Source - why not get your hands dirty and
>> try and improve the UI experience for everyone?
>>     
>
> Well, I do agree on most of the things the OP says, I would also like to
> do everything with an Apple remote.
> But I am no more than the programmer's brother, and I think much more
> people like me are on this list. Happily using myth after they have put in
> plenty of time to get things running.
>   

OK, so if you're not a programmer but you see problems, then you can 
still help.

1.  Document specific problems and identify solutions.  e.g. the ff 
thing: I wrote a user interface that had a single input control; a 
rotary knob.  I timed the speed with which the user turned the knob and 
developed an acceleration curve so that the knob could be used to input 
numbers from 1-5 as easily as 1-10000.  Something like that could be 
used for the remote.  The longer you hold it down, the faster it goes, 
up to a point.

2.  If you're a graphic artist, post some ideas on a better UI.  Doesn't 
have to work, but the images might get some graphically challenged 
programmers involved.

3.  Write docs.

Rants are good, and honestly, I like this one since it does identify 
specific problems with Myth that are real.  My family has learned to 
deal with the vagaries of Myth but that's probably because we are all 
fairly linux-literate and used to doing things on a computer.

I would never recommend Myth as an appliance; it needs pretty constant 
feeding and care.

My own personal problem with helping development is that I don't write 
in C++.  It's just a language that I don't feel comfortable in; I 
develop in C and php.  I focus my attention elsewhere so hopefully I 
develop enough karma helping out in other projects that someone else 
will help out with Myth....

--Yan