[mythtv-users] remote frontend on a Mac

[Simon Hobson]

lee wrote:
>On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 10:29:09AM +0000, Simon Hobson wrote:
>>  lee wrote:
>>
>>  > > You do it pretty much the same way you do under Linux. It works just
>>  >> fine on both my Mac Mini and MacBook Pro under Mac OS X.
>>  >
>>  >It doesn't work the same way. The settings are totally messed up ---
>>  >apparently mythtv is not able to handle multiple users and multiple
>>  >frontends.
>>
>>  Apparently it can - at least it does for most users. The fact that
>>  YOUR installation isn't working correctly doesn't mean that the the
>>  source package is broken.
>
>Then why is it unusably slow? The Mac sucks, but not that bad.

...

>  > If we start from the facts that :
>>  - You can have multiple frontends (which can have their own settings).
>>  - The Mac OS X frontend does work.
>
>apparently not

Well actually it DOES work for most people, and it certainly works 
quite nicely thank you for me. I don't tend to use it much, but I do 
occasionally watch tv on my laptop (MacBook Pro 1.8GHz) and standard 
def Uk Freeview seems to take only a moderate amount of processor 
power (about 60% of one core). Working on a smaller display would 
probably take less power - so feeding a regular TV with 1024x576 
would be better.

Now if you are prepared to accept that the programmes being shipped 
do actually work for most people, then we might be able to discuss 
why they aren't working for you. But as long as you maintain the 
stance you are, then I'm afraid you aren't likely to get much 
sympathy. The ball is in your court on that one.

>  > - Myth is (by design) a shared system.
>
>Well, I don't get it how anyone could get the idea to make it like
>that. So much work has been going into creating a client/server
>architecture, and it's all for nothing and useless because there can't
>be multiple users.
>
>>  then it sounds like you have several issues that need sorting out.
>>  Some of those are down to your understanding of how the system is
>>  supposed to work, some sound more like technical problems.
>>
>>  It might be more productive to try and work with people to resolve
>>  the problems you are having, rather than slagging the project off
>>  for what you perceive as design errors.
>
>It seems to be broken by design. In that case, there's no point in
>trying to get it to work. It's very disappointing.

No, it's not broken by design, it works very nicely to the design 
that was laid down. IMHO it makes no sense for a **home** PVR system 
to have per-user stuff like you are asking for - I think the WAF on 
such features would be very low. Geeks may like access control lists 
and stuff, non-geeks sharing the house tend to like stuff where you 
switch it on and it works - ) assume you don't have per-user settings 
on your current TV ?

WAF = Wife (or insert other significant household member) Acceptance Function.


Now, as you've already been advised, you have several options :

1) Accept that Myth might not be a perfect fit for what you want, but 
work with what is available. If you choose that option then you'll 
find plenty of people on this list that will help if you ask sensible 
questions.
"IT'S BROKEN" is not a sensible question, "My config is <x> but I 
have <some problem>" probably is.

2) Decide that Myth isn't right for you. Well that's fine, no-one 
expects a package to be right for everyone, and no-one is forcing you 
(or anyone else) to use it. If you choose that option, then please 
accept that it's not Myth that's broken, it's simply that the project 
design goals aren't the same as yours - that's not a good reason to 
slag it off.

3) Decide that Myth could meet your requirements and work towards 
making that happen. As long as what you offer makes sense and doesn't 
break everyone else's systems or create unnecessary bloat then 
patches are always welcome. But be aware that if you approach the 
task on the basis that your way is the only way, and if it doesn't 
suit others then they are wrong, your contributions are highly 
unlikely to be accepted.

4) As 3, but since this is an open source project, you are free to do 
what you like with the code for your own use. If you want a system 
that works for you, but not for the other 99.<something>% of users, 
you can have that IF you are prepared to put the effort into it.



>  > This is documented on the mythtv documentation page.
>
>If it is, I couldn't find any documentation telling me exactly what
>rights are needed.

http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO.html
Try section 6

Though I would agree with you that it can be hard to find stuff in 
the documentation (especially the wiki) if you don't already know 
where to look. <search engine of your choice> is your friend there.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Amythtv.org+configure+database+permissions
The first hit is the howto manual, though not the right page (that 
will take a whole extra click to get to the contents list !).

-- 
Simon Hobson

Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
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