[mythtv-users] Setting up a backend on Ub11.10

[SiR GadaBout]

Hi.

SiR GadaBout wrote:
>>> After this operation, 78.7 MB of additional disk space will be used."
>>> After this operation, 261 MB of additional disk space will be used."

Tyler T. wrote:
> I'll be the first to raise my torch and pitchfork against bloat, but
> honestly, that's a drop in the bucket for a 32GB drive. If you were
> installing to flash on an embedded device, you'd have a stronger
> argument. ;)

That's fair - 32GB is sizeable.  However, please note that I said "16GB or
32GB".  Frankly, the smaller (and therefore the cheaper) the drive, the
better.  If trimming a MythTV install will make me comfortable enough to
use an 8GB drive, even better.  Frankly, I wouldn't be using Linux or
MythTV at all if I had sufficient cash at my disposal to buy whatever I
chose. :)

Michael T. Dean wrote:
> Have any of you realized how much difference there is between the size
> of a MythTV frontend and backend install and either a MythTV frontend
> only install or MythTV backend only install?  We're talking maybe 10MB
> of HDD space total.

Well, you see, _that's_ useful information.  You have to understand that
I've turned to MythTV because of the number of times it pops up as a
potential (and oftentimes, actual) solution to people's DVR-on-Linux
pursuits.  I'm coming at this as a stranger to the software trying to glean
more about it from those who hopefully know more than I do.  The impression
I received from my penultimate chat on the mythtv-users IRC channel was
that the way mythtv was bundled on Ubuntu 11.10 was inappropriate for my
needs, and contained more dependencies than were necessary (again, for my
needs).
However, what you are saying is that I may have been misled, and that
trimming unnecessary dependencies would be like peeling a tomato.  If
that's true, then I humbly accept it, and thank you for making it clear.

> ease of use is far more important.

I quite agree. Enabling a user to interact successfully with a piece of
software is something that every developer should aim for.  I might crassly
point out that that enabling should begin with allowing a user to install
and configure the software to his satisfaction, otherwise no matter how
good the UI/UX, your user ain't gonna git very far.  To quote Tyler T.:

>Why put the code in if you're not going to support it?

No offence intended, btw.[\digression]

Karl Dietz wrote:
> While you don't *need* xmltv in the UK you will likely *want* it because
> the xmltv grabber for UK enhances the radio times guide with lots of
> fixups that make setting up recording rules in mythtv a lot easier.
> (Due to not having to work around low quality guide data)

I use the OTA guides exclusively in EyeTV on my Macs, and have never had a
problem.  But perhaps this is moot, because…

> I have just reread your original mail and noticed that your primary
> target seems to be way more easily achieved with other products then
> MythTV.
> Like an EyeTV Netstream to get LiveTV to your iOS devices with one of
> your OS X machines doing the scheduled recordings that you programmed
> with your phone while on the way.

> MythTV just isn't so great when you want mainly LiveTV and some
> recordings. It works way better when you setup recordings for everything
> you might be interested in and stay clear of LiveTV.

I actually concur that MythTV may not be the solution I seek ("These aren't
the 'droids I'm looking for") - especially after my last and ultimately
fruitless exchange on the mythtv-users channel (being told to "die in a
fire" is always a pleasant way to spend an afternoon ^_^ ).  Your
suggestion that I use one of my OS X machines is one I would happily
implement, were it not for the fact that my only desktop machine is a 2010
Mac Pro that draws more power than my vacuum cleaner, and my other OS X
device is a MacBook Pro that'd be out with me when I wanted to perform the
remote scheduling...  A Mac Mini would be ideal, but unless one of you
wants to donate £480 to this cause, plus £140 for the EyeTV Netstream, I
think I'm currently just going to give up on this whole adventure…

…but that doesn't bother me too much, in the end.  Frankly (and I am not
intending to insult anyone here), I'm looking forward to putting this whole
business behind me - I feel like I've been advised to take a shortcut
through a brightly-lit, leafy forest that turned out to be a swamp
inhabited by mostly aggressive characters who insist, when I ask for help
out of the deep mire, that "you really shouldn't have come this way,
stranger", before wandering off chucking insults and laughing at the poor
fool who was lured to his demise.

I guess I'll stay on the list for a day or two more to allow any further
responses (seems only fair), but I'll unsubscribe by the weekend.

On a more cheerful note: I wish all on the list, and especially those who
offered advice in the spirit in which it was requested, a very Merry
Christmas, and, of course, a Happy New Year. :-)

Regards,

S.
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