[mythtv-users] Myth backend: Console or GUI OS ? Init level 3 or init level 5 ?

[Ian Clark]

On 12 September 2011 19:34, Raymond Wagner <raymond at wagnerrp.com> wrote:
> On 9/12/2011 14:18, linux guy wrote:
>> I'm about to start building my Myth backend and I can't seem to find
>> anything that discusses the pros and cons of installing the OS (Fedora
>> 15) as console only or GUI, ie install KDE as well.
>>
If you're happy installing the packages you need (ie the graphical
tools) from an ssh session, then don't bother with a GUI, just install
something like xterm to bring in enough to allow remote X sessions
(overs SSH for instance) to work okay.

>> So, other than a bit of disk space, is there any reason why I
>> shouldn't install KDE when I set it up ?
>
It'll be running in the background, which means more stuff started at
boot so slower boot times, and a greater load on the system. (although
this last point is probably moo.*)

On 12 September 2011 19:34, Raymond Wagner <raymond at wagnerrp.com> wrote:
> MythTV is designed to run full screen, so there is little to know use in
> running a full desktop environment such as KDE or Gnome that you will
> never see.  That said, MythTV is not a window manager, and should not be
> run without one.

If you're running it as the only GUI on the box you really don't need
to bother with a window manager for myth, it's only extra crud waiting
to draw window furniture it'll never need.

I've run myth and XBMC without a window manager for years.

I have a myth user, it has an '.xsession' which just runs
mythfrontend. Then on boot an /etc/init.d script just does
(essentially) 'su -l -c startx myth' (this used to be in rc.local)

NB: It's usefull to have a remote button mapped to a script which will
kill things if they become unresponsive, ie, I have my power to kill
xbmc if it's running, then frontend if it's running

Cheers,

Ian

* It's like the opinion of a cow, not important.