noob Q's about program guide & 0704

[dingo8baby]

hi i am very new to linux and ready to try an alternative to microsatan. i am very impressed with linuxmce, and have a few questions.
I am a bit concerned with the inclusion of schedules direct. i understand the desire of those who want a reliable program guide they don't have to worry about and are therefore willing to pay for it. however, i don't want to pay for it, especially when it costs more than my webhosting, and even more so when it costs more than a subscription to tv guide. so my question is - is there an alternative program guide or are we forced to pay for one? i'm confused about the zap2t issue, as i read the reason for the switch was that zap2t was no longer offering listings to us & can after Sep 1, yet i just went to the site and pulled up listings for my area no prob. is there at least a way to get a free OTA guide?
also, i am just a bit confused about the install of lmce. will the dvd install kubuntu, or do i need to d/l that and install it before i install lmce?
thanks for having patience with a linux noob.

[1audio]

1) The vendors of program guide information (Tribune is the largest) feel that their information has high value and don't want anyone to get it for free. There is program guide info contained in the digital broadcasts but it isn't very accurate and only good for 48 hours. The open source community seems to thing that writing a screen scraper for web sites would be better than the formated info from Tribune even if it needs constant maintenance. I would rather get the Tribune info for less than the cost of a TiVo sub that has been scrubbed by all of the other paying users like Comcast.

2) The DVD install puts everything in. And fast. I recently tried both. The 3 CD process took 4+ hours.The DVD took less than 1/2 hour. However if you are using non-standard hardware (something significantly different from the recommended stuff) you may need to use the CD process.

[dingo8baby]

no, see, i understand why people would want to pay for it. i'm just not one of those people. what i want to know is whether there is a free alternative for people like me, or are we stuck with a pay for it or have nothing option?
thanks for the reply, i'm going to install the dvd now.