Heh, Wow, the LUG has chimed in. I know cmoates and bblboy54 personally. We all are members of the same LUG. It is unfortunate that his installation did not go well, I have had my share of pitfalls, and hair pulling, and alcohol drinking.
And I have been bashed on more than one occasion, but unfortunately my inexperience was the direct cause. Although it is painful to be verbally accosted, it does help re-align ones focus. I started using this project at version 7.04. It was painful, but it taught me a lot. The members of this community, although abrasive are truely the heart and soul of this project. Developers/Hackers like Thom, and Zaerc, are for the most part a big bit of the glue holding it all together. I converted from Knoppmyth. Which as it stands is a very well thought out mythtv distro. It helps to have LUG members as a huge part of its developement, and I truely enjoyed the years I used it. And this I did on recommendation from a fellow LUG member.
I also remember when I initially stated to the LUG that I was going to try LMCE, I was told that it was too complicated, not very well supported, and poorly documented. Most of which is true. Or was. Now with the release of 710rc2, I can honestly say that my last installation of LMCE was very painless. There are a few bugs, that for me at least, were answered in the forums here, some from the wiki, but almost entirely from the mouths of Thom, Zaerc, Posde, Hari, Freymann, and the list goes on and on......
Most of how I got this system functioning in full production in my home, came from the razor sharp retorts and **sighs!*** in the irc channel. But after the very few issues I encountered, this system, for me personally, works exceptionally well. While it has its bits of conformity, it is after all a "Home Control" platform, as well as a Media Center. It has very specific requirements, and if they are not adhered to, you will fail. While this seems quite "closed box" it is so for a good reason. Unlike a MythTV distro, that you can slap on just about everything, and requires almost no user intervention, LinuxMCE is so much more than that. That being said, if all you want is a Tivo-Like device, that can play music and such, then use one of these. But if you want total home integration, (like the stuff we all used to drool over on the various SciFi shows throughout the decades), then LinuxMCE is where you should look. There is nothing like it. Best I can tell, and I have not tried it, LinuxMCE has even surpassed the capabilities of pluto home, and it can cost over $20,000 to have that implemented. This project is FREE as in BEER. The developers who work on it, do not get paid. However they are working in every free moment they have to improve it, expand it, and perfect it. I have some unusual hardware, so unlike the infamous video, my installation was tasking. I broke stuff, I bought stuff, and now it gets used every day, by my family, and at night by me. Granted the biggest and most used function is MythTV, so I ask myself, "Why not mythbuntu or knoppmyth?" The answer is simple. My children are very young. They have a TV in their playroom, and in their bedrooms, that can do anything they may need. Watch a disney movie, or favorite kids show, listen to their sesame street cd's, and all they have to do is tell there mother, who, as quickliy as a few clicks, can start or stop, and fully control said media, instantly from anywhere. This is the functionality that keeps me here. Nobody else has that. I say this but know full well, that XboxMC which I have added to my mix, has web based control. So at the simplest level, that would do. But it even needs to get its media from somewhere, and the platform I choose is LMCE. And having played with the latest version of MythBuntu, it also has mythweb based controls, in the form of a graphical keyboard, but they are nowhere near as simple to use, or as functional as the LMCE Orbiter technology.
I will end this rant, by saying I am sorry that Bob did not have a good run at this. I tried to help when I could, off of these channels, but perhaps he will try the next release, which I am sure will be even better that the current, which for some works well.
I will continue using LMCE. I will continue to contribute through the wiki, the forums, and template creation. And I will stay here. I am sure that after this post, I will take some sh!t, but you know what, so what!
Reagrds,
Seth
