I'm not trying to start an argument here -- I'm just hoping that our collective experiences can help new users make an informed decision about which path is best suited for them.

For me, personally, there's really no other way to go but Gentoo on XFS, and, believe me, I've used just about everything.

Although the HTPC I've just built for my mother is currently running Mythbuntu (and I'm quite impressed with Mythbuntu even though I've never been a big Debian fan), it will eventually become a Gentoo box.

I'll elaborate in subsequent posts; but, for now, I'd really like to hear where everyone else is coming from.

mythmaster -- Thanks for starting this thread. I've found that you, waterhead, and Rgb (and others), have given me some good tips (intentionally, or unintentionally). Eventually, I would like to get a minimalist HTPC setup for the purposes of handling videos, which I've recorded with my PVR-250 card (it will go into my new desktop PC, under construction).

My Experience, as a Linux newbie
After doing a little work with UNIX, by necessity, at work (many years ago), I wanted to try Linux. However, after getting various versions of Red Hat, I got very frustrated. I had enough software tweaking at work, and didn't want to do a lot of fiddling with my home computers (other than building them).

I came across Ubuntu after reading a snippet in a magazine about it. I tried it (version 6.06LTS) and really liked the simplicity of installation (on an obsolete Sony laptop) and the fact that it recognized all the hardware. When my present HP laptop started having USB port problems (which I attributed to a software failure), I bought a new HDD for it (on sale at my local computer specialty store) and installed Ubuntu 7.04. Bingo, it worked completely. I did have to do a minor tweak to get the Wireless adapter to work, but that was all (and 3 of 4 of my USB ports worked - they hadn't before).

I reinstalled 7.10 when it came out and I'm now running 8.04LTS. I did notice that 7.10 booted up a lot more slowly than 6.06LTS and 7.04 did. I haven't tried any real video use yet, so I haven't run into the problems with MythTV that a lot of you guys have. Once I get my new desktop built, that story may change.

BTW, I was using both Firefox and Thunderbird on my Windows PC. I had no problems getting those running (Firefox is installed by default) under Ubuntu and moving all my profiles over. I preferred Thunderbird because of it's similarity to (and file compatibility with) the Netscape email programs I had been using (I prefer the way it saves messages) from "way back" - I had stopped at Netscape 4.79 because they changed the file format in the newer releases.

However, being retired, I no longer have the desire to delve into the nitty-gritty of software customization of my PC's. That is, unless I really have to. I'm really looking for a "plug & play" OS that isn't paying homage (and money) to MS. So far Ubuntu seems to fill the bill 100% - I can easily save and view my digital camera pictures and the OpenOffice programs give me the MS office document compatibility that I need. Its ability to read and write to FAT16, FAT 32, and NTFS windows HDD formats also helps with the compatibility with the my other half's Windows PC computers too. Eventually I will have to get my HP printers and scanners working with it (and that may take some doing - I'll see, I may have to use Wine for those).

I started playing with Myth a couple of years ago. I started with Fedora 5 and have stuck with it, currently running 7 on the BE and 8 on my FE. At the time, being a total linux noob, the choice was made because of Jarod's great guide for setting up a Myth under Fedora.

I did have some hardware setup glitches with FC5 backend... when I switched to 7 the few hardware setup issues disappeared, and I have had no problems with 8 on the FE.

I tried playing around with installing Mythdora on a test system, and although it was super easy to set up and I probably would have started with it if it was around when I started playing with myth. After using a full Fedora install, I found the limited set of things included with Mythdora a little limiting, especially since there other things I use the BEserver for besides Myth.

To be honest, I haven't played around with other distributions because I've had a very stable system, and as far as myth is concerned I follow the golden rule of "if it ain't broke...."

The only thing I don't like about Fedora is that they update twice a year and EOL old versons so fast.

The other reason I'm hesitant to change distributions is that I've become fairly comfortable with Fedora, and being a relative linux noob, I don't want to have to re-learn another distros way of doing basic tasks.

A little OT but after setting up several Myth boxes, I think that distro choice is much less important than proper hardware choices for a Myth newbie. It appears that so many people don't do enough reading and make hardware choices that are either not well supported under linux, have known stability issues, or are just way underpowered for what they want it to do. With HD, etc you just can't take some old P3 and make it a backend server and expect to do a lot of commercial detecting, transcoding, etc.

The best piece of advice I received early on was ... read read read. mythtv users mail list... mythtv.org manual and FAQ's. People who have setup/ stability issues with Myth tend to be the type that try to reinvent the wheel. There are a lot of people out there with very stable Myth systems... use the hardware they use and you'll find that Myth is a very stable product that requires minimal time to keep updated and running smoothly.

I'm using Mythbuntu but have run Fedora, Gentoo, standard Ubuntu and Suse. I think the best way to go is standard Ubuntu. I am not very happy with some of the missing things in the Mythbuntu distro and you can add all of the Mythbuntu goodies to standard Ubuntu. I just ordered up a new HTPC to replace my ancient Nforce2/Athlon setup (which has served me well over the years...Purchased in maybe 2003?) and it will get standard Ubuntu.

I am currently using Ubuntu and have been since 4.10 (hoary warthog). I've tried RH, suse, FreeBSD (one of my favorites), Xandros, Linspire, etc. My main server though as been on Ubuntu since 4.10 because it worked. It's running my mail, nfs, web, ssh, myth, mysql, calendar, main backup, music, video and a few other server programs, all on one box. It been upgraded to 6.06 and I've left it there. It current has a 4 TB of crap on it and I am adding more space this week :)

I am using and my family is also using Ubuntu on all of our desktops and portables, with the exception of my son who plays games :rolleyes: I've got two mythfrontends that are stand alones and used only for media/music. I am going to be testing a Istar mini this weekend to see if I can work it into the mix :D
I've always liked the debian packaging over rpm and other repositories. Nothing like living in library mismatch hell in linux - been there and plan on not doing that again. Ubuntu is a good beginners playform but I am no noob and I still get under the hood and make it do what I want. I still hand build most of the kernels I use, as well as custom compile/modify most of my high performance programs.
So I feel I get the speed of Gentoo with the easy of Ubuntu. ;)
Also, I've been 99.99% Ubuntu for over 1 and 1/2 years.

I am motoring through a Mythbuntu 8.04 install at the moment.

While choice and flexibility are important principles, it's equally important for the Linux community to rally around a "chosen few" distros and "ways of doing things", which helps both newcomers and those of us who build our own PC's and/or maintain other's PC's.

Having standardized directory structures, naming conventions, app packaging/install/unstall systems, and other admin/maintenance related issues only helps Linux adoption and converts from other OS's.

This doesn't mean there should be Only One, but a top 2-3 distros geared to specialized areas (desktop, server, media playback, media production, etc) helps focus and concentrate resources needed to improve the user experience.

That said, for these reasons, I've settled on Debian based distros, which means *buntu's and Mythbuntu for the time being, though I am open to experiment and try RH based distros like CentOS or MythDora.

I feel that Slackware based distros like Suse/Novell have been contaminated by the Microsoft deal, so I don't plan to touch those.

I primarily use ubuntu (since Dapper) - although I am a "if it works well enough and you spent a ton of time customizing it don't break it" type. My primary mythboxes still run on edgy, with one on Feisty, so I've never actually used "mythbuntu" and I am happy using myth version .20.2. I have Gutsy on my Laptop, and am undecided as to whether I will upgrade that to hardy since it works just fine. I also use PCLinuxOS and straight debian on a couple of machines.

In the past I used redhat and was a big fan of netBSD, but many years passed between my initial Linux use, and when I came back to it I wanted an "easy" distro - and I decided on ubuntu and haven't had much of a reason to leave it as my primary OS.

If I had more time, I'd probably keep all my machines updated, and use more distros - but I don't have a lot of time these days...

Thanks for the replies, everyone! :cool:

Although I give them props for pretty much single-handedly bringing Linux into the mainstream, I've never really cared for Red Hat distros as they leave me feeling somewhat confined, and their standard installs load me down with too much stuff I don't need (for home use, anyway -- got no problems with Centos). I then gave the bsd distros a try and was much more comfortable, because they really are rock-solid. At the time, though, their kernels weren't modular and I knew that in the long run more hardware would be supported more rapidly in Linux, so I ended up cutting my teeth in Slackware. Talk about "dependency hell". (@rgb: I'm not aware of any connections between Slackware and SUSE.)

My first "htpc" was in Slackware on a Pentium 166MHz (can't remember if it was Pro or II) with around 160MB RAM, on-board Trio64 video with 4MB video RAM, and a bt software-encoding tuner card whose minimum requirements were a PIII 300MHz and win98. I hooked up some rabbit ears to it and had it running from the console with mplayer and svgalib. It was able to pick up my local FOX station, so I used it to watch "The Simpsons" just about every night. For some reason, my friends were not impressed.

I swore by Slackware, doing minimal installs and then building everything from sources (including glibc, gcc, etc.) also trying various distros for comparison (SUSE, Debian) up until a co-worker introduced me to Gentoo a couple of years ago. Now I use Gentoo :) , and although I am 100% tempted to go the hybrid-way of MichaelZ, I will continue to use Gentoo for a number of reasons (not listed, you're welcome :D).

That said, everyone that's posted here has echoed the main concern for 99.9% of users, and that's having something that's easy to install, configure, and maintain. For which, the *buntu's are well-equipped, in my opinion.

I have used RedHat releases for many years, so Fedora was a natural choice for me. I started tinkering back with Myth 0.18, following the instructions on Jarod Wilson's site.

Boy has it gotten easier since those days. My "production system" (the one my wife uses) was built from MythDora 4.0 and has been rock solid for over a year; the only changes I've made to it were to load the SchedulesDirect updates last fall.

I'll echo what someone else said earlier too - picking the right hardware is key.

Plain old Debian. Testing or Unstable with debian-multimedia.org as a source for workstation or stable for vital servers.

Thanks for the replies, everyone! :cool:
(@rgb: I'm not aware of any connections between Slackware and SUSE.)

For which, the *buntu's are well-equipped, in my opinion.

According to this
http://futurist.se/gldt/gldt76.png

Suse forked from Slackware in 1994. I don't know if they continue to have any association or code sharing.

According to this
http://futurist.se/gldt/gldt76.png

Suse forked from Slackware in 1994. I don't know if they continue to have any association or code sharing.
Cool, thanks rgb. I've never seen that one.

There's no way Slackware and SUSE are in bed together. Plus, you can't blame that whole branch of distros for something Novell did after it purchased SUSE.

Cool, thanks rgb. I've never seen that one.

There's no way Slackware and SUSE are in bed together. Plus, you can't blame that whole branch of distros for something Novell did after it purchased SUSE.

Slackware and Suse may not have any official arrangement, but the fear is, if upstream distros share legacy code that steps on MS's claimed IP, then that whole segment of the tree is "contaminated" with MS IP fud.

Slackware and Suse may not have any official arrangement, but the fear is, if upstream distros share legacy code that steps on MS's claimed IP, then that whole segment of the tree is "contaminated" with MS IP fud.
I don't think you have a clear understanding of what that deal was about. Were it to have any relevance (which it didn't, except to incite fear-mongering), then it would have affected the entire Linux community, not just the branch of distros which stemmed from Slackware and Slackware itself.

You will not slander Slackware in my thread :)

First time Linux users should probably go with one of the specific MythTV distros like Mythbuntu, Knoppmyth, Mythdora, or others if there are any. And if ones building a box for nothing more than a standalone DVR or frontend, then a Myth distro should also be considered. The distro version really only matters for build in support. So if your familiar with Linux, then whatever version you chose should work fine. I compiled mythtv from source the first time not realizing there was already an rpm package for the version I was running. Right now I've got a Mandriva box, 2 Mythbuntu boxes and a Mythdora box. they all work well.

I don't think you have a clear understanding of what that deal was about. Were it to have any relevance (which it didn't, except to incite fear-mongering), then it would have affected the entire Linux community, not just the branch of distros which stemmed from Slackware and Slackware itself.

You will not slander Slackware in my thread :)

I don't have *any* understanding of current IP law in the US, and just avoid IP issues entirely ;)

No intent to denigrate the Slackware tree- just making an observation of the sentiments I've read in the /. and Digg discussions of the past year or so.

Plain old Debian. Testing or Unstable with debian-multimedia.org as a source for workstation or stable for vital servers.

I second this! I played with several distros and ended up with Debian. Not the easiest in the world but not the most difficult either. It was simple enough to not make it frustrating yet I can do anything I need with it depending on the use. I've got:

Mame Cabinet (Lenny)
Everyday Desktop (Lenny)
HTPC (64 bit Lenny)

Soon I'll add an Etch RAID 1 server for backups and storage.

I researched this issue when building my Myth box and could find very limited info on the 3 Myth distros, even after searching other lists. Although I learned command line UNIX (sans online man pages for lack of disk space - 10 MB drives in those days!) back in the 80s for my CS curriculum and am comfortable messing around as a software developer, I wanted to have a stable Myth box that needed to stay up and running to be able to record programs daily (I couldn't and wouldn't have time to be patching/rebuilding the distro in less than 24 hours with a full-time+ job working 7 days/week). I narrowed it down to between MythDora and MythBuntu, with the impression that MythDora was more stable and a "just install it and run it" system v. MythBuntu, which was more of a tweakers system with the latest and greatest stuff. So I settled for MythDora, but when it didn't work with my hardware configuration, I simply reformatted and loaded MythBuntu, which supports all my hardware.

Just want to reiterate my preference for the *buntu group of distros, which has shaped up very nicely as a great family of distros to choose from for various purposes, with the benefit of sharing structure, conventions, installers, repos, tweaks, etc. As of today, the *buntu family (all with Debian cores) encompasses

Ubuntu (Gnome)
Kubuntu (KDE)
Xubuntu (Xfce)
EduBuntu (Education centric with lots of education software built in)
SciBuntu (science oriented)
openGeU (Enlightenment)
gNewSense (Ubuntu minus anything non-free-speech)
Ubuntu Studio (A/V editing/authoring centric)
Mint (Ubuntu base with all the media, plug-ins, and stability tweaks pre installed)
Mythbuntu (Myth preinstalled and configured)

I probably missed some in the *buntu family.

Basically, you can choose one that best suits any speed/config PC for any purpose. You get the advantage of common techniques/tools/ for maintaining office/desktop PCs and your media PCs, which will have similar directory structures, *.deb installers, etc.

I go with Mythbuntu for any PC with tuners installed, and either Xubuntu or Mint for other machines, depending on speed and config. For PC's lower than about 700Mhz, I use PuppyLinux, maybe Xubuntu. For media-playback-only front ends, I use Geexbox.

I like fedora and am now using mythbuntu (mainly because of it's nice diskless booting app). I plan on moving over to the LinuxMCE distro/system when it gets to version 8.04 for the home automation aspect of things