Building my first HTPC and trying to decide on software. I would like to stick to open source if possible. I was planning on doing Mythtv but since I am not planning on using it to record TV is this the right choice? Are there better HTPC media centers for playing back/ripping DVD's, playing music, playing divx/xvid, etc. ?

Since I'm very new when it comes to Myth (2 weeks now) I can only tell you about my limited experience. I am using Myth primarily to record/watch OTA HD/DTV channels and I believe this is where Myth excels. Much of the core functionality is build around a PVR solution, anything else are add-ons or plugins. Some of those plugins work ok, some do not.

If you're unsure if Myth is for you, do as I did and install VMPlayer and create a myth virtual machine. It's actually pretty easy (following several online tutorials) and will allow you to experience Myth w/o actually installing on a computer. The only drawback to this is that you can't really watch videos, but you get a good sense of the interface.

R

If you're not recording then I wouldn't bother. The new as of .21 internal dvd player is decent enough but mythmusic is pretty bad and the video file plugin itself (though really combined with the dvd side now) doesn't do much more than kick off mplayer for me. I'd look elsewhere.

-Trouble

Check out Geexbox or VideoLinux.

If you are primarily going to use it to watch HDTV, Kaffeine can be set up for that, and it works pretty slick. It can even stream the video over a LAN.

Kaffeine seems to be European, and supports the DVB standard out of the box. It requires some modification to work with the ATSC broadcast standard. If interested, I guess I could write up a "How-To" on configuring it for ATSC broadcasts.

I'd second GeexBox for a nonrecording media center.

The cool thing about Geexbox is the small LiveCD size. The boot CD acts as the "firmware" turning any mobo/CPU/GPU/audio card into a set top media player- no hard drive needed. It runs 100% in RAM, only 64MB needed, though 128MB protects you for HD material.

You can boot from the Geexbox CD and your OS drive is not touched.

You can automagically browse your existing Windows share drives/folders with an IR remote, and wifi if you use a supported wireless adapter- use the ISO generator to build your own ISO to burn to CD.

Use the current HD capable version-
http://www.geexbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9621

The cool thing about Geexbox is the small LiveCD size. The boot CD acts as the "firmware" turning any mobo/CPU/audio card into a set top media player- no hard drive needed. It runs 100% in RAM, only 64MB needed, though 128MB protects you for HD material.

You can boot from the Geexbox CD and your OS drive is not touched.

You can automagically browse your existing Windows share drives/folders with an IR remote, and wifi if you use a supported wireless adapter- use the ISO generator to build your own ISO to burn to CD.

Use the current HD capable version-
http://www.geexbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9621

Thanks everyone, I was playing with Elisa last night and it looks like it has potential, any feedback on it?

Or any feedback on XBMC on linux?

Or any feedback on XBMC on linux?

Judging from the response of the early alpha releases for Linux, and the recent Mac release, and of course its long history on the Xbox, XBMC should be da shiznet for set-top like front end media players for Linux when they get it to late beta/release candidate level.

http://xbmc.org/

Just some side commentary- after the years I waited to do some Myth boxes as it matured, and the effort I'm putting into them, it appears that the whole broadcast/tuner model will be going away within 5 years anyways.

Anyone who's used Hulu.com, the free TV series like Twilight Zone and Star Trek TOS at cbs.com, Daily Show at Comedy Central, Olberman at msnbc.com, and all the other web video feeds out there, can clearly see this is where it's all going.

The cablecos know this- that's why they're implementing bandwidth caps now in many tests around the country. That's why they're so adamant to kill net neutrality. They see the proliferation of all these on-demand, freely available video feeds- they want to put the video stream genie back into the bottle, the same bottle they've milked us all for far too long, in their desperate attempt to retain control of PPV and broadcast models.

IMO, the whole RF-modulated thing with tuners will be history in 8-10 years or less. All video other than OTA will be via streaming internet webpages. Like CBS.com, NBC.com, etc, all te other cable channels like HGTV, TDC, TLC, HIST, etc will just put the past years worth or more of their shows on their sites- no need to DVR/PVR if you can watch at any time...

The downsides will be commercials you can't skip (easily), initially not HD (but Star Trek TOS at cbs.com is already DVD quality), and possibly DRM-like protections due to Flash or similar, hopefully still Linux compatible (they better be, or I won't watch anymore).

The upsides are true a la carte programming- premium channels can just require a web page username/password you sign up for.

So, in the next 5 years or so I plan to enjoy the last vestiges of cable RF-modulated, old fashioned broadcast streams, but their days are definitely numbered (other than OTA).

While the Internet continues to grow as a viable distribution model for content, I don't necessarily share you enthusiastic view of that being the only model in a decade.

First, the content distributors need a solution to interface with televisions and a user interface that is "point and click" simple that works from 10' on a couch.

Second, never underestimate sporting events. The examples you highlighted are great for pre-recorded, insensitive to time events, it doesn't work as well for live events....yet.

Third, bandwidth is still a huge limitation for HD quality and better programming. You already referenced the marketplace's move towards metering/capping which will slow and/or make distribution via the Internet impractical for people that view a relatively large amount of content.

I look forward to the idea of an al a carte type of environment, I'm just not as enthusiastic without the above issues being resolved.

I don't record and use Freevo (which geexbox is based on). I think it's a lot easier to setup then Myth was.

While the Internet continues to grow as a viable distribution model for content, I don't necessarily share you enthusiastic view of that being the only model in a decade.

First, the content distributors need a solution to interface with televisions and a user interface that is "point and click" simple that works from 10' on a couch.

Second, never underestimate sporting events. The examples you highlighted are great for pre-recorded, insensitive to time events, it doesn't work as well for live events....yet.

Third, bandwidth is still a huge limitation for HD quality and better programming. You already referenced the marketplace's move towards metering/capping which will slow and/or make distribution via the Internet impractical for people that view a relatively large amount of content.

I look forward to the idea of an al a carte type of environment, I'm just not as enthusiastic without the above issues being resolved.

+1. Good summation of the probs with Internet video delivery. Well said.

For #1, devices like the AppleTV, Popcorn Hour, etc. are a good start. It's not a big problem. The other two are big ones right now, though.

While the Internet continues to grow as a viable distribution model for content, I don't necessarily share you enthusiastic view of that being the only model in a decade.

First, the content distributors need a solution to interface with televisions and a user interface that is "point and click" simple that works from 10' on a couch.

Second, never underestimate sporting events. The examples you highlighted are great for pre-recorded, insensitive to time events, it doesn't work as well for live events....yet.

Third, bandwidth is still a huge limitation for HD quality and better programming. You already referenced the marketplace's move towards metering/capping which will slow and/or make distribution via the Internet impractical for people that view a relatively large amount of content.

I look forward to the idea of an al a carte type of environment, I'm just not as enthusiastic without the above issues being resolved.


From the pro-web-video POV:

re: 10' interface

As we all know, the MCE's, Myth's, and Freevo's of the world handle this. Whether the typical Flash video feeds will interface with these front ends in a standardized fashion moving forward is a big issue. I suspect Lirc support will be possible with the Flash media players embedded in web pages in the near future, if Adobe and site designers cooperate. 10' interfaces could easily be added by site designers for their media content, as part of their Flash media player functionality.

OTOH, I haven't used a 10' interface at all ever since 1999 with my first Win98 media PC's, in either my basement theater with front projector setup or the den with 42" LCD. IR keyboards and desktop shortcuts and media players with standard Gui conventions appear to be workable for anyone who's tried my media machines, including non-techie types. After all, any PC user is used to standard desktop conventions. Plus, the Logitech diNovo Mini I think will set the standard for media PC control. Everyone is used to "thumb" typing and direction navigation on their PDA's/Blackberries/cell phones, so why would/should it be different for media PC control? I think there will be a lot of diNovo mini knockoffs within a year, both RF and IR.

That said, I'm installing Myth boxes throughout this year to see how they fly with the wife/Mom/et al. The machines will have a standard desktop they can exit to, in order to do standard Firefoxing and so on. The main motivation for Myth/buntu was the tuner card and recording support. If there was a WinTV2K-like desktop app for Linux that supported scheduled recordings using TitanTV and/or SchedulesDirect, I might not use Myth.

re: live events/sports

I agree that's the biggest challenge for IP based video streaming networks. I wonder if everyone had Verizon FiOS service if this would be a problem, assuming 720p HD using the best codec/compression (~5Mbps or less to every home in a city using x264). Bittorent-like p2p bandwidth sharing algorithms may help solve this for "live" events, assuming some small time-delay is acceptable, i.e not eveyone will be in sync, but within a few minutes or so.

re: HD bandwidth

Judging by the example and success of lossy compressed music in the market, which is not "HD audio" by any measure- bitrate, source resolution or samplng rate, etc- I think a lot of avsforum people overestimate the value of HD video (1280x720 pixels or higher) vs good quality SD (720 x 480 pixels or less with minimal artifacts) to the average consumer. Witness the failure of the HD disc formats in the market. I don't know anyone not on avsforums that would consider 30 Rock at Hulu.com or Star Trek TOS feeds at cbs.com "bad" or substandard in any way. In fact, most people would judge these current web feeds as better than their analog cable, better than SD digital cable/sat, and as good as DVD at minimum.

Perfect timing:

http://weblog.infoworld.com/yager/archives/2008/06/ahead_of_the_cu_7.html

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/06/18/2240231.shtml

These quotes sum it up:

"Unless, that is, you download your entertainment through bt. Does it meet the definition of "irony" that it's far easier for an unskilled person to do this than to deal with HDMI, HDCP, broadcast flags, frame buffer blocks, and other nonsense created specifically to frustrate consumers' efforts to enjoy digital entertainment? "

"The more industry tries to lock down TV broadcasts and equipment, the more moms and dads and grandparents they confuse when they can't watch their programs. That in turn drives the young'uns, who get the calls from the confused parents, to just burn them restriction-free copies from bt. Or, neither party bothers and they stop watching TV altogether and go hang out with friends instead--nothing worth watching anyway.

The MSM are getting desperate, folks, because they can see this writing on the wall. Though the Internet freight train has been coming at them for a while, most of them ignored it hoping it would go away or that some technical lock would magically save them. They refused to learn how to adapt. So now they're pulling stuff like this and like what the AP is doing (trying to lock down their content through the courts by declaring it illegal to link to their content or quote them at all).

Bonfire of the Vanities..."

Perfect timing:

http://weblog.infoworld.com/yager/archives/2008/06/ahead_of_the_cu_7.html

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/06/18/2240231.shtml

...


This stuff just annoys me to no end. With music and with other media. I guess we are all potential crooks... That's the way I feel I am being treated by these industries.