ABSTRACT:
Jason Clark will present on MythTV on 14 May (Wednesday) at the SLUUG General Meeting, and at the
15 May (Thursday) STLLUG meeting. Essentially, the same
presentation will be done at both meetings.
MythTV
is free software licensed under the GPL that runs on Linux and Mac OS X systems. As an open
source DVR it does much more than just record TV and skip commercials. One controversy
about it, that's been floating around has been, if DVRs are technically legal, and if legal,
are they moral since they allow you to skip the ads that subsidize the programs that you watch.
MythTV is particularly interesting in this discussion because, unlike Tivo, it will actually skip
the entire commercial break from start to end automatically instead of fumbling around in 30 second
increments.
In passing, the Mythbuntu
Linux distro will be covered. Mythbuntu is an Ubuntu-based distribution and live CD focused upon
setting up a standalone MythTV system similar to KnoppMyth or Mythdora. It can be used to install
a standalone frontend, backend, or combination machines. Mythbuntu uses Xfce as its default desktop
and provides a graphical Control Centre to configure the system.
This first set of presentations will introduce MythTV, cover selecting hardware, the install process,
how to get the core DVR functionality working, using remote controls, getting that first show recorded,
scheduling and etc.
Hauppuage (a manufacturer of TV tuner cards) has provided one of their new hi-def tuner cards for
a door prize giveaway. Out of his own basement stash, Jason has provided a 2.5 inch 80 gig laptop drive,
a full 512M of RAM and a 1.5 Ghz Mini-ITX board; however, the ITX board didn't have enough umph to do hi-def.
So Jason is also scrambling to find some additional PC hardware to donate, but the giveaway may end up being
just the tuner card at this stage.
Jason is also working on getting a nice case for the whole thing (hoping for a small ITX case so that
this can be a nice addition to someone's home theater, but we may have to do with just a white box).
A completed MythTV system (at least the backend piece) will be built as part of the show.
The resulting system will be given as the door prize after the 2nd day. (Winner will be from either day.)
Jason will need all of the hardware for both meetings, so the doorprize giveaway will not be until the end
of the second meeting. If you can only attend the meeting on the 14th, you can still be in the drawing
that will happen on the 15th.
In the next month or two there will be a second follow up demo on advanced MythTV. It will include
transcoding for ipod, streaming web based content, building a dvd jukebox, diskless frontends, etc.
You can do some really wild stuff with MythTV, so we are most excited about the upcoming events.
BIOGRAPHY:
Jason is a 13 year veteran of the Unix industry and a recent transplant from Kansas City. He's been playing
with micro controllers since '96, first touched a computer in '97 (running FreeBSD) and had a PS1 running
Linux networked to an Ultra II and a Dec Multia in the basement by the end of the year.
