http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 828,00.asp

Apparently KnoppMyth is good enough to test your hardware on, but not good enough to install. Joy...

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cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

This is another example of a tech doing a review for the masses without listing his/hers/its objectives.

What is it about Mythdora that makes it so appealing. Another review blew water and wind up its arse as well and discounted KnoppMyth. On the other article of which I don't recall now I did a comparision of Mythdora and KnoppMyth and in less then 15 minutes of research I found 4 things that KnoppMyth had over Mythdora.

It is an absolute tragedy that these people are respected members of the journalist community and they don't fully do there research.

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Girkers

bet ya dollars to donuts its because of km's terminal based install. and also bet ya more dollars and donuts the same reviews will hail R6 as a HUGE improvement because it looks prettier at install and therefore is perceived easier to install. people like pretty installs.. they just do. and joe linux newby is intimidated by screens of rolling text. ...i know this because joe linux newby is a good drinking buddy of mine.

the reality is that reviews dont spend much time actually exploring things.. id guess they installed.. then used mythtv for 5 minutes. so aren't actually comparing the distribution.. just the perceived easy of install.

that and the fact that jarod works on mythdora.

Cecil ... i like km largely for two reasons... 1. cause im australian.. and mikes scripts have made it possible for me. 2. this forum... without which i wouldnt have mythtv cause i know nothing about linux. not wanting to neglect anything else associated with km, but to me.. the forum alone puts km far in front.

Ok, I scanned through the article quickly and think I may have one clue as to a possible reason why the article glossed over KnoppMyth a bit (as alluded to by a previous post):

KnoppMyth is a bit awkward to use as a STANDARD DESKTOP COMPUTER.

Not sure, but it seems that the writer may have been considering that as important, for some reason...

I have messed with the other software mentioned and none of them come close to the ease and completeness of getting KnoppMyth running as an HTPC backend server.

Including running MythTV on another distro.

But KnoppMyth IS fairly awkward to also use as a desktop machine, "out of the box."

Of course, it was not INTENDED for use as a desktop machine.
(The fact that it can be used for that as well is a plus, and doesn't take much effort.)

I was never biased towards using KnoppMyth until I went through and tried all the options my own self...
Anybody who is looking for a complete HTPC server software (that will NOT be used as a desktop machine )and tries the options without a preconceived bias can really only come up with one conclusion:
KnoppMyth.

If normal desktop use is also desired, then there are other alternatives that may suit as well....
I'd still use KnoppMyth though, since it solves so very many issues that MythTV can have in other distros.

I think it's even simpler than that. They saw the live CD thing and never looked past it. "Oh look, it's based on Knoppix and works as a live CD, it must only be good for use as a frontend." The title for that page of the article "LiveCDs and Pre-configured Distributions" tends to reinforce this.

Of course it could also be that the article is really a veiled advertisement for the book mentioned in the article. but I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume sloppy research rather than crass commercial motives.

tjc-
On your first point, you could be right, although they DID mention- briefly....- that it can be installed on a hard drive. So while I grant the possibility, I don't think so.

I actually think your second point more likely:

In most distros, it does take enough reading to fill a book to end up with the same backend KnoppMyth provides in short order.

KnoppMyth might kill book sales.

Hi,


tjc, You are being WAY to kind but what else is to be expected of a gentleman

I have gotten more valuable information from a comic book.

There may not be a bunch of glitter during the ~15 minute KM install, however there is a ton of gold under the hood!

I don't understand this desktop stuff, what are people looking for anyway? My work machine is a triple boot laptop, M$ for the "special proprietary tools", Ubuntu for wireless when I am on the road and KM for everything else which is ~99.9% If I really want a desktop to look at, I kill the frontend otherwise I use the menu or hot alt keys. Since I can only do one thing at a time, alt tab gets me from app to app (including the frontend). Granted, I do not have icons on my desktop but I would not do that disrespect either.

As an example this morning I loaded in some photos from a CVS dispose-a-cam (copies on cd) and then went to the menu to open digikam to remove the "red eyes" from our little girls pictures. When I left for work a few minutes later, my wife was enjoying the slide show of the kids, without red eyes. Did that require a "desktop"? Guess I can't print any of them either cause I don't have an "official" desktop?

He did go on about the LinMCE a bit but he did not mention that it works quite well if you use R5F27 as a backend other wise just try to get mythtv to work. And of course it took three cds and a full evenng just to get it installed. I thought MythDora was less than a pleasent experience to install (had to try once)

I, like many others, am probably partial to KM as I still have my R4V2 install cd so after a while KM gets to be like an old shoe, comfortable. Even when one puts on a new version it is still comfortable.

Security wasn't mentioned at all although I suspect LinMCE would be pretty good. But you can lock down KM with an apt-get install firestarter Done, you just became invisable.

Mike

What I don't get is why anyone would want a media server to be a desktop. It's an appliance. Certainly a hackable appliance, but still fundamentally an appliance, like a VCR or a DVD player or a TV. The hardware that I spec'ed out and purchased for that box reflects it's purpose. I've got workstation boxes (both at work and home) for desktop use, with very different hardware specs that reflect their purpose. Having the KM box double as a desktop would not only be redundant but would interfere with it's primary purpose.

Cecil/Dale: Here's your chance at fame, fortune and to boost KnoppMyth popularity.... Write a Book!!!

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ASUS AT3N7A-I (Atom 330)
TBS 8922 PCI (DVB-S2)

Really? Is this a joke?
I didn't realise a mouse could be helpful at all.
It went on to say something about Linux MCE needing a gyroscopic remote, but based on some of the other crap in the article its probably total bull.

This article was a joke... The author emailed me after I posted on the forum. It boils down to this. His comments on KnoppMyth are based on 2 articles. Somehow, these two article became "the community view that MythDora and Mythbuntu are better suited for the new user". I'm by no means a journalist, but I always thought a good journalist would cite his or our sources. He didn't even answer my questions if he knew about the features I listed.

I asked how two articles can be the community view. No answer. I then cited several articles and interviews that I've done. He asked me to send him links which I did.

Initially, in our exchange, he stated he would post corrections to the article. But in our exchanges, he danced around the questions, then counter with wordplay... So in the end, I told him I didn't care.

I'd be surprised if I hear from him again or if the article is updated. It is awfully sad when a "journalist" doesn't cite his or she sources in an article. Not to mention, do proper research on said article.

That's a big problem with blogs in general. Readers put too much trust/faith in what's being written, Bloggers suffer from an overstuffed ego, believing that they're relevant and important.
Don't let it get you down.
KM is the easy way to build a DVR. We all know it.

I actually did learn something from the ExtremeTech article that I never heard of before. I found out about MythTv Player.
http://sudu.dk/mythtvplayer/

Anyone try/use it?

Yes, it works, and it's easy.

One thing I don't get about these articles is that they don't state what objectives they are basing there outcomes on. Some people mention that in the article it stated that it had desktop tendancies, I don't remember that and I don't want to waste my time reading the article again.

If the "journalists" were transparent in their reasoning and quote their sources I think it would go a long way to seeing their leaning towards a particular product.

I also think a lot of these people get credibility from the sites they post on as in this case and then they think they are god and are always right.

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Girkers