I lost my root partition, (covered elsewhere) I needed to reinstall, and figured I had nothing to lose reinstalling w/mythbuntu. I figured I'd test drive it for a week or so. I use a couple remote front-ends, on which I run ubuntu anyway. It's given me a couple of headaches when Canonical pushed new myth packages, breaking compatibility, and KM took a couple of months to catch up.

So I figured nothing to lose right?

+ CD boots to a desktop; cool.
+ Initial install is pretty, unlike KM's DOSish installer.
- install took much longer.
- nVidea drivers were an option that I had to opt-in to. (KM always just put them on...)
? install made a single partition for everything, and an extended partition for swap. I think I prefer KM's separate /myth partition.
- Install ran mythtv-setup just like KM, but instead of entering SchedulesDirect and confirming everything as I did with KM I had to enter my cards, sources, connections -- pretty much all the options in the setup were hand-entered.
- I had to tell it what remote to use.
- I had to tell it what screen resolution to use. (OK, so KM sets my monitor to 800x600, and I have to hand-edit xorg.conf for 720p.)

I rebooted mythbuntu, and on first reboot, I get no video, and I don't mean no TV, I mean no screen at all. It this point I don't care if it's my fault or some other "simple" issue.

The only pluses in mythbuntu's favor are the faster release schedule, and a prettier install. And frankly who cares if the install is pretty after the system is up and running? KM's ugly installer works!!! The pretty installer had no brains. Sure the hardware was all auto-detected, and drivers were installed. But KM takes the extra step of configuring myth to use the hardware. As far as I can tell mythbuntu's installer builds a minimal OS, then just dumps myth on.

So I figured I got nothing to lose right? -- Wrong. I lost my patience. so much for a week or so testdrive. I spent the next half-hour reinstalling KM -- that includs the time I wasted finding my CD.

my 2 cents.

As the question of the installer, this has been raised before and I believe from memory that this is being looked at for R6.

Thanks for your comments it is good to hear how the other half live

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Girkers

I was building a new backend (ok a old pc but a new backend) so I gave MythBuntu a try as well as MythDora. I really liked MythBuntu but in the end you are correct it takes longer to set up and it requires more user intervention. Mythdora was more automated but very large and I could not get firewire working even after applying a patch. So KnoppMyth is still the champ (although I do have a shutdown problem that was not present on the other distro's, but that is for another thread).

Craig

I too am trying Mythbuntu, however I have it on a USB hard drive and boot from there while I am experimenting. The things that I like about Mythbuntu are:
1. The update process is much simpler. It can be set to be fully automatic, prompted or using a CD iso image.
2. Loading DVD codecs (lib---css) is a simple menu based system and does not involve secret men’s business that can not be discussed in this forum.
3. It comes with the Synaptic Package Manager which simplifies installing other stuff
4. The XCFE4 desktop is easy to use. Most things can be done from menus rather than command line.
5. It seems to boot faster than KM (not confirmed).
6. My overall perception is that it is suited to the linux challenged (like me)

On the downside, I also do not like the single partition but I easily set mine up similar to KM with the /myth partition as XFS. I believe the next release (8.10) will enable more flexibility on how to partition and will default to separate partitions. With regard to the more intervention required for installation I cannot comment. It is over a year since I last installed KM but I seem to remember having to enter in most details in the setup phase.

My main driver for trying it was to see if shared the freezing problems I get with my system when watching HD live TV or recordings. I have not seen any freezing yet but it may be due to my version. You will note by my signature that I still run R5F1 due to my irrational fear of the upgrade process. When I get brave enough I might upgrade my KM and see if I still have a problem.

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Intel DG965WH, Dvico DVB-T Lite x2, HDHR, Gigabyte GT220, KingstonSSD, WD20EARS version=latest

nicom,

In regards to 2 -> Mythbuntu is treading a fine line with this

&

3. KnoppMyth you can use apt-get (command line) or aptitude (X11) to install extra packages

&

5. Boot faster - you could make KnoppMyth boot faster, but what you have to remember is that this system is designed to work as box that is on must of the time so boot times is not really an issue. You can also use MythWelcome to make the computer go to sleep and wake up to record, does Mythbuntu have that functionality out of the box?

What I think some people forget is that Mythbuntu is developed by a team of people that have upstream contact with the Unbuntu developers, ref http://www.mythbuntu.org/gettinginvolved whereas with KnoppMyth it is developed by Cecil (cesman), with input and scripts from the excellent testers.

KnoppMyth is designed as a HTPC implementation, it is not an add on to an already existing OS, it is purpose built. Mythbuntu is only released when a new version of Unbuntu is released, a new version of KnoppMyth is released when it is tested and ready.

These are just some of the points that I feel make KnoppMyth the choice when it comes HTPC implementations.

Enjoy.

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Girkers

Girkers,

Regarding 2-> I don't know the implications other than the little I have read. Perhaps the Ubuntu camp do not feel vulnerable to the USA litigation machine because they are not based there. Perhaps their lawyers feel the disclaimer and warning given in the menu is adequate to protect them. All I know it would be much simpler to install ........ if ever I chose to use it.

SPM is much better for idiots like me than apt-get because it lists the packages available along with a description. With apt-get you have to know what you want before you ask for it.

As for the boot up time, my machine does wake by ACPI to record using Mythwelcome. Boot up time is an issue when you want to turn on the machine to watch a recording. Getting ACPI wake to work on my KM machine was not easy but I managed it with the help of this forum. I have not tested ACPI wake on Mythbuntu but it can according to its wiki. Whether it is out-of-the-box I do not know but then again it wasn't for my system.

You are right that Mythbuntu is only released when Ubuntu is released but that is twice per year, in April and October. The fixed schedule is good as you know when the next version is coming. It saves you downloading a version which is superseded the following week. On the downside is the uncertainty about how ready and tested is the version when released - that I don't know.

One thing I did not mention in my previous post is my perceived difference in the forums. The KM forum is far superior with a sensible structure and with a large, active contributor base willing to help. The more general discussions like this are interesting as well.

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Intel DG965WH, Dvico DVB-T Lite x2, HDHR, Gigabyte GT220, KingstonSSD, WD20EARS version=latest

Your information is far from complete. Have you used apt-cache or aptitude? They give you the exact same info as SPM. Reason is that the info comes from the apt database, and is therefore available to ANY tool that wants to query it. SPM is a gui f/e, aptitude is a curses based f/e, and apt-get is the command line f/e.

On a terminal, try "apt-cache search <string>" to look for something and you'll find the same information as SPM. Aptitude also gives you this. You can query the db as an ordinary user in all these tools, too.

Regards

Mike

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LinHES 7.4
Australian Dragon
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You've struck directly to the heart of the issue. It doesn't matter if commandline tools are more or less or equally capable to guis. It has nothing to do with the software -- it's the wetware. Text mode and command line is just flat-out perceived to be harder by most users.

I've worked with good command line tools, and some terrible guis. IMO an example is Rational ClearCase's cleartool (commandline) and xclearcase (gui) These are now IBM's; they're for source code control, like a CVS, or subversion. The commandline tool makes sense to *NIX users. The X Windows version looks like a filemanager only useless, command are all over the place and just terribly organized. I've asked people, "Why are you using xclearclease for that, just run "ct ls" the answer is inevitably "I just don't want to learn the command line"

Perception is reality. Text mode is perceived harder therefore it is harder. resistance is futile; logic is irrelevant. Join the WIMP users.

Thanks for the feedback folks. All I can say is R6 is coming along nicely! We already have a bootable CD that can be used as a frontend in conjunction with a working backend. We've a few more items to button up then we'll start to involve some key members from the community.

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cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

Why does the topic of this thread always remind me of ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs

(Oddly the sound of the official video here is worse than some of the dubs...)

I may love my mythbox, but not that much.

Since you opened the door though...
In a draft of my original post I was working on concluding with an analogy where mythbuntu's installer was like the "hottie that just won't let you 'close the deal'" while KM's installer... I knew it was sounding pretty offensive, but I was hoping for "funny-but-offensive" like a South Park or Family Guy gag. But, no matter how I tweaked it, it was just plain offensive without the funny. Emoticons didn't help either. I still can't figure out exactly how to end the analogy. Maybe leaving it to the imagination is best???


Still, I'm glad I tried mythbuntu; it scratched my itch to answer: "Is the grass greener over there?" It isn't.

I use Mythbuntu 8.04.1 on my slave backend. Knoppmyth R5.5 on my master frontend/backend. My brother in law runs Mythbuntu 8.04 on his machines.

Here is what I have observed on Mythbuntu:

1. Very easy to set up a quick slave backend. (Either from installer or control panel).
2. You can easily install a full KDE / Gnome / XFCE desktop from the control panel.
3. Many of the tuner cards supported on Knoppmyth out of box are not in Mythbuntu. You need to manually add the firmware (Kworld 115 as a example).
4. Do not select the Nvidia driver from the install. I had issues with a black screen after the install. Instead, add the driver from the "Hardware Drivers" selection after the initial boot.
5. No user jobs are set up as they are in Mythbuntu R5.5. You will need to manually add the Xvid/Ipod scripts in Mythbuntu.
6. The Xorg.conf file in Mythbuntu does not include the "Useevents" trick like it does in Knoppmyth R5.5 for Nvidia cards. Without this change, CPU usage goes through the roof.

There's an old saying that goes: "if you want a happy marriage find a plain girl, she'll appreciate you more." - Implying she'll appreciate herself less and you more.

I'm very new to KM having purchaced an AusDragon2 three weeks ago but I'm not a total Linux newbee, and from what I've seen so far I think it's a good analogy for the two approaches.

But having said that, when your brand new, and you start out trying to tweak things by sitting in front of a large format screen with a wired keyboard and mouse on the carpet, running back and forth to the desktop pc to check emails, forums and google, while fighting off the wife etc ...It's a totally different ball game to trying out Ubuntu on the desktop.

Mark

R5.5 Ausdragon2

Are you thinking of If you wanna be happy ???

Yeah I guess so. Dam you can find anything on youtube can't you.

I actually prefer this one though. It takes marketing in a whole new direction.

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Markr

R5.5 Ausdragon2