Linux MCE

I don't know about the OS, but the guy in the video is sufficiently annoying that I don't ever want to use it.
 
general said:
I don't know about the OS, but the guy in the video is sufficiently annoying that I don't ever want to use it.
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Hahahahaha, yeah I will agree he reminded me of the Comic shop owner from the Simpsons a little... but eh this is Linux's response to Microsofts multi billionion dollar marketing department...

hahahaha

I think they'd have been better off with some hot chicks personally...

but outside of that the OS itself looked pretty damned impressive to me. No comments there?
 
I'm a mythtv user, although the interface that the video showed (the parts of it i could stand to watch) look really slick. I'll have to try it out. Be very careful of your hardware purchases if you're going to have a linux pvr setup, but beyond that, I really like knowing that there is no coprorate entity that I am beholden to for my media.

I may just try this out on my frontend box... now that I've almost got it working the way I want it to.:eek:

-q
 
I noticed that he had a pretty hard time using that remote. He kept missing the buttons and a couple of times had to retry as many as 5 times.

Anyway, strolled thru their website and it has a link to that same video with a comment that they have had a lot of negative comments on it and are redoing it with a pro voice guy. But the kicker is that they have to wait to re-edit it until he gets his "VISTA" system up and running. His words, not mine.

All in all, I think it's exactly what Linux needs to really make a dent in the HTPC arena. An all in one package thats easy to install.
 
upriverpaddler said:
An all in one package thats easy to install.
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Easy to install? I attempted it and was graced with a monumental failure. Not only did it fail to install multiple times, but it also decided it would be nice to replace my sources list with only their repo's. Ever heard of tail? -_-
 
OK, maybe "easier" to install? I haven't done it yet. But the other option of installing and configuring all of that stuff individually must be impossible for noobs (such as myself).
 
The Flash video demo looked kinda cool, but I am really starting to hate the anti-Microsoft bias of the FOSS community. Like the gyro mouse doen't work with Windows! OMG!
 
I hate that guy and everything he is. If you're going to stop watching what you're watching, who the hell cares how much you can see of it? I don't use any media center, but god damn man your logic is not everyones.
With that being said (sorry), Linux has always shown me that it is very good at doing things on its own, and even so I am still impressed by this.
 
illgiveumorality said:
I hate that guy and everything he is. If you're going to stop watching what you're watching, who the hell cares how much you can see of it? I don't use any media center, but god damn man your logic is not everyones.
With that being said (sorry), Linux has always shown me that it is very good at doing things on its own, and even so I am still impressed by this.
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The thing about being able to still see the video is that you might want to go queue another clip, check what you have, and in general just look around.
 
heatlesssun said:
Free / Open Source Software - FOSS

Has anyone here actually used LinuxMCE? I'm thinking about trying it out. It does seem powerful, but it is Linux and I doubt that it's plug and play.
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I think I'll take the plunge and boot up a LiveCD just to get it working.
 
http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Setting_up_MythTV

Maybe it's just me, but Myth with a very ugly wrapper doesn't appeal to me. As well as the Myth stuff to set up (dependancies, settings, making the cards play nice with your kernel, etc), you've got even more to set up. Joy.

If it promised a better music playing interface I'd be tempted, mind you. Mythmusic isn't the most intuitive of interfaces.

On the whole, Linux tends to be more powerful than Windows for specialised tasks. But (and there's always a but), it tends to have a steep learning curve to it. I dread the thought of explaining the console to my parents, or walking them through installing another dvb-s card over the phone. Once it's stable, it's a rock, but any changes or problems tend to need the console.
 
general said:
I don't know about the OS, but the guy in the video is sufficiently annoying that I don't ever want to use it.
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IDK If I would ever not use, but his tone seriously turns me off. It's that same ole "I'm better than you because I use an OS thats not Windows".

Edit: I couldn't finish watching it, you don't diss a company during a comparison of 2 products.
 
Dang, Windows users get offended really easily! Chill out guys. Anywho, the Linux MCE looks awesome, I hope to try it out once the semester gets done with. Thanks for the heads up!
 
My god, that interface is terrible. Coming from a tivo I couldn't imagine using something like that. At least the windows MCE UI is somewhat intuitive, although it looks horrible in comparison to tivo too.
 
Leon2ky said:
IDK If I would ever not use, but his tone seriously turns me off. It's that same ole "I'm better than you because I use an OS thats not Windows".

Edit: I couldn't finish watching it, you don't diss a company during a comparison of 2 products.
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Hahahaha, you can always tell a non TV watcher out of the bunch.

I direct you sir to every single house cleaning product commercial ever made in the history of man.

Our product A: so clean your kids will go to college free!!!111!1!

Our leadining competitor B: DRAINS THE BLOOD OF KITTENS TO FUEL BONFIRES IN SATAN WORSHIP RITUALS!

Of course, noone is making money off the linux, so this is just someone's personal bias showing.

Defending Microsoft is kinda lame though, I don't think they need our help man as I understand it they engage in quite a bit of harsh business tactics. Ever see Pirates of Silicon Valley?
 
Teknikallysekure said:
Hahahaha, you can always tell a non TV watcher out of the bunch.

Defending Microsoft is kinda lame though, I don't think they need our help man as I understand it they engage in quite a bit of harsh business tactics.
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No I watch a fair amount of television I understand how advertising and marketing works, considering I studied it for 2 years.

What's wrong with defending a product I trust? So what if they have money? If you haven't noticed the world revolves around it. Just because you don't pay for Linux doesn't mean a lot of money isn't being put into it.
 
Well, I'm quite impressed with Linux MCE. I'm not sure it's an un-biased comparison. But I was contemplating the idea of setting up a MythTV PVR, but now I may try Linux MCE instead.

P.S. That guy is extremely annoying.
 
Mute, then watch. Otherwise, "but-ten... but-ten... but-ten..." *Rip ears off*
Dammit, man- the second 't' is silent! It's pronounced "but'n!" :p

It's definitely NOT "out-of-the-box, because finding, installing, and configuring a TV tuner for MythTV is still a headache. Hauppauge's are easier than most, but even they require some delicacy to install. God forbid I want to use a DualTV... *shudders*

That said, I did download the CD and will probably throw it on my MCE box for a week once Verizon comes in next week.
 
Leon2ky said:
No I watch a fair amount of television I understand how advertising and marketing works, considering I studied it for 2 years.

What's wrong with defending a product I trust? So what if they have money? If you haven't noticed the world revolves around it. Just because you don't pay for Linux doesn't mean a lot of money isn't being put into it.
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I think the point should be that "LinuxMCE" looks very much like an amateurish attempt at a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist. The UI is terrible and very cluttered, the whole concept of it being "instant on" and "just works" just has to be crap cause we all know better then that. Especially as it applies to setting up Linux (or even XP/Vista).
 
The comparison he has set up is quite stacked in favor of LinuxMCE. He took great care to have a setup of all "well supported" components for linux. I'm sure that it's very possible to just toss the cd into a box and be up and running in no time flat... IF EVERYTHING WORKS. That's a pretty darn big IF.

All that being said, it looks pretty sweet. Personally, I kinda dig the interface, but I'll have to try it out for real to see if that impression holds up. If this works out as I hope it will (auto update features work, etc.), I may build up my old pvr box for my parents to use.

Anybody have any info about the gyration mouse that he's using with an IR emitter in it? That thing looks pretty nifty.

-q
 
Such a biased video it's not even funny. But I guess that's to be expected from a Linux developer. I think Crim nailed it....he's trying to fix problems that don't exist by pointing out things he thinks are problems with MCE....personally, I've never once been bothered by the points he makes about MCE.

The interface is different, but looks really nice. I don't like how the directional buttons are mouse emulation though. I'd rather have a direction button move me around in a "digital" fashion rather than "analog", if that makes any sense.

I've never touched Linux except for a few experiments with Knoppix during crash recovery scenarios...and I have absolutely no idea how difficult my HTPC hardware will be to set up. The fact that this is free though is very promising, so it is worth a shot.

So, I tried to install it.

That's when I got denied. Ubuntu installs fine, but LinuxMCE refuses to install.

Back to MCE I went. Somebody wake me when this thing doesn't require an advanced knowledge of Linux to operate.
 
qfour20 said:
Anybody have any info about the gyration mouse that he's using with an IR emitter in it? That thing looks pretty nifty.

-q
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Only what I've seen online. It looks pretty neat if you want to emulate a mouse without actually picking up a mouse, that's for sure. But as rarely as I use a mouse with my HTPC, I think I'll stick with my current Harmony + standard kb & mouse combo.

http://www.gyration.com/en-US/OEMProduct.html

It's not cheap. $110
 
jebo_4jc said:
Only what I've seen online. It looks pretty neat if you want to emulate a mouse without actually picking up a mouse, that's for sure. But as rarely as I use a mouse with my HTPC, I think I'll stick with my current Harmony + standard kb & mouse combo.

http://www.gyration.com/en-US/OEMProduct.html

It's not cheap. $110
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Crap, for that price I could get a decent Logitech multi-function remote.
 
qfour20 said:
The comparison he has set up is quite stacked in favor of LinuxMCE. He took great care to have a setup of all "well supported" components for linux. I'm sure that it's very possible to just toss the cd into a box and be up and running in no time flat... IF EVERYTHING WORKS. That's a pretty darn big IF.

All that being said, it looks pretty sweet. Personally, I kinda dig the interface, but I'll have to try it out for real to see if that impression holds up. If this works out as I hope it will (auto update features work, etc.), I may build up my old pvr box for my parents to use.

Anybody have any info about the gyration mouse that he's using with an IR emitter in it? That thing looks pretty nifty.

-q
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Gyration's products are excellent. For $100, you can pick up a wireless gyration air mouse and keyboard. We used them for our conference room setups where I used to work and I now use one at home as well.
 
Fix Me said:
Gyration's products are excellent. For $100, you can pick up a wireless gyration air mouse and keyboard. We used them for our conference room setups where I used to work and I now use one at home as well.
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Yeah, I've already got a gyration mouse (keyboard died when it met a pint of beer... thank god it was cheap). I'm just curious about the version he's using in the video, which seems to have an infrared emitter hooked into it. From what I can tell, LinuxMCE is sending IR codes over RF to the gyration mouse, which then spits them out at the media components to control them (tv, reciever, etc.)

Anybody see this, or am I just losing my mind?

-q
 
qfour20 said:
Yeah, I've already got a gyration mouse (keyboard died when it met a pint of beer... thank god it was cheap). I'm just curious about the version he's using in the video, which seems to have an infrared emitter hooked into it. From what I can tell, LinuxMCE is sending IR codes over RF to the gyration mouse, which then spits them out at the media components to control them (tv, reciever, etc.)

Anybody see this, or am I just losing my mind?

-q
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I'm gonna guess the Gyration RF receiver has IR blasters integrated, so the PC sends IR codes via the blasters.

That's the way Logitech's RF Harmony remote works, anyway, as well as the MCE remote.
 
jebo_4jc said:
I'm gonna guess the Gyration RF receiver has IR blasters integrated, so the PC sends IR codes via the blasters.

That's the way Logitech's RF Harmony remote works, anyway, as well as the MCE remote.
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Not to nitpick, but the Harmony remote and the MCE remote are both just infrared remotes that can send IR commands that they have learned. This is the way my 880 works, and it rocks. The 890 series remote also has an RF emitter that speaks to a "base station" with an IR emitter in it that you can put in your closet. Works very well for controlling equipment, but what really interests me from this video is that it looks like the mouse that he's using has an ir blaster on it that the PC can "talk" directly to, possibly and ledxmit device under lirc.

What this does is it allows your HTPC box to directly control components without having to have an IR Blaster stuck onto the front of the devices connected to a serial port on the box. It looks very slick, and I'm willing to throw down some cash to try it out. Anybody have any more info on this bugger?

-q
 
qfour20 said:
Not to nitpick, but the Harmony remote and the MCE remote are both just infrared remotes that can send IR commands that they have learned. This is the way my 880 works, and it rocks. The 890 series remote also has an RF emitter that speaks to a "base station" with an IR emitter in it that you can put in your closet. Works very well for controlling equipment, but what really interests me from this video is that it looks like the mouse that he's using has an ir blaster on it that the PC can "talk" directly to, possibly and ledxmit device under lirc.

What this does is it allows your HTPC box to directly control components without having to have an IR Blaster stuck onto the front of the devices connected to a serial port on the box. It looks very slick, and I'm willing to throw down some cash to try it out. Anybody have any more info on this bugger?

-q
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Exactly. I was referring to the 890 with the base station.

I'm watching the (annoying) video again, and this guy's voice and bias make me want to end my life.

What makes you think he's not using IR blasters in the video?
 
qfour20 said:
Not to nitpick, but the Harmony remote and the MCE remote are both just infrared remotes that can send IR commands that they have learned. This is the way my 880 works, and it rocks. The 890 series remote also has an RF emitter that speaks to a "base station" with an IR emitter in it that you can put in your closet. Works very well for controlling equipment, but what really interests me from this video is that it looks like the mouse that he's using has an ir blaster on it that the PC can "talk" directly to, possibly and ledxmit device under lirc.

What this does is it allows your HTPC box to directly control components without having to have an IR Blaster stuck onto the front of the devices connected to a serial port on the box. It looks very slick, and I'm willing to throw down some cash to try it out. Anybody have any more info on this bugger?

-q
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Exactly. I was referring to the 890 with the base station.

I'm watching the (annoying) video again, and this guy's voice and bias make me want to end my life.

What makes you think he's not using IR blasters in the video?

That's some sweet editing, too. The last 6 minutes of the video are a black screen.

Edit. Double posts FTW
 
qfour20 said:
I really like knowing that there is no coprorate entity that I am beholden to for my media.
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Hahahaha. Yeah except the corporate entities that finance, produce, and distribute everything you watch/listen to on your HTPC.
 
that guy makes me not want to ever use a computer ever again. he realllllly makes linux users look bad
 
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