Filed under: Audio, OS Updates, Video, Linux, Open Source
Ubuntu-based media center Mythbuntu 7.10 released
by Brad Linder Oct 25th 2007 at 3:00PM
But there are also community supported projects like Ubuntu Studio and Mythbuntu. These projects aren't sponsored by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. But they build on Ubuntu Code. While Ubuntu Studio features a slew of packages for creating and editing audio, video, and images, Mythbuntu is more of a Windows Media Center/TiVo alternative.
At its core, Mythbuntu is Ubuntu without all of those useless packages like OpenOffice.org, Evolution, or desktop effects. Don't expect any productivity software here (although you can install it if you like). Mythbuntu is dedicated to media. The application ships with the XFCE4 lightweight desktop, because you'll probably rarely ever see the desktop,
Mythbuntu includes everything you need to set up a MythTV frontend and/or backend. That means you can watch and record live TV (with the help of a TV tuner), watch videos, listen to music, or browse pictures -- all while using a 10-foot user interface. In other words, the graphics are all designed to look good from ten feet away. You could just add the MythTV packages to your current Ubuntu system, but Mythbuntu works right out of the box.
Because Mythbuntu comes works as a LiveCD, you can test out hardware compatibility before installing any software. The LiveCD works as a MythTV frontend, letting you mount shared network drives to play audio or video.
We first took a look at Mythbuntu this summer when it was in alpha. Mythbuntu 7.10 is the first full release, and the team plans to follow the Ubuntu development schedule. That means there should be a new version out every six months.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James said 6:03PM on 10-25-2007
Any advantages over KnoppMyth? I'm running it right now, and I get the impression that Ubuntu expects at minimum a remotely-recent system to run on. My Athlon 850 probably wouldn't cut it...
Still, it's good to have options, I guess.
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Colin said 9:35PM on 10-25-2007
I tried KnoppMyth a couple years ago when I first decided I really (no, REALLY) wanted a PVR; I could never actually get it running.
MythBuntu is better in that regard, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. After a good 6 or so hours figuring out how to get it running, I could not get the aspect ratio to work properly: Everything was half as wide as it should've been and the OSD barely fit on-screen.
It's too bad, because I'd like to run Myth, but it looks like it still has a ways to go. I've rolled back to my XP/Meedio setup for the time being.
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Colin said 9:40PM on 10-25-2007
@James
You can probably run Mythbuntu on an 850; most of the eye candy seems to rely on the GPU and, so long as you've got a MPEG-2 encoder, you won't be taxing the CPU when recording. I have an Athlon XP 2000+ (a fair jump over yours, yes), but it didn't seem to be under any stress.
Besides, it's a live CD! Download it and find out if it's worth it. :-)
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Cory said 4:53PM on 10-26-2007
MAKE MYTHBUNTU RUN OFF OF A DVD PLAYER! Incase you don't have a computer with TV output (yet)
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Colin said 9:15AM on 11-10-2007
@4/Cory:
Um. That's probably not possible.
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