[mythtv] MythTV vs. Vista MCE: First Impressions (Looong!)

[Jean-Philippe Steinmetz]

I have to agree with Colin on many counts here. Turning a blind eye to
constructive criticism about something you are working on is foolish, not
because the project is trying to gain market share, but because people won't
take the project seriously otherwise. I've used several PVR systems
including Myth, MCE, Vista MCE, MediaPortal, ReplayTV, TiVo, etc and the
number one reason why a person will choose product X over Y is because it is
simpler to use and still gives them the features they want. The Myth UI is
cumbersome and not entirely intuitive. Yes, it does work and works well, but
that doesn't mean its a good UI. I also agree with Colin that the attitude
of "it's free so what do you expect?" is a big cop out. The whole idea of
free software, as I see it, is that its a chance to get the software you
want to have, the software the big companies won't give you because they
dont have the time to invest in it or because you simply want a good
alternative. So the best software imo will be powerful and easy to use, not
because I want to attract average Joe but because of efficiency. Computers
were invented to make life easier not harder.

I would be more than happy to take put in some time to re-develop the UI to
be more fluid, user friendly and overall more efficient because it would
help me every day when I use it. I also think it would be hugely
advantageous if the frontend ran on multiple platforms using the same
codebase. Often times I like to be able to watch shows from my main desktop
or laptop but can't because I do not run Linux on these machines as
dual-booting is just a big hassle.

Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of free time lately so before I make the
venture into the main UI i'll finish up my work on the FLV player first.

Jean-Philippe
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