[mythtv] Why MythTV didn't handle the UK Freeview lineup change

[Stuart Morgan]

On Sunday 26 Jul 2009 12:06:51 John Barberio wrote:
> Stuart Auchterlonie stuarta at squashedfrog.net wrote:
> > What is guaranteed to be unique is the ServiceID which is found in the
> > PAT. This only changes when they go and rearrange the channels.
> >
> > However, as far as i can tell they cheated a bit when they "moved"
> > virgin1. What happened was they aquired a 24hr slot on another mux
> > and setup virgin1 there, and their existing 12hr virgin1 slot was
> > renamed to virgin1+1
>
> Again, here you make the incorrect assumption that the way the line up
> changed was 'invalid' or 'cheating'. It's not. It was within the
> accepted used on the network, ServiceID is unique only at time of
> transmission it may be reused if the same slot is changed to a new
> channel, as happened here.

You may know different, but we spoke to a guy working for Arqiva/BBC who said 
this is not the case. According to him, the rules state that if a channel 
changes it's service id should too and when this has failed to happen in the 
past it's been the source of some friction between engineers and broadcasters.

Virgin may understandably not have wanted their channels to go off-air on many 
STBs because of a change in serviceid, keeping it in place meant they could 
inform viewers of the need to rescan. They skirted the rules.

Now clearly we need to be updating channel names & numbers which hasn't always 
worked in the past for some reason, but it's being worked on. It's not our job 
to keep you informed, if you just spent some time reading the -dev list, -
commit list, wiki or existing tickets you might have noticed that the channel 
scanner is being completely re-written for 0.22.

The reason you have received scant attention before now is because, whether 
you intended it or not, you have come across as aggressive and rude. Many 
stated 'facts' in your original posts were simply wrong and you made great 
used of hyperbole. You were telling us how serious a problem was and how we 
should be reacting. The way you phrased things is what we regularly see from 
people who think they are entitled to attention and support - we have no time 
or respect for such individuals. I hope that this is simply a misunderstanding 
and that you did not intend to come across in this way.

Most other users understand that we do not work for them, they wait patiently 
for issues to be addressed. If they cannot wait they fix the problem 
themselves and provide patches, which is certain to show/earn more respect and 
is what the OSS community is all about. This goes for everyone here - if you 
want attention and quick fixes then go buy WinMCE where your money will pay 
for it.
-- 
Stuart Morgan