[mythtv-users] New to building computers and MythTV

[Jon Sustar]

I'm a computer science and engineering major, so I have a lot of experience
in software development, but I'm lacking in the hardware area.  I understand
how all of the components work (memory, processors, etc.), but I don't yet
know how to put all of those components together.  I'm hoping that by
building my own PC, I'll be able to learn all of that at once (with the help
from some friends).

I've never used Linux before either, but I want to, so I figure building a
PC that runs soley on it will get me to learn it.  I'll most likely try out
Linux for a while, and then install MythTV, since it seems that it has a
pretty large learning curve.

On 3/22/07, Stroller <linux.luser at myrealbox.com> wrote:
>
>
> On 21 Mar 2007, at 16:08, Jon Sustar wrote:
> >
> > I've never built a computer before, but I'm really interested in
> > building my own DVR that will run MythTV.  MythTV sounds great, but
> > I'm not sure what type of hardware configuration I should use.  I
> > know it doesn't take much to run MythTV, but I'm still not sure
> > about what tuners are compatible with which motherboards, whether I
> > need a graphics card, etc.
>
> You don't mention your general computing experience here - I'd have
> thought that most experienced Linux users had built a PC at one time
> or another, or had upgraded one sufficiently that they wouldn't have
> to ask this question.
>
> Linux is the platform upon which MythTV resides - if you haven't used
> Linux before buy yourself a secondhand $50 pc NOW, download Ubuntu
> and install it. Linux is difficult & confusing, even before the added
> complexity of installing & troubleshooting MythTV. Use Linux for an
> hour a day, surf the web, use your distro's help forums to work out
> why the sound doesn't work and to install the flash browser software
> - just generally tinker.
>
> $50 will probably get you a Pentium III of 600mhz - 1ghz speed, quite
> adequate for learning the ropes. Search eBay for "SFF compaq" or post
> on your local freecycle "wanted: pc for installing Linux".
>
> I am sorry if I have incorrectly made assumptions about your
> experience - you may be the BOFH for all I know - but we see many on
> this list who have no experience of Linux (MythTV is obviously so
> good that it's the "killer app" for many people!) and this makes life
> quite difficult for them. Posts here, HOWTOs and articles on the wiki
> tend to take for granted a basic knowledge of Linux, and I think you
> will find it impossible to follow them if you have none.
>
> Stroller.
>
>
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