[mythtv-users] VERY OT: Going to Linux.

[Mark Knecht]

On 5/31/07, MacNean Tyrrell <dardack at gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't know where else to ask this.  Also, if someone could point me to a
> "general" linux mailing list to ask questions, not a specific distro or
> anything, I would appreciate it so i didn't bother you guys with non MythTV
> stuff.  My main experience with Linux has been with mythTV.  Been almost 6
> years i believe (i just know it was before I was married).  Lately, it has
> been mainly KnoppMythTV.  And basically, i know how to compile and stuff,
> but i haven't really used it beyond watching TV.  I would like to go Linux
> on my main computer.  I know i'm not going to get my wife away from windows,
> if not for Office alone.  But I want to.  My only concern is playing WoW.  I
> have read it works under Wine, but read conflicting reports on performance.
> I only have 1gig Ram, but do have an Athlon 64 3400+ i think.  I was
> wondering the general concensus on ease of use distro and performance wise
> distro.  I'm just looking for guidance i guess.  And i trust the MythTV
> community more than any other source, just cause y'all have helped me alot
> and get MythTV to have that WAF, and now she can't live without it.
>
> --
> Sincerely,
>
> MacNean C. Tyrrell
> _______________________________________________

I don't think there are any great lists for you to join until you
choose a distro. I can only speak about the two I've run for long
enough times to build up an understanding. RH/Fedora & Gentoo.

Of the two I've come to love Gentoo. It was a little hard to get
started on. I'm not an IT guy. I'm not a programmer. I have no
computer science training. I trade options for a living and have to
use Windows for that but otherwise I'm 100% Linux for all my normal
day-to-day living and have been for about 6 years now.

Of the two distros named I great prefer Gentoo but once a distro is up
and running if you're in Gnome as a user you won't know which one you
are on. Gentoo builds everything from source. It's been, for me, far
and away more stable than Fedora where you had to match packages you
are installing to the specific revision you are running.

With Gentoo you never have to do an 'upgrade'. You are forever
building code in the background but your machine is pretty much always
as up-to-date as you choose it to be.

Folks who haven't used Gentoo make a big deal out of building from
source and all the time it takes. My experience is that it's no big
deal other than the initial install which is certainly a tough job the
first time around. That said I rebuild a Myth frontend box over the
weekend after a disk crash. It took about 45 minutes to install and
boot to the console and then all the apps built over night. What do I
care about build times if I'm sleeping when it happens?

Since I have a Windows box for trading I can use it for games or my
passion, writing and recording music, when I choose. My son plays
games on my Windows machine but uses Gentoo for school. My wife
switched to Gentoo almost 3 years ago and never looked back. My 78
year old dad and 77 year old Mom both run Gentoo for browsing the web
and doing email.

My last input would be do *not* use 64-bit Linux on your first go
around. I'm writing you from a 3GHz AMD64 machine running 64-bit
Linux. It works great but there are problems with 32-bit Windows media
file types. There is no real advantage that I see running 64-bit -
I've had it for over 2 years - and I would not install it again if I
was forced to rebuild this machine from scratch.

Anyway, I'm not pushing Gentoo. to each his own. Pick one that feels
good to you.

Hope this helps. Feel free to write off-line if you want specific info.

Cheers,
Mark