[mythtv-users] Why Free Software has poor usability ?

[JEDIDIAH]

On Tue, Aug 05, 2008 at 02:48:14PM -0500, Kevin Kuphal wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 2:31 PM, John Drescher <drescherjm at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 3:25 PM, Param Singh <mithu.singh at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > If everything about mythtv and its usability is good, then why
> > > competitors are using "mythtv is a lot of work" as marketing tool ?
> > >
> > > Screenshot :: http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/5687/mythtvju4.png
> > >
> > I laugh every time I see that being that their product requires
> > windows. Which to me is much more work and headaches than MythTV could
> > possibly cause considering that using windows safely will requires
> > usually a virus checker and anti-spyware software. And if you use
> > these tools from Symantec there goes 200 or so MB of ram.
> 
> 
> Let's be fair here.  Installing a PVR on Windows is probably significantly
> easier than doing the same on Linux given a random set of hardware.  The

I might have thought that before dealing with the HD-PVR under Windows.
That experience has cured me of the notion that a Windows based PVR build
is going to be any less problematic than a Linux one.

> driver support is better, the installation is usually a click-click wizard.
> Linux can often be difficult for people to get running or easy to get
> running (LiveCD) but hard to maintain comparatively.  And I wouldn't say
> that running virus/spyware software on a non-desktop Media Center type
> "appliance PC" would be a requirement necessary for most people.
> 
> Of course, ease of installation and usability can also be two very different
> things.  I don't think MythTV is terribly hard in either category but then
> I've installed it a half a dozen times and can do the whole thing in a
> matter of hours now from start to finish.
> 
> Kevin