[mythtv-users] RANT: MythTV has a *horrible* end userexperience.

[Leen de Braal]

> Okay, so you have ranted ;-)
>
> Now, why not scratch that itch and do something about it? I have
> worked on several open source projects and whilst of course
> constructive criticism is never a bad thing and often helps the
> developers understand the users requirements, quite often these things
> are not fixed in a timely manner due to a lack of resources.
>
> This is the beauty of Open Source - why not get your hands dirty and
> try and improve the UI experience for everyone?

Well, I do agree on most of the things the OP says, I would also like to
do everything with an Apple remote.
But I am no more than the programmer's brother, and I think much more
people like me are on this list. Happily using myth after they have put in
plenty of time to get things running.
I am new to this list (and to myth btw), and atm I am struggeling with
xmltv. There are 2 programs in /usr/bin for my country, the setup only
shows the one that is not working. Where is the setting that stops me
choosing the other??
Just one example, and another is that I get no sound, while during setup
(of MythDora4) I could hear the testsound.

I do have no problem with finding things out and put some time in this
machine during a weekend, but it shows the OP has some point about
endusers trying to get this going, or even using.
OTAH there are zillions of combinations of hardware, take that with
different broadcast systems like analog, digital, PAL (with all its
variations), NTSC, DVB-C/T/H/S, etc, etc.
It may take some time, to get to a level where everyone in every country
in the world downloads an iso, put it in in a machine and expects to have
a completely running and configured system after the first reboot.

If I can help, I will do it. If I need help, I will ask questions here.
Expect some in the coming weeks ;-)

>
> On Sun, Feb 24, 2008 at 10:21 AM, endo verendo <endoverendo at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Okay, first of all, for all its faults, I love MythTV.  I use it
>> everyday.
>> I really want it to do well.  It's a totally open platform in one of the
>> most "closed up" worlds out there (media/TV/movies/Holywood/**AA
>> industries).
>>
>> That said, the user interface is the worst thing I've ever used.  It's
>> not
>> user friendly, it's inconsistent, and it's downright irritating.  As the
>> owner of the device, I can make it work...but good luck handing the
>> remote
>> to anyone else.  This makes mythtv a non-starter in any household
>> occuppied
>> by both technically-oriented and non-technically-oriented people.
>>
>> In my opinion, the biggest flaw is in playing back recorded TV versus
>> playing back videos (AVIs, etc).  The problem here of course is that
>> MythTV
>> has two different movie players with two completely different sets of
>> controls.  This just isn't going to work for the average user.  Having
>> to
>> tweak my remote settings manually to get both sets of controls
>> semi-similar
>> is painful.  And even then the controls/interfaces of mplayer vs. the
>> internal player are different to the point of being obnoxious.  Any
>> media
>> played with MythTV needs to run under ONE player.
>>
>> Any controls that require pushing number keys on the remote for
>> operations
>> should not be allowed.  There's no reason all menus shouldn't be
>> operable
>> with, "up", "down", "left", "right", "ok", and "cancel" buttons.
>> Everything
>> needs to be onscreen and easily learned.  Optional shortcut keys are
>> fine,
>> of course.
>>
>> New video content needs to be automatically detected.  Having to go to
>> "video manager" to scan for new content is neither necessary from a
>> technical perspective nor user friendly.
>>
>> The setup screens need to be completely rewritten.  Basic common options
>> need to be up front, advanced, seldom used options need to be buried but
>> accessible.  The setup needs to be far more hierarchal, rather the
>> "linear"
>> screens that currently mix fundamental and advanced options.  The setup
>> screens in mythtv are far scarier than any text-based Linux config file
>> I've
>> ever seen.
>>
>> Most of the themes have issues.  For one, checkboxes I can barely see
>> and
>> can't determine the selected state of at 1920x1080 from across the room
>> (even though the font next to it is in perfectly legible inch-high
>> letters).
>> And then there's the thin one-pixel-wide dotted lines surrounding the
>> active
>> select field drop down control which are completely invisible from the
>> couch.
>>
>> I apologize for being blunt, but you guys have all the technology in
>> this
>> thing to achieve "world-domination", and the only thing holding it back
>> is
>> the painful UI.  If MythTV had one media player and a complete UI
>> rewrite,
>> it would have no competition.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>  mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>>  http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Adam Retter
>
> Software Pimp Extraordinaire
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-- 
L. de Braal
BraHa Systems
NL - Terneuzen
T +31 115 649333
F +31 115 649444