[mythtv-users] Where to find Myth Setup Information?

[Simon Hobson]

mark Deneen wrote:

>Here's what that opening graph ought to say if the developers were 
>honest about this product: "This is a difficult set of programs to 
>setup and install. It is not a finished application. It requires 
>extensive use of the Linux shell commands, compiling segments of the 
>program, and editing configuration files with very thin user 
>documentation. Many complex features, messages and terms are 
>unexplained and must be learned independently. But for programmers, 
>and others who can spend the time it takes to learn the complicated 
>installation, you will end up with a nice software DVR running under 
>Linux."

To be fair, that describes several very expensive and "finished" 
commercial applications I've had to work with ! However, that is the 
first positive thing you said in this thread (ie saying hwo to 
improve rather than what's wrong) - I think just about everything 
you've written before has been negative.
See the difference :

Negative: This project is sh*t, you're a bunch of lazy bozos who 
couldn't document how to switch on a light bulb.
Positive: It's clear there's some good stuff, but the documentation 
is lacking. I'm having trouble with <x>, can someone give me some 
help ? BTW - if someone will help me understand it, I'll try and 
improve the documentation.

Look back at your earlier posts, and see which category you think you 
fall into.


As I wrote earlier, the applications do work, you can setup some 
quite complex systems - but it's far from polished as you point out. 
It *IS* improving.

I'll suggest you try to see past the negative experience you've had 
so far. Once you get it running you'll find it really is way beyond 
ANYTHING it's possible to buy.

>As for contributing to your documentation, I would if I thought it 
>would help. I am an excellent technical writer, but this bowl of 
>spaghetti isn't a job for one writer now. The time for a great tech 
>writer was when you began 9 years ago!

Hmm, so far it reads like :
What you need is a good technical writer
I'm a good technical writer
But I'm not going to help

It may be a job for more than one person, but if someone were to 
tackle it, you'd find plenty of people would help by providing the 
information needed. As you said yourself, developers are often bad at 
technical writing (it's not a criticism, just an observation that the 
skills are different) but will be more than willing to help someone 
prepared to act as a "translator".

PS - A colleague at work is talking about ditching his Windows Media 
Centre setup as he's getting well and truly p*ssed off with it - 
keeps crashing and other problems. The best of it is, he got it 
because one of our directors ditched it when he got fed up with it.
So that's polished software from a supposedly professional vendor, 
and it just doesn't work properly - it was easy to set up though.

At home my parents use a PVR appliance from a very well known and 
supposedly reputable manufacturer. The software was absolutely 
rubbish as shipped and the unit would never run a week without 
crashing. It improved with the one software update it got before the 
manufacturer abandoned it. Oh yes, and the documentation that came 
with it was rubbish !

My Myth setup, although hard to get working, has been very reliable.

-- 
Simon Hobson

Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.