it's myth tv, described as "the mythical convergence box everyone's always talked about" (paraphrased).

Also it's on linux because it's cheap, stable, and easy to hack.

Paul Hughes: the reason a free windows version isn't around yet is that linux is more appealing to the people who write this sort of thing for fun.

I love these open-source project names. What is "my thtv" supposed to mean? What's a "thtv"?

Well if you must have a Windows version try http://www.myhtpc.net. MyHTPC is a close equivalent that is easy to setup. Mythtv is more fully-featured but harder to setup. Give it a go...

Todd

Of course the mere existence of this product is awesome. SO AFTER ALL THIS TIME, WHAT IS KEEPING SOMEONE FROM DEVELOPING A WINDOWS VERSION? There is nothing in the hardware setup that prevents this from working on a Windows machine. And with the predominance of Windows OS and developers, whats the friggin hold up?

If someone could actually build a windows version and make it easy to install, these things would take off like hotcakes, and possibly re-ignite the laggine PC industry, which by the way is rapidly moving to total DRM lockdown. So the development of a PC PVR now is paramount!!

deleon: :rolleyes:

mythtv is extremely difficult to install (it has no ./configure script to tell you what prerequisites are missing, and requires mysql setup, IR is tough) but the final product is amazing. It's nice to see it getting some coverage. Everyone always talks about Freevo, a much crappier package with a much sexier name. Every time The Screensavers cover freevo I want to strangle them and say "IT DOESN'T EVEN PAUSE LIVE TV, STOP WASTING YOUR TIME!"

I've been using my mythtv box for months now (650$ to build), and it's amazing. They finally added automatic deletion of programs to CVS, so I don't need to worry about the hard drive filling up. I have a cron job make nightly copies of programs in AVI format which I download, burn, and send to my girlfriend (she has no cable). The last feature I want is support for more than one hard drive to store programs. Otherwise, the system is perfect.

Let me know if you want me to build one for you!

Oh, it's pretty easy to use, but it ties together a lot of other projects and wraps a db and ui around them. The install and config is a long process, depending on what hardware you've got and what features you want to use and about a zillion other potentialities, blah blah blah. That said, it does give you a DRM-less open PVR which doesn't give a frosty crank what you do with the stuff you record. It's odd having a PC next to the TV. Once those fanless mini-itx boxes get DVD burners, it has to be the OSS convergence desktop we'll measure all others by. Plus there's no attitude, even on the -dev list.

[slashdot]Cory! How dare you imply open source isn't easy to use! All you have to do is open up the config file in vi... no, emacs! no, vi! Die, blasphemer! Die yourself! vi! emacs! vi! emacs! pico? COWARD!!! [/slashdot]