I have only a basic level of Linux experience. I hacked my Tivo and did some playing with it, but never got very deep into it. Mythtv runs on Linux, so this project has been the most I’ve ever dealt with the OS. I doubt I’ll ever make Linux a desktop environment for a LONG time.

While there are popular builds of Linux (RedHat/Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE, etc.), there is no one universal source. They are all branches of the same tree. On Windows or Mac OS, the tree is more like a telephone pole. There are no branches. You want a program or library, you get the Mac or Windows version. Not so on Linux. You need to get the specific build, if some one has already compiled it, or do it yourself. Of course, doing it yourself isn’t a task for weak or newbie-types.

In Windows or Mac OS, if you install a program, update the OS, or do anything to the system, 99% of the time things work and nothing is broken. In the worst case scenario, the new program doesn’t work and you delete it. Again, that’s not the case with Linux. If you install a driver or library, you need to make sure other programs don’t depend on it. If they do, then they too may need to be updated. Of course, if you update a driver or library and a program, driver, or library isn’t written for the newer version, it might break. Thus begins the great track-down and search for compatible versions or updates.

The people who put MythDora together do NOT suggest updating anything. What they provide has been tested to cooperate with everything else and provide a nice happy install. Even updating a single driver can start a chain of events that may effect how well your mythbox works. More than once when trying to get things running, I attempted to get a different nvidia driver and had to stop before it tried to install a new kernel. WTF? I just want a new driver, not a new core of the OS.

Maybe I’m not geeky enough, but the whole thing pissed me off. I spent DAYS working on this. I’ve never spent days, or even hours for that matter, trying to do anything on Windows or a Mac. By the second day, I was asking myself what kind of masochist enjoys this. Really. I like a good challenge and I kept at it until I got it working, but I’d never do it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to an enemy. It’s obvious that Linux has a lot of capabilities, but so what? Unless you write code or dream in command line, it’s a giant pain in the ass. If I knew now how much of a pain it was going to be, I think I would have given a Windows-based system a shot instead. And I HATE Windows.