> From the GeexBox installation instructions on making a DVB card work: > > wget http://www.linuxtv.org/download/dvb/linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.0.tar.bz2 > tar jxvf linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.0.tar.bz2 > cd linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.0/util/scan > make > ./scan -x 0 dvb-s/Astra-19.2E > channels.conf
Thanks for that. I'll be giving that a go as I write a review of Ubuntu Jaunty. > > For any sort of BBC branded utility the TV/Radio aspect should just work. > People shouldn't need to be compiling source code in order to do a channel > scan or running separate applications to do what should be minimal > functionality. > Yes, you would want something that allows people to select their transmitter - Crystal Palace for me, or even auto and have the scan go automatically. Kaffeine has a good channel scan. You really can't just confront the average person with the command line right out of the box. > > And what else should BeeBuntu be able to do? The BBC Micro was a success > because it helped educate a generation in how computers work and what they > do. > > So I'd propose that on top of a system which can be used for TV/Radio, > Video, Images etc. that any system would need to: > * provide access to the internet (possibly with adult content control) > * provide access to tools which are interoperable with any de-facto > industry standard tools which can be used for schoolwork, home office etc. > * provide the users the chance to use the system for self-eduaction about > computers, coding etc. with a nice user interface to increase computer > literacy > * provide educational tools like were available on the BBC micro (geordie > racer anyone?) > * provide access to basic video tools - to allow people to create there > own content > Most of this comes with the standard install of Ubuntu. Firefox, Pidgin, Evolution. You've got OpenOffice for docs, spreadsheets and presentations. For programming and a bit of multimedia, possibly Alice? http://www.alice.org/ http://www.cmu.edu/corporate/news/2007/features/alice.shtml There is a distro called Ubuntu Studio focused on audio-visual applications such as video and audio editing, which I've never used before. That looks a bit more like an open source full-blown studio setup that might be beyond the needs of most people. I'm currently (as in while writing this e-mail) using Jaunty on an 8GB USB stick. The only issue that I would flag up is that most sticks aren't really designed to take the read-write of running a full system. By default, it doesn't create a Swap partition. That would dramatically decrease the lifespan. I do occasionally have to reinstall Ubuntu. The only other issue I would flag up is that older hardware often doesn't come with a BIOS that can select a USB device as the boot device. I have had to create a boot CD that interupts my iMac boot process, but that's as much about running USBuntu without modifying my work machine in case IT might possibly have any objection. (Cough) k
