SE51 > /dev/null > Linux

So this weekend I was kinda bored and was thinking about something productive I can do so I wouldn’t be sitting at home, alone, lonely, and dying from boredom. Well of course some geeky stuff comes to my mind. I was thinking that it would be cool if MythTV, my PVR solution of choice, would have YouTube support. According to MythTVNews, there was no way up until then for YouTube to be integrated. The plugin Mythbrowser doesn’t do Flash, neither can any MythTV software play FLV files.

However, MythTV does provide convenient options to change that, like use a different browser. And suddenly we are in business here.

So… what exactly did I do? Basically I created a two web pages - one is standard HTML using an external Javascript as help, and a PHP file which connects to the API of YouTube. In this case I started off with the Featured list (which is the last 25 videos that have been featured. Ah yes, thanks IBM).

The main page contains div elements which house the information, such as the big image, title and description. The selector image is a simple Photoshop of about 5 minutes, and is controlled by the up and down keys on the keyboard. The script in the back checks where we are, and if the bottom or top is hit, it acts accordingly (probably a real cheesy approach to do that). The list itself on the right side is done with the PHP page and displayed in a borderless iframe element, which in turn is controlled by the Javascript.

I could have taken simple screenshots, but you might not believe me. So I took some photos of my MythTV UI as it is right now, and how the YouTube UI looks like.

Again: The YouTube thing is web-based and not a direct part of MythTV… but it was the only way I think this could be achieved.

The theme in MythTV is called “Pear-ody” and you can get it here.

If you’re interested, I have put up the piece of work for download if you like, so you can extend it or beef it up. GET IT HERE.

Now for the photos!

My MythTV once loaded

YouTube is now available for ya pleasure dude

Featured only - for now

Here at last. YouTube from MythTV. The AppleTV way.

A video playing from my written UI. It works alright…

As a comparison: this is the original YouTube UI as it is on AppleTV machines right now. I think I’m close.

And, well, it’s more customizable, and no iTunes is required. Sounds strange from someone who otherwise likes Apple so much, yes? Don’t get me wrong, I think the Apple TV Take 2 is a great thing, but it still is tied to the fact that either iTunes and your movies, TV shows etc. is required. When it comes to on-demand TV, I like things to be a bit more… open and flexible.

MythTV provides all of this. If you know it, you know what I mean and you can skip ahead to look at my screenshots. If not, man, you are in for quite a ride. This software is pretty much one of the most powerful entertainment suites I have seen. If you have a receiver card, you have the power to rewind live TV, pause it, or schedule recordings and watch ‘em later. There’s also a plugin that hooks up to the running webserver, retrieves the TV programme information for the next two weeks and displays them in your browser. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg here. This tool comes with so much… unbelievable it’s free.

Well the standard themes are not bad, especially the take on Microsoft’s Media Center is very well done. But I didn’t really like it, so I took the theme Glass-Wide and simply replaced the wallpaper with this Apple TV one.

And if this is not enough, I also installed the plugin for Apple Movie Trailers and created its own menu entry for it.

I think I have got quite a cool front end for on-demand video content and other stuff such as news.

The main menu - customized for my needs

The movie selection screen. Pick one, then read all the info about the flick. The info and movie poster is brought to you by IMDB.

Beat that, Apple TV. Read headlines you like, then open the page with the article - all in MythTV.

Some months back I was showing off a multimedia PC I have built, that I named BAtv. The first two letters are the initials of the street in which the house is from which I have moved away last weekend. The box had the aim to provide a richer, centralized multimedia experience that should also include standard TV. The technically the box worked, but several drawbacks did not make it worthwhile.

The banner I used when I presented the BAtv box on the earlier version of my homepage

The big and main drawback was basically the TV card which could only take in an aerial signal and had no MPEG encoder on it, which caused a 4-5 second delay in displaying the image. Subsequently it took 4-5 seconds until a switch of a channel or every other remote activity became visible, as the card fed directly from the in-house TV receiver from the provider NTL. Another drawback was the playback of some movies, which simply did not work at all sometimes or incorrectly. Although the movie database worked perfectly fine, so did the retrieval of TV programme information.

The main start screen of BAtv - a bit of AppleTV

Well, I gonna give it another shot then. Over the weekend I will re-construct the box, but firstly use more up-to-date software such as Fedora 8, and the latest MythTV release. However, as I don’t watch TV that much, I gonna leave TV out. For me I have discovered, it’s about movies, movies, and movies. So I gonna center Take 2 around movies. I gonna give it a new UI, and then make it available for download.

The new name is SEtv (System Error TV). Stay iTuned.

If you don’t know the story: Many years ago, the company SCO Group (which means Santa Cruz Operations), accused and sued IBM and Novell of having taken source code of SCO’s UNIX, and used it for their own profit. This has sparked one of the greatest open source discussions and debates ever seen. The company has earned bitter and hostile reactions from the Open Source community, as it was believed the claims were without any merit. Meanwhile the SCO group wanted to cash in fees for a new regulation which said that anyone who uses a system that evidently uses SCO code has to pay a certain amount of money. This “SCO code” was according to them in practically all open source systems. Today we know, this is not true. This would have caused an interesting paradox, as SCO was formerly known as Caldera! Yes, that’s right. They would have had to pay to themselves.

Santa Cruz Operations finally checkmate with Chapter 11 Bankruptcy declaration

So: SCO claims something untrue, needs some money and hopes it works. Hmm. So. Eventually Novell enters the scene, as they currently really own real UNIX code from Bell Labs times, and as they have been accused of stealing code anyway. The whole thing goes up to the courts. The courts should decide whether Darl McBride, the CEO of SCO, is right with the claims. So IBM, Novell, and SCO are involved and should decide the fate of Open Source.

Darl McBride, CEO of SCO. Or as I call him: Comical Darly

After long years of struggling for money, of constantly saying that SCO’s code has been stolen the battle against SCO and the entire Open Source world comes to an end. The District Court For The District Of Utah finally decides in favour of Novell:

[T]he court concludes that Novell is the owner of the UNIX and UnixWare Copyrights.

So there you have it. After I think five years of making the initial claims of stolen source code, Novell and thus the Open Source world is defended, Novell even has the right to waive. And what about the alleged stolen code, which has been used from SCO in other systems? Quite frankly, not a single line has been stolen. SCO does not even decide what is UNIX and what is not. This, in fact, is decided by the Open Group to which Novell belongs to.

One month after the court has spoken, the SCO Group declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the failed patent lawsuits.

Service provider SCO Group ended a major phase in the history of both UNIX and Linux today by declaring chapter 11 bankruptcy, forcing the company to reorganize before it can resume normal business. The sometimes scorned company said it had decided to take the action before it was absolutely necessary to make sure its existing UnixWare and mobile-oriented Me Inc. services would continue running while it returned to a profitable state, which had been damaged by the legal costs incurred as part of its lawsuits against several high profile firms for allegedly violating patents SCO held for UNIX source code.

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!! SCO is done and dust, I am pretty sure we won’t hear anything from them ever again.

And Mr. McBride, I think our all beloved Nelson says it best when he says:

==

All the important information if you want to know more details about the biggest debate the Open Source world has ever seen.

SCO v. IBM
SCO v. Novell
RedHat v. SCO
SCO v. DaimlerChrysler
SCO-Linux controversies
Darl McBride, CEO of SCO
The SCO Group - information
The SCO Group

Groklaw: Court rules Novell owns UNIX and UnixWare copyrights
Groklaw: Decision order in SCO v. Novell - the entire court ruling

===

And this is it. SCO will fade away. Was about time.

The participant Laurent Debacker in Google’s Summer Of Code has come up with something, that most non-experienced users will enjoy, as it will make the transition from a widespread flawed operating system even easier. The entire thing resembles the Office 2007 Ribbon interface, and has been written in GTK#. To be more exact, it are GTK# widgets that have been implemented. As a developer you can use those widgets to create and develop your own applications that feature the Office-lookalike.

Further it was mentioned that a new IDE will come, dubbed MonoDevelop, which then will also feature the new Ribbon interface. Sounds very interesting.

Comparison between Office 2007 and the new GTK# widgets.

The new GTK# widgets resemble Microsoft’s Ribbon interface.

Word 2007 with the original Ribbon interface.

Google SOC: GTK# Ribbon Library
ARS Technica: Mono developer brings the Ribbon interface to Linux

Alright Google, what’s the deal? We know that you are using a distribution called Goobuntu in your internal labs and stuff. But are you planning to give it to us? I mean, will you make Goobuntu available to download? For those who don’t know: Google is apparently working on a Linux distribution based off the popular Ubuntu Linux, which again is based on Debian. The distribution is maintained by the company the occasional cosmonaut Mark Shuttleworth founded: Canonical. We also know that Google is supplying patches to Canonical’s operating system that’s free of charge.

The issue really is, which is burning in our heads, if Google indeed plans to come to the desktop? If so, how will Microsoft react? We don’t know anything about that.

The only thing I have to proof the existence of Goobuntu, is the actual log in screen of one of the machines in Google Labs:

Goobuntu: is Google attacking Microsoft?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Goobuntu is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that Google uses internally. Some have suggested that Google might plan to market the distribution more widely. While both Google and Ubuntu’s creator Mark Shuttleworth have confirmed that Goobuntu exists and is used internally, both have strongly refuted suggestions that Google has any plans to market the operating system.

Mark Shuttleworth has confirmed that Google contributes patches to Ubuntu but noted that while some Google employees use this modified version of Ubuntu, others use modified versions of other Linux distributions. Google has supported Ubuntu through the Ubucon conferences and in other ways. Although Shuttleworth and Google representatives have denied any plans to release Goobuntu outside the company, it has nonetheless inspired ongoing speculation about Google entering the operating system business.

Wikipedia: Goobuntu

Here’s a little tale of a professor who teaches classes using Linux. Which I totally support. He tells a story about how a student tried to mess around with the setup, not paying attention, and doing his own thing. I won’t post the entire story, but a part of it… you should read the entire thing from start to finish… it’s hilarious and an instant classic!

Pima is one of the 17 year olds in the class and considers himself an uber-hax0r. He constantly interrupts me during my lessons trying to make valid points that are somewhere between “WTF?” and “OMG YOU ARE NOT USING TEH DEBIAN!”. For those of you that listen to the podcasts and remember my story about training some folks over in another country and some dude put my kevlar vest over top his… well let’s say if we were in combat and this kid dropped his kevlar I think I’d dig a whole and bury it so he couldn’t find it.

The entire story over at the blogs of ITToolbox.