I've been tinkering with linux since the early Red Hat releases and PVRs and media centers for a decade or more. I've watched linux and linux hardware support come of age. I've compiled endless binaries, libraries, and kernels, messed with IR remotes, learned a lot and generally had a lot of fun along the way. I also made horrible mistakes, screwed up systems and databases and raged in frustration at times.
I used to be a MythTV junkie because at one time it was great to record stuff from TV (and it was one of the first which offered fun things like automated detection and skipping of commercials) but more and more I find myself not bothering to record anything and just grabbing it from the net. With the PVR functionality obsolete, I grew a little tired of stuff breaking bad EVERY FUCKING TIME I upgraded. Okay, maybe not every time but pretty damn often.
So I tried a couple of other media centers, with the following features in mind:
MUST HAVES:
- separate backend/frontend architecture
- always-on backend (low power) with variable frontend configs
- unified media database on backend
- resume playback of media between frontends
LIKE TO HAVES:
- iphone/ipad remote control
- airplay features (because I have a iPad 1 and iPhone 3GS)
- torrent downloader/scheduler
- cross-platform frontends
- integration of online audio/video services
- other goodies
I tried a number of solutions, but eventually settled on XBMC which met and exceeded ALL of the above expectations. It'll run on pretty much anything (including a jailbroken ipad!). It has the database backend. It does airplay. It has plugins for anything you can think of, including the torrents, online audio/video, and things I haven't even thought of (like a frontend for your arcade games!). There are multiple free ipad/iphone/android remotes ranging from awkward to basic to pretty damn cool (right now I'm rather fond of Constellation). It is customizable to the hilt AND has clear documentation. It has an active developer/user community. It has skins and themes up the wazoo. It will even run on relatively underpowered machines (hell, it runs on the freaking iPad 1).
It's amazing how far this product has come from a humble X-Box media player. And I absolutely love it. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn close and you can customize it to your heart's content. If you're looking for a multi- or even single room media center/home entertainment system, you can do much worse and you'll be hard pressed to do better.
