In the Open Source landscape, there are applications to suite every need and to fill every niche. And yet, finding the right application can be a hit-or-miss affair.
I find that I can search and search to find the application that I need today, and come up with nothing. Months later I can stumble across the perfect solution, almost by accident. I don’t know how that works, but I suspect it is all down to the keywords I use. I’ll get the hang of Google one day.
Anyway, here is my top list of applications that I would like to find, along with those that I have found, but which don’t quite fit the bill.
Media Player
This isn’t just a software-based media player, this includes the hardware. I am looking for something to replace my DVD player and video recorder. I would like to use it to watch films and programmes and listen to music in different rooms, but don’t mind if the bulk of it sits under the stairs, and I just carry around a small satellite unit.
It needs to be quiet, but also needs to be able to plug into the TV. I don’t want to watch films on my PC – when I am at my PC, I am working. Showing films is a job for the TV. Films should be available to play from my server, or from a USB key plugged into the device.
Yeah, I just want to plug-and-go.
Some applications that I have looked at are:
- MythTV – is it actually possible to install and just start using this thing without spending half a day messaing around with MySQL databases and sources obscure drivers? I just can’t seem to get on with this thing.
- freevo – looks pretty good. I’m not sure how experimental it still is though.
- elisa - this one shows some promise, and seems to look a lot more polished than the others. I haven’t tried it yet, but aim to soon.
Perhaps it is an Apple TV that I need? Or even a Neuris OSD device (I’ll wait and see how the communities develop).
Leave a Comment