LinHES

Last updated
LinHES
Developer Cecil Hugh Watson
OS family Linux (Unix-like)
Working stateDormant
Source model Open source
Initial releaseAugust 8, 2003;21 years ago (2003-08-08)
Latest release R8.6.1 [1] / April 12, 2019;5 years ago (2019-04-12)
Marketing target Home theater PCs, media servers
Available in Multilingual (starting with Release 8)
Package manager Pacman
Default
user interface
Enlightenment
Official website www.linhes.org

LinHES (Linux Home Entertainment Server) is a Linux distribution designed for use on Home Theater PCs (HTPCs). Before version 6, it was called KnoppMyth. The most recent release (R8), for 64-bit machines only, is based on Arch Linux, though previous versions were based on Knoppix and Debian.

Contents

LinHES includes custom scripts that install and configure the MythTV PVR software as well as a number of add-ons. Most standard HTPC hardware is supported, and much of it is even configured automatically, making the often complex installation and configuration process relatively easy and pain-free.

Cecil Watson developed and maintains the LinHES operating system.

Details

Practical explanation

LinHES is a Linux distribution equivalent to the Windows Media Center. LinHES comes as a CD-ROM software distribution which automates the setup of the popular MythTV package as well as several HTPC-related add-ons.

Ultimately, LinHES is used to create a home theater PC. These HTPCs are commonly plugged into a standard-definition television (SDTV) or high-definition television (HDTV) rather than monitors for a complete home theater experience. HTPCs bring the power of PCs to the living room in an "all in one" device.

Ease of installation and features

A common complaint about MythTV is that it is difficult and time-consuming to install and configure. The goal of LinHES is to make creating and maintaining a home theater PC as simple as possible. A blank system can be transformed to a fully functional HTPC in around 20 minutes[ citation needed ] capable of:

Applications

Complete Installation (Front-end and Back-end)

LinHES can be used to install a full MythTV client and server system. This means that the front-end is stored on the same device as the back-end. The front-end is the software required for the visual elements (or the GUI) that the regular user can utilize to find, play and manipulate media files etc. The back-end is the server where the media files are actually stored. A full front-end and back-end system may have an advantage in that it has 'portability', i.e. it is a standalone device that is not dependent on a separate server (like a video game console for example).

Front-end only installations

Front-end myth-tv setup.png

Alternatively, LinHES can be used to install a MythTV client, front-end-only system. For example, users may have a central storage device (server) in their house, the server can then be accessed from numerous other devices throughout the house, these other devices needing only a front-end installation on devices containing minimal hardware. LinHES can also run directly from a CD-ROM (i.e. without installation) providing that there is a network connection to a PC with a 'complete installation' (a MythTV back-end server).

Using a 'server' separate from one or more front-end units has the obvious advantages of multiple simultaneous access to shared media files. The server used would generally have hardware of a relatively high specification and would be kept outside of the main living room. An advantage of keeping the server PC outside the living room is that the cooling fan required to accommodate a 'fast' processor can be quite noisy (as can certain hard drives), it can be expensive to invest in fanless/heat sinking equipment to avoid such noise problems.

LinHES can also be used to upgrade existing LinHES and KnoppMyth installations.

LinHES community

LinHES users generally discuss ideas and help others at the official forum website.

Version history

LinHES R7.4 was the last 32-bit release. [2]

KnoppMyth releases

VersionRelease DateNameNote
1August 8, 2003You better Belize it!Based on Knoppix July 26, 2003 and MythTV 0.10
2August 25, 2003Chicago, ChicagoUpdated to MythTV 0.11
3September 1, 2003Each of these my three babiesThe CD can now be use as a frontend!
4November 3, 2003CoCo2Updated to MythTV 0.12
5 B7March 17, 2006--
5 C7May 26, 2006--
5 E50December 25, 2006Farewell days of my youth-
5 Final 1May 11, 2007--
5 F27September 9, 2007--
5.5July 6, 2008Bone MarrowUses a snapshot of Debian Unstable and the 2.6.23-chw-4 kernel - MythTV 0.21 fixes [3]

LinHES releases

VersionRelease DateNameNote
6.00.09August 14, 2009Anniversary EditionPre-Release
6.01.00September 26, 2009ChuguFirst Public Release - MythTV 0.21 fixes
6.02.00March 2, 2010That weekend in Canada!MythTV 0.22 fixes [4]
6.03.00June 6, 2010MMythTV 0.23 fixes [5]
6.04.00February 6, 2011LaundrymatMythTV 0.24 fixes
7.1November 11, 2011TeamworkMore MythTV 0.24 fixes [6]
7.2January 26, 2012SCALE 10XEven more MythTV 0.24 fixes [7]
7.3July 20, 2012CraveMythTV 0.25 fixes [8]
7.4August 9, 2012rdtNinth Anniversary - more MythTV 0.25 fixes [9]
8February 11, 2013-Many Bug Fixes and New Features [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux distribution</span> Operating system based on the Linux kernel

A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and often a package management system. They are often obtained from the website of each distribution, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to servers and powerful supercomputers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Package manager</span> Software tools for handling software packages

A package manager or package-management system is a collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing computer programs for a computer in a consistent manner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arch Linux</span> Rolling release distribution of Linux

Arch Linux is an independently developed x86-64 general-purpose Linux distribution that strives to provide the latest stable versions of most software by following a rolling-release model. The default installation is intentionally minimal so that users can add only the packages they require.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodi (software)</span> Free software media player

Kodi is a free and open-source media player and technology convergence software application developed by the Kodi Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium. Kodi is available for multiple operating systems and hardware platforms, with a software 10-foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. It allows users to play and view most streaming media, such as videos, music, podcasts, and videos from the Internet, as well as all common digital media files from local and network storage media, or TV gateway viewer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFI</span> Operating system and firmware specification

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is a specification that defines an architecture for the platform firmware used for booting a computer's hardware and its interface for interaction with the operating system. Examples of firmware that implement the specification are AMI Aptio, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, InsydeH2O.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MythTV</span> Free and open source home entertainment application

MythTV is a free and open-source home entertainment application with a simplified "10-foot user interface" design for the living room TV. It turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network streaming digital video recorder, a digital multimedia home entertainment system, or home theater personal computer. It can be considered a free and open-source alternative to TiVo or Windows Media Center. It runs on various operating systems, primarily Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home theater PC</span> PC meant to be used in a home theater setting

A home theater PC (HTPC) or media center computer is a convergent device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that focuses on video, photo, audio playback, and sometimes video recording functionality. Since the mid-2000s, other types of consumer electronics, including game consoles and dedicated media devices, have crossed over to manage video and music content. The term "media center" also refers to specialized application software designed to run on standard personal computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubuntu</span> Linux distribution developed by Canonical

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution derived from Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in multiple editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for Internet of things devices and robots. The operating system is developed by the British company Canonical and a community of other developers, under a meritocratic governance model. As of April 2024, the most-recent long-term support release is 24.04.

The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a technical standard defined by Intel that specifies the register-level interface of Serial ATA (SATA) host controllers in a non-implementation-specific manner in its motherboard chipsets.

Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo network-attached storage series</span>

The Buffalo TeraStation network-attached storage series are network-attached storage devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Software remastering</span>

Software remastering is software development that recreates system software and applications while incorporating customizations, with the intent that it is copied and run elsewhere for "off-label" usage. The term comes from remastering in media production, where it is similarly distinguished from mere copying.

This is a comparison of digital video recorder (DVR), also known as personal video recorder (PVR), software packages. Note: this is may be considered a comparison of DVB software, not all listed packages have recording capabilities.

LinuxMCE is a free and open source software platform with a 10-foot user interface designed to allow a computer to act as a home theater PC (HTPC) for the living-room TV, personal video recorder, and home automation system. It allows control of everything in the home, from lighting and climate to surveillance cameras and home security. It also includes a full-featured VoIP-compatible phone system with support for video conferencing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyper-V</span> Native hypervisor by Microsoft

Microsoft Hyper-V, codenamed Viridian, and briefly known before its release as Windows Server Virtualization, is a native hypervisor; it can create virtual machines on x86-64 systems running Windows. Starting with Windows 8, Hyper-V superseded Windows Virtual PC as the hardware virtualization component of the client editions of Windows NT. A server computer running Hyper-V can be configured to expose individual virtual machines to one or more networks. Hyper-V was first released with Windows Server 2008, and has been available without additional charge since Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. A standalone Windows Hyper-V Server is free, but has a command-line interface only. The last version of free Hyper-V Server is Hyper-V Server 2019, which is based on Windows Server 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythbuntu</span> Discontinued media center OS

Mythbuntu is a discontinued media center operating system based on Ubuntu, which integrated the MythTV media center software as its main function, and did not install with all of the programs included with Ubuntu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GB-PVR</span> DVR software brand

GB-PVR was a PVR application, running on Microsoft Windows, whose main function was scheduling TV recordings and playing back live TV. GB-PVR is no longer under active development and has been superseded by NextPVR, also known as nPVR.

OpenELEC is a discontinued Linux distribution designed for home theater PCs and based on the Kodi media player.

Besides the Linux distributions designed for general-purpose use on desktops and servers, distributions may be specialized for different purposes including computer architecture support, embedded systems, stability, security, localization to a specific region or language, targeting of specific user groups, support for real-time applications, or commitment to a given desktop environment. Furthermore, some distributions deliberately include only free software. As of 2015, over four hundred Linux distributions are actively developed, with about a dozen distributions being most popular for general-purpose use.

References

  1. "LinHES Download". linhes.org. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  2. "LinHES Forums - View topic - I guess I just don't know what I am doing".
  3. "Index of /downloads/R5/Current/".
  4. "LinHES - 6.02.00".
  5. "LinHES - 6.03.00".
  6. "LinHES - 7.1".
  7. "LinHES - 7.2".
  8. "LinHES - 7.3".
  9. "LinHES - 7.4".
  10. "LinHES - 8.0".