I have always been a fan of Linux - RedHat Enterprise Linux in particular. I have used RHEL Client for my PC since I could do so much more than I could in my Bhindoze. :)
However there was always something missing- I could never pin-point it. I always thought the flexibility was so great but there was always some software tool that did not work in Linux- Plus it was always a monotonous to work in linux. The scrolling text boot screen soon lost its charm. Then KDE and moodin cosmetic lost their charm and I let go of linux more or less. If it was a server then definitely RHEL but I never got it back to my desktop again. (Fedora in the initial stages was a confusion and a disappointment when I found libraries and things simply missing.) I gave into my desire of windows software as I heard a voice call me to "Embrace The Dark Side Of the Force"
Then came ubuntu. A long time back I took my first glance at the OS and it looked too - simple. I did not feel it was serious enough to be useful to me. I recently started a new project for a Home Theater System. On scouring the web, I discovered a lot of people looking to Linux for help. There are a lot of distributions out there specially compiled for Home Theater and Entertainment aka HTPC or Home Theater Personal Computer. Basically its a PC with a custom Linux Distribution with multimedia Apps and Codecs. So deeper into the rabbit hole I go.
Lets get one thing clear- I am not writing a guide on building a HTPC anytime soon until I get to do the whole thing personally and with all the projects I currently have going, its a long queue. I suggest looking at Mythdora with XBMC. Or you could try what I am trying.
Now here is where I start talking about Ubuntu 10.04 aka Lucid Lynx. :) Even the mention of that brings a smile to my face. I downloaded the distro from the torrent and its perfectly legal. After looking around the web a bit I found quite a lot of useful utils. The problem is that if I want to enable my Linux box to play MP3s or MP4 coded movie Trailors, then I need codecs. Unfortunately these are not free everywhere. So there is a project out there called medibuntu. This is a repository of multimedia packages and stuff that you can use. You can also opt for Mythdora that has a lot of these things embedded already. I prefer to configure my own. If I am using Linux I will do it my way. So there are a lot of things I can get using the standard 'sudo apt-get install XXX' OR there is another way - SCRIPTING.
I decided since I have always written bash scripts in the past, why not here. Seems like there are others who have the same idea and beat me to it. Introducing Ubuntu Start Project.
These guys have a set of startup scripts that use zenity to ask you what to install and then install it while you get some coffee. I used the script and seems like these things get out-dated very quickly.
I am in the process of developing my own script but more on that later. I found the project to be very useful and will prolly take it as the base for my work. I think my apt just finished so I'm going tinkering... more on this later.
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