Agreed. There are a lot of caveats on the ATV1 platform for rolling your own or XBMCbuntu. Both Crystalbuntu and Openelec have builds tailored to the ATV1.
Crystalbuntu all the way. Link in my sig. And no, I'm not affiliated
The XBMC team, plug-in devs, skinners, etc. do this for us for FREE in their spare time because they want to. Think about that for a second before you start bitching...