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pike
Team Kodi Admin
Posts: 5,008
I just wish Intel who made great progress with their opensource drivers, would also include Intel Clear Video / Viiv and such stuff in their OSS efforts
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Forget mac, it makes no sense what-so-ever to port linux and yet pick mac hardware as the supported system. Yes I am aware of mac-tels that can run linux and windows, but it's a still a mac and only 3% of computer users use any type of mac.
If you want to standardize and port to linux a much better way to do it would be to look at the packages in linux that you will be using and find out what specific hardware is the easiest to code for, best supported, and largest user base. Then pick the 2 video cards 2 sound cards two chipsets etc...
In other words one system amd the other is intel, one is ati the other nvidia, one is realtek the other is soundblaster (though sound blaster might not make the cut in the easy to code for dept). This gives you much broader coverage and you have hardware that everyone else has and a straight forward upgrade path. Instead of some oddball mac that only sells 100000 units during it's entire life cycle, and is incompatible or possibly discontinued at next-gen.
The other option, but I don't this one is as good because the user base is a different animal, would be to pick a low-end dell/hp and high-end dell/hp. There are the top 2 manufactures, however most of their users are not running linux or XBMC. So while they comprise more then 30% of the entire pc market they probably only comprise about 1% of the future XBMC user base.
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jonb2, you're missing the point. the point is not having to rely on pc hardware or dell/hp machine which usually is gone after 3 months (replaced by new series). then we would have to support new hardware and the old is obsolete. the point is to find some hardware which survives over many years - just like the Xbox does/did. xbox360, ps3, macmini and appletv are such hardware. if you can come up with something else, let us hear
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No your missing the point. The same linux that ran on a 386 back in 1995 will run on a brand new just built last week from not yet released reference design new hardware pc. You don't pick a niche product to be the only hardware you support you pick the most common.
XBMC on linux is not relying on hardware, it is relying on linux. They are not creating an operating system they are creating an application, and application that needs certain video and audio requirements. So you choose the hardware that is most popular and least problematic.
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jonb2, most common meaning any pc hardware in your case. show me one motherboard and graphicscard from today that you can buy in 5 years. heck even in 6 months. xbmc will not be limited - it's opensource. you can run it on your 1995 pc for all I care.
xbmc rely on linux and linux rely on hardware - hence xbmc rely on hardware too. say you are having trouble with your xbmc pc because you are using some odd graphicscard. where will you seek help? nowhere! you have to figure it all out on yourself. most people are end users who just want it to work stable and as intendeed. you will not get this with your bamboo pc.
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The only way to get HW stability with major vendors like HP and Dell is to buy their corp modells. One of the reasons for their higher pricetags is the longer lifespan of those modells.
And stability is the holy grail. It doesn't matter how fast it runs, on wich HW or what features it has if it isn't rock stable. In my opinion it has to be as stable as a vcr or a dvd recorder. In other words better than most current set top boxes.
That in turn requiers a fairly small amount of HW support in order to keep testing at a reasonable level because you can't just say that one graphics adapter works. You have to say that this adapter works with this mainboard with this bios rev.
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Sorry for the comment abuse. But may I just bow and scrape in both utter grattitude and worship for those who have taken this bold decision?
I have wanted this to happen ever since XBMC was first released - and have begged and pleaded for it on many, many occasions.
You guys rock - and XBMC rocks like no other Media Center app. on the planet and now (or in the near future perhaps) I can fulfil my dream of building a small dedicated XBMC machine and of finally retiring my almost antique and venerable old XBox1.
It also resolves another dilemma in my mind - which is the requirement to compile XBMC (an open source and wholly honest application) using an illegal (and in most cases stolen) SDK. (An SDK that is also almost undoubtedly becoming rapidly out of date, particularly in light of the ever increasing demands of HDTV and new media types, both current and those yet to be envisaged).
But now XBMC has a future - and it deserves a future. It does not deserve to die as the XBox1 user base continues on it's ever more rapid decline.
So I take my hat off to you guys and I say thanks. Thanks for all the years that have passed - and thanks once more for hopefully all of the years to come.
Some things make life that little more bearable and that little bit more enjoyable - and in my view XBMC is certainly up there among the best of these.