Mythbuntu For Linux

Welcome to the Precise Pangolin edition of Mythbuntu, which is also the first LTS (Long Term Support) release of this project. It is powered by the latest Ubuntu, MythTV and Linux kernel technologies, and designed from the ground up to be transform low-end machines into dedicated digital video recording systems.

Mythbuntu 12.04 LTS was officially announced on April 26, 2012 and it will be supported with security patches and software updates until April 2017. From now on, all future Mythbuntu releases will be based only on LTS releases of Ubuntu Linux, which means that the next version will be available for download in Spring 2014 as Mythbuntu 14.04 LTS.

It is now available for download as Live DVD ISO images, still supporting the 64-bit and 32-bit hardware platforms. From the boot menu, the user will be able to try or install the operating system, perform a memory (RAM) test, boot an existing OS from the first drive, as well as to check the integrity of the DVD media.

As mentioned in previous reviews of Mythbuntu, the graphical desktop environment was never an important part of this project, which means that it looks identical with the ones found on previous releases.

Following on the steps of the Ubuntu operating system, the Mythbuntu team decided to replace the Synaptic Package Manager software with the Ubuntu Software Center app for installing extra applications.

Default applications include the VLC Media Player, Chromium web browser, Thunar file manager, Bulk Rename batch file renaming utility, Mythbuntu Log Grabber, Mythbuntu Control Center, Mythbuntu Frontend and HDHomeRun Config GUI.

In conclusion, we have to admit that Mythbuntu is a very mature project and does the job very well, helping users to transform old and semi-old computers into powerful and dedicated DVR or PVR systems powered by MythTV.