OSTV For Linux

OSTV is a very lightweight, innovative, feature packed, extensible video/tv player for Linux that should work on just about any Linux system(playing hd video does require a system with moderate horsepower), has less than 50 kb of code and works with software you probably already have on your computer.

OSTV works with OSD(on Screen Display) Menus by remote control(requires LIRC) or keyboard. OSTV does over the air and Cable TV(non-encrypted), including High Definition, with a full featured DVR, plays vodcasts, youtube and other web video from an (optionally automatically) updateable menu, and will automatically download shows by bittorrent.

OSTV is a command layer for MPlayer and works with MPlayer's little known about OSD Menuing system.

Plays your videos and will play the contents of directory as a playlist

OSTV accesses a vast quantity of streams of quality and popular programming, often in sumptuous High Definition (this is real HD, 740p or 1080i--not what the internet often refers to as HD, which is a mere 480p. That's lowest stream available here.) for free! These streams come in real time without ever a buffering... hiccup!

I'm being facetious about over the air(OTA) free TV. For all the hype about internet video, people overlook the obvious that OTA TV is still the best source for video. For as little as $30 for a pci card or usb device, a small antenna that usually is included AND OSTV you can watch, timeshift, pause live tv, flip through the channels and record OTA TV. OSTV also supports unencrypted QAM (Cable TV).

and...OSTV is about integrating the rapidly evolving world of video from the internet within the envelope of the traditional TV experience, slouching back on your sofa with your remote control. OSTV plays Web Video Programs like Democracy Now, Cranky Geeks and an infinity of choices from Youtube from a menu that can be set to update automatically.

OSTV also automatically downloads TV Shows via Bittorrent.

For Programmers, OSTV has a extensible plugin architecture.

OSTV throws out the tired and derivative Media Center model. Why in the Linux world, where there is so much consternation concerning MS Windows, are there so many unoriginal Microsoft ripoff Media Center projects? What a stupid thing to imitate. Listening to music and viewing photos is not like watching videos or TV, why fold it into something that you do when you slouch back on your sofa with your remote control?

OSTV does not look or act like anything else. Every second you use it you are watching video. When OSTV is not playing something it maintains its interface with "Background Video". Whatever background you choose just takes saving a video to ~/.ostv/default_video/. And there is no reason to get tired of the same thing, you can put any number of videos there and one will be chosen randomly each time.

The developers of MPlayer, to which I bow down humbly, have created a comprehensive player with features for control and user interface that are uniquely leveraged by OSTV. MPlayer has a rich slave mode in which external programs can control it. MPlayer also has a little known about On Screen Display(OSD) menuing system. The cleverness of OSTV, is that it uses MPlayer's own OSD for control by it's own slave mode. With less than 50kb of bash scripts 1 hacker has achieved something that rivals programs by teams of developers with megabytes of code that are often invasive and intrusive on your system.