I've been a Linux die hard for the past 8 years, and I continue to be. I run it at home 24x7 hosting a few websites, sharing files and printer with my Windoze and Macs, routing my Internet traffic, etc. The challenge with Linux seems to be that the Linux desktop, although getting better every day, is never ready, and I'm not getting any younger.

I recently bought a MacMini, mostly because I loved the new Apple Remote control, and because I figured I could use it to play the 500+ Gigs of videos stored on my server, on my TV downstairs thru my wireless LAN.

I never had an Apple before, and I promised myself I’d never buy a computer again, since I learned how to build my own cheaper and better. I especially hated Apple because of the premium you have to pay for the “boutique” technology. However when the MacMini first came out I thought I’d be really cool for playing DVDs and web browsing on my TV, which hangs on top of my fireplace. However, after doing a proof of concept with my best friend’s Apple Laptop, I abandoned the idea in favor of a hypothetically upcoming PC Mini, which should be cheaper and would allow me to install Linux on it.

The Media Industry is once again geared to screw consumers over. They are pushing hardware/software makers to include Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection on DVD Players, future versions of Microsoft Operating Systems, CPUs, Motherboards and even Graphic Cards. DRM protection will restrict our use of media/content to what the Media Industry calls “Fair Use”.

Example 1: I can’t record a TV broadcast in HDTV and play it on a different computer. This is not piracy. I have multiple computers networked at home. I store all my content in the server and want to play it on any of my other computers.

I run a small linux server at home. Its a box I put together from scratch using better quality components hoping that will last a few years running 24x7. It's been running almost two years without a glitch. The main problem has been that, as my needs change, I need to add new things. My biggest need for the past nine months has been disk space. All I'll say is that I became a "torrentaddict" and the 144Gig of my two WD74 raptors disintegrated in my first few weeks.