Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Paul Newsgroups: alt.os.linux Subject: Re: When I back-up .... Coping my Entire Internal HD to an external HD Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2025 04:29:28 -0400 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 59 Message-ID: References: <7t5malx9rp.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <1elralx69s.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <66tvalx2ng.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <801rtjhgoj3blh0517recp50ul2hkiqv6m@joergwalther.my-fqdn.de> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2025 09:29:30 +0100 (CET) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="44a4b1108e676c0aa88da3562e1aac5f"; logging-data="3751359"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+FZRnkQJCbHCJBlI6zBk9mnHRFfl5lBcA=" User-Agent: Ratcatcher/2.0.0.25 (Windows/20130802) Cancel-Lock: sha1:jQBRRXbOSOGpmno5RAndhcmlilc= In-Reply-To: Content-Language: en-US Xref: csiph.com alt.os.linux:81162 On Sat, 3/22/2025 2:58 AM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote: > On Fri, 21 Mar 2025 16:24:11 +0100, Joerg Walther wrote: > >> An old Windows Media Center remote worked out of the box, which came >> very handy. > > What happened to Windows Media Center? > > Killed off by Linux. > Uh, not really. when it comes to "continuity" on high tech fluff, the bean counters hate "third party expense". For example, even if an MPEG2 license from MPEG-LA costs a dollar a node, that's a "whoa! hold on there" issue for the bean counters at Microsoft. They want a counter-balancing income if you do that. Right now on Windows, it needs a HEVC license from the Microsoft Store, so that HEIC can be decoded. Rather than Microsoft pay that out of their own pocket, you buy the item from the Microsoft Store, and that gives you the CODEC needed. If they didn't do that, they'd be sued. Linux doesn't get sued, because they are giving away the software and not making money from it. the Linux overhead expense is different. As "compensation" for Media Center, for a short time, on the next OS where Media Center was discontinued, you were given two MPEG2 CODECS "for free". To Microsoft then, that represented the "value" to them, of the removed software. Another expense for Media Center, was the Guide Data feed per user. Linux doesn't have Guide Data. Professional Guide Data always costs money. You can license Guide Data from a TV Network, for around $50K per annum. Then, you chop that up, and bill individual customers, to make your $50K back. When Guide Data sources go out of business, it's because they could not sell enough units at $25 per year. Microsoft was paying someone else for the Guide Data, while Media Center was available. I used to have Guide Data downloads every day on the Test Machine (which was running Media Center for a while as a demo, so I could note the missing bits in USENET posts). For example, in Canada, the digital TV side of Media Center, did not work, unless you got some files from a private citizen in Canada, who had figured out how to fix it. That's how I got mine running. Media Center sank under its own weight. Linux had nothing to do with the business decisions (overhead costs). If you buy the WinTV software from Hauppauge, that's another way to record TV programs. I don't know if the Guide Data for that still works or not. Paul