DIY Home Theatre PC - Update

I've done some looking around, and found that there are quite a few varying opinions on building a Digital Home Theatre System.

On a side note, I should probably come up with something simpler to call it. "Digital Home Theatre System" is too cumbersome, and DHTS sounds wrong somehow. Well, it's a PC, and it's a home theatre... how about Home Theatre PC, or HTPC for short?

This article over at PCStats.com outlines their approach to building a system (which, I might add, they call their HTPC. I confess; I stole the acronym). It's quite good, right up until the point where they elect to install Windows as their operating system. There's nothing wrong with Windox XP (even the media center edition is fine for most people). I just don't want to (a) pay for it; (b) steal it; or (c) keep it patched and up to date. This is a TV system I'm building. I don't particularly want to have to reboot my television.

The information provided, though, is quite helpful.

I'll keep researching.