NOOOO!! Debian and it’s evil children (the __untus) broke the basic Linux premise with systemd. Call them what you will but Linux they are not.
LOL! I guess the “Linux premise” is making an OS as difficult as possible to install and use, thereby keeping as many users away from computers as possible.
The Debian fork Mint has been great to me, whenever I can find something to run on it. Works like the old XP (except much cleaner and faster) when you have a GUI that you don’t need to bludgeon into compliance.
As far as this DVR video thing goes, I’ve had the same experience as the guy talking about store surveillance systems goes. You can pull files off until you’re blue in the face, but if it’s not a standard codec it’s not going to be playable on any other device.
The best bet (though aggravating) is to go the tuner card or tuner device of some sort route and just play the DVR into the computer. Record it using an MP4 or similar codec, unless you want to keep it Windows, in which case record it as a WMV.
Sometimes they’ll put a movie (illegally) on YouTube. I don’t recommend breaking the law at all, but if you want to record it to watch it later (and then of course delete it as soon as you’ve watched it, because hey, it’s illegal) you could use the following program to capture the video in many different codecs:
http://www.anvsoft.com/any-video-converter-free.html
The following program is a video player, nowhere near illegal, that can play about as many codecs as there are extant:
32-bit version: http://download.cnet.com/VLC-Media-Player-32-bit/3000-13632_4-10267151.html
64-bit version: http://download.cnet.com/VLC-Media-Player-64-bit/3000-13632_4-75761094.html
You are parroting nonsense.
In Debian, you don’t have to use systemd if you don’t want.
That being said - I’ve run linux servers and a linux desktop for 17 years now - systemd does solve problems for desktop users and as of now works well.
There is resistance to change - everyone likes the first editor that they learned - yet if you are not too old, it is quite easy to get up to speed with systemd,
https://xtronics.com/wiki/Systemd_Cheatsheet.html
Took me a couple days - and I’m in my 60s.