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I have Ubuntu 12.04 installed on a separate drive on my MacBook. One of the main uses of the MacBook has been as a media center using XBMC, which works very nicely with the Apple remote control. This unfortunately is not the case with Ubuntu, or most distributions.
If you've tried to get lirc working with a remote control, you know it's a daunting task and probably didn't work. Flirc comes to the rescue.
Flirc (http://www.flirc.tv/) is a hardware/software combination that makes setting up your remote control as simple as getting cash from an ATM.
The hardware is a small USB dongle that you just plug into any USB port.
Flirc doesn't use lirc but instead acts as a secondary keyboard so that you are actually sending keystrokes to XBMC.
Programming the dongle requires getting the software from the website. It is available for Linux, OS X, and Windows. For Linux there are only instructions for installing on Ubuntu:
Installation Instructions For Ubuntu i386: 1. Add: deb http://apt.flirc.tv/arch/i386 binary/ to /etc/apt/sources.list 2. apt-get update 3. apt-get install flirc
Installation Instructions For Ubuntu x64: 1. Add: deb http://apt.flirc.tv/arch/x64 binary/ to /etc/apt/sources.list 2. apt-get update 3. apt-get install flirc
Once you have the appropriate version installed, plug the dongle in, click on the Dash Home icon, and type “Flirc” into the search box and just click on the Flirc icon.
The screenshot below shows the initial screen. You can program your basic remote functions here. I thought this to be ideal for using the Apple remote since it was the exact number of buttons on the remote. There was a downside to the way Flirc acts as a keyboard. On the Mac (and probably a proper lirc setup on Linux), XBMC knows where it is in terms of screens. If you are browsing a list of movies, the up/down buttons navigate the list; if you are watching a movie, they control the volume. Since Flirc just sends keystrokes, the up and down buttons would jump back and forth through the movie. I bought a cheap universal remote which would give me more keys to utilize.
Flirc has a built-in configuration editor for XBMC. To access it, on the main menu click on Controllers→XBMC, and you will be presented with the following screen.
As you can see, when you select a function it prompts you to push the corresponding button on the remote. To ensure that all remote functions were active, I selected the DVD option on the remote. At first this didn't work 100%. I had to play with the programming of the remote until I had the proper DVD player selected. Once I got that right, I had remote control nirvana.
If you find you need even finer programming of your remote, Flirc also provides a full keyboard configuration accessed by going to Controllers→Full Keyboard. This will bring up the following screen where you tweak as much as you like. Go to http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Keyboard to find a list of the keyboard controls available.
Pros: A quick and easy way to set up XBMC on Ubuntu to use as a Media Center. At $24.95 plus shipping, it's a bargain!
Cons: The only real downside I came across is getting the right DVD player set on the remote. I don't consider this a big issue as you can have the same problems with any remote and whatever hardware you may be using in your home entertainment center.