You have likely seen a few commercial Media Center products in stores. Not surprisingly most of these are built on Windows Media Center software, or use proprietary software which of course inflate the overall price. In my opinion, Open Source software can be used to build a far superior HTPC/Media Center than any commercial software product out there. So I've written this guide in an effort to help you save some money and point you in the right direction when building your very own HTPC/Media Center. Guide To Building An Open Source HTPC / Media Center on Ubuntu.