[mythtv-users] OT: UPS w/ Linux monitoring/auto shutdown software?

[Jeff Williams]

With the recent major blackout here in the northeast, I've finally gotten the idea that I'm going to put UPS's on all of my PC's (four of them now!).  I would imagine it can't be good for a Myth box to be suddenly kicked off in the middle of a recording.  But I can't seem to find any information on UPS models that include monitoring and shutdown software that's compatible with Linux - I've checked Google (including Google groups) and gone back through the archives of this list as well, in addition to looking at the product web pages of various UPS models I'm interested in.

Are there any UPS manufacturers that support Linux with their software?  I would assume there have to be, with all the corporate Linux customers out there - but I don't want to spend a fortune either, only looking for 4-5 minutes of backup time (just enough to shut down in an orderly fashion).  Failing that, is there such a thing as a freeware UPS monitoring application that will work with various manufacturers' UPS's?  As you can see, I'm pretty new to the whole UPS thing - never owned one before.

Thanks for any pointers.