said by Immer:From what reading I've done, I don't like the idea of constantly trying to "hack" Blu-Rays to get a Linux player for it. I'm really just looking to share DVDs and possibly family photos. Thanks for the input, I'm currently reading your link.
Throw Windows on it and then it won't be a big deal. There is plenty of software that will convert your Blu-Ray library into a digital library without a headache. If you're not otherwise a Linux user, the task of setting up an HTPC while simultaneously learning Linux could be a real headache as well... enough to have you scrap the project entirely.
And yeah, find yourself a nice fat 3TB drive. If you get anywhere close to filling that up, you can either get a second one, remove some content or consider an external NAS device ($$$).
I have a 3TB drive with as much content as I can throw it at and I'm no where close to filling that thing up. You really have to go out of your way to throw a massive library at that much space.