There are lots of USB-IR remote receivers. The nicest, in my opinion, is the Flirc (flirc.tv) which has all the smarts in the USB dongle to convert IR remote si

There are lots of USB-IR remote receivers. The nicest, in my opinion, is the Flirc (flirc.tv) which has all the smarts in the USB dongle to convert IR remote signals into a simulated keyboard. It's reasonably cheap, too. I like using a TiVO remote, because their ergonomics are almost perfect. To turn on and off a TV you need an HDMI port that supports CEC. The Pi does, so you just need to install cec-client. As for OS, you should use the general purpose Linux distro that you are most familiar with. If in doubt, use Gunnar Wolf's Debian for Pi, which is as close as you can get to 100% Debian on a Pi.