We just got new documentation out the door that should make MediaCore much more straightforward to install. We've tested everything reasonably extensively on both Mac OS X and Ubuntu.
Check out the docs: http://getmediacore.com/docs/install/index.html
Check out Anthony's blog post on the updates: http://getmediacore.com/blog/mediacore-docs-updated/
If you have any thoughts or problems with the install directions, please let us know here.