inputlirc is a simplified LIRC daemon which works just for input devices. It is described with svn download instructions here and is also available as a Debian package. It does not suffer from the repeat bug in the full version of LIRC, but the repeat delay seems a little short. You will need the LIRC client libraries, and you may also find irw from the LIRC package useful to check for key names. For the Nova-T device you can look up the keys in my /etc/lirc/lircd.conf.