Roku Developer Program

[kbenson]

I think the difference here is that the Roku has a smaller community currently, so finding someone willing to take on a large project like this without direct benefit will be harder. The surplus of free channels released points towards the developers not being in it all for the money, but can't fault someone for wanting some sort of recompense for spending quite a lot of their time, depending on the complexity of the project.

Additionally, since the Roku uses a proprietary language, a lot of original code has to be written compared to a language such as python, which has a large set of available libraries to choose from.

That said, I'm sure we would all like to see the channel on the system, it's just a matter of finding someone with the right amount of time and interest that can afford to spend the time without compensation. Unfortunately, I definitely don't have the time, so I won't be of much help.

[ironbill]

I appreciate your feedback fellas! That helps me better put into perspective the challenges we face in porting Navi-X to Roku. Thanks again!

iRoNBiLL

[bollywood]

this seems quite big and complex project that not only needs huge commitment to create, but also think in terms of ongoing maintenance.

perhaps you need a different approach for this project.

[ironbill]

After a member of the Roku community reached out to me and has informed me that the Roku community is "all about money"... even though you are using a proprietary coding setup and are lacking a strong user and developer community (ugh!), I have decided perhaps the Roku community is not even ready for something like Navi-X. While I can appreciate everyone's honesty, I find it to be a bit rediculous that there is no one who would consider attempting to port over our app AT ALL! I mean we have about a quarter million users on Navi-X an no one is interested in an opportunity to bring such an awesome addon over to your platform. We have a business model and investors considering work with us, yet the only thing holding you back is cash, upfront, in assorted bills. I find that to be quite the short-sighted approach to development but I don't want to criticize the Roku community. Instead, I would ask that anyone even remotely interested in Navi-X, download a copy of Boxee and install Navi-X by adding our repository... http://tinyurl.com/navixforboxee

If anybody wants a real shot at a prime business opportunity, that is willing to put in just a little effort to begin the foundation of porting over Navi-X, let me know. Otherwise, I will consider this my last visit to these forums for the time being as so far the only responses I have received are for money only... after I explicitly told you we don't have a dime right now... but in the future this is going to change soon. I greatly appreciate everyone's honesty in regards to the developers community or lack there of. You have saved me a ton of time from running circles... I hope someone finds change of heart like so many of our other devs who help and have yet to receive 1 buck. Take care everyone!

iRoNBiLL

[TheEndless]

You might consider contacting partners@roku.com, if you're interested in communicating directly with Roku.

You might also consider exercising a little patience. Your post has been here for a little over two days (in the middle of the week, no less), and you've somehow already come to the conclusion that the Roku development community is weak, based on a "member of the Roku community" who apparently has the authority to speak on behalf of all of us...? I personally have developed close to 20 free Roku channels, as have a number of the other developers who have commented in this thread, so to suggest that the Roku community is "all about money" is, quite frankly, insulting, and is probably not the best way to entice developers into wanting to work with you.

Good luck with your project.

[kbenson]

I was willing to give you the benefit of a doubt with your first follow-up post, but after a second belittling and self-aggrandizing post I think that the lack of takers has quite a bit to do with the messenger. Enthusiasm is a good thing. Contempt for those that don't share your enthusiasm is grating, and unwelcome.

Congratulations on tarnishing the name of your beloved project. I'm sure everyone else involved is very appreciative.

P.S. Since i'm sure many people WOULD like your app on the Roku, here's a hint for the future; If you want free work, don't give the marketing pitch. People willing to work for free do it because they have a vested interest, or feel compelled for some other reason. Not because there's millions of site hits and hundreds of thousands of users. Throwing those numbers around that THEN complaining about how everyone contacting you is saying they need payment is ridiculous. The fact that you are completely oblivious to this fact makes it more so.

[jbrave]

If nothing else jbrave, maybe you could please help me by pointing me to a contact at Roku I could reach out to and inquire about this. This would be much appreciated as all dev links point here. Thanks in advance!

Patrick Ellis, or Andy Fry, I the folks you might talk to. Patrick is RokuPatrick on the forum, so you could send him a private message that way, or just call Roku during the week.

Of course, I would be happy to help develop an app for you if it would help me eat and pay the rent too!

- Joel

[RyanMarquiste]

ironbill,

Just a suggestion here, but perhaps you could select a small subset of the content that you would like to provide on the Roku? If you had a small selection of media in the right format, it could make the development of a channel something of a weekend project for someone who has done a similar channel. You could then take that to the investors you mentioned as a preview to get any further funding for the development of a fully featured channel.

[SolveLLC]

"ironbill" wrote:
Well I have noticed in other forums where Roku users are begging to have Navi-X ported to Roku... in fact, people debating IPTV products like Roku, GoogleTV and Boxee Box... if you read much of their responses, they claim they won't even buy a product that does not support Navi-X on it. It's not like we are some sort of de-generate app... people love our app. The fact is our app is not as complex as people make it out to be. We have been around for 4+ years and nobody has shut us down or even sent us a cease order... probably because it's not illegal to share links to things on the internet. Hosting is another conversation all together. (based on DMCA-information services definition)

The Navi-X app for XBMC is 850kb and on Boxee it's like 2 megs... it's all python script currently, not even compiled source. Why someone would get paid for converting code is understandable, but we did pickup 3 other devs who are working for free on porting us to the other platforms... are Roku devs just in it for the money?! That my be a problem for Roku I would think but I don't know.

If nothing else jbrave, maybe you could please help me by pointing me to a contact at Roku I could reach out to and inquire about this. This would be much appreciated as all dev links point here. Thanks in advance!

iRoNBiLL

There is a pretty small development community for the Roku. I'd suggest that most if not all are working on their own personal passion and don't really have time to take on more projects.

[callmeivan]

ironTroll, why dont you do it yourself?

Also, i doubt that you can legally cash in, while maintaining a large free volunteer force, on content other people have produced and you have no consent repackaging said content.

I just realised that they link to copyrighted content (thought they were just aggregating content like boxee) which is hosted on file sharing sites like movshare.net 😛

Have a look at the youtube demo,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FMKKNOz ... ded#at=158

On top of spending many hours developing this piracy vehicle for free you would also incriminate yourself. 🙂