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Roku To Go Open Source

Posted by timothy on from the what's-in-the-box dept.

ruphus13 writes "Time-shifting via Tivo changed the way we consume television programming. Now, Open Source enters the fray. Roku, the streaming-media set-top box has decided to Open Source its software. Roku had received praise for its streaming solution, and was in the press recently for its deal with Netflix, allowing users to stream Netflix movies directly to the box. From the article, 'Roku will release an open source version of its software by the end of the year. The CEO says he's looking for deals with content providers to stream their products through his device, and hopes to sell a bunch of them as a result.'"

6 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Re:content? by sacherjj · · Score: 2, Informative

    Roku has the capability to play MPEG4. It doesn't have to deal with the inferior WMV.

  2. Re:Couldn't find it... getting a bit ahead by petes_PoV · · Score: 2, Informative
    The story says that Roku will release an open source version - in the hope that it'll help them sell more boxes.

    This (slashdot article) is a story about a story of something that will/might happen in the future. I wouldn't hold my breathe waiting for the outcome.

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  3. Re:If only all companies had this vision by lysergic.acid · · Score: 3, Informative

    TV is already becoming an anachronism when almost everyone has broadband internet access through which they can receive on-demand content uncontrolled by the major television networks. now all that needs to be done is for a legal and user-friendly solutions to be developed.

    Miro (formerly known as Democracy Player) is one service that directly connects content-producers with end users without going through traditional distribution channels. thus television networks are no longer the gatekeepers of media distribution.

  4. Re:If only all companies had this vision by juiceboxfan · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...but at an average of 6 hours of viewing a day...

    Apparently you are off by about 50%. But Four hours a day is still a lot.

    In the US only old people watch TV anyway.;-)

  5. Re:Couldn't find it... by mrslacker · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yes, indeed. The summary is rather bad, but at least Slashdot is not alone (but typically, it's late to the game).

    The reality is that most of the Roku software is _already_ open source - Linux kernel, busybox, other standard stuff, certainly more than 95% of the system. Whether they open more stuff up remains to the seen. More accurately, Roku will be "opening the system up". In particular, everything is signed, ala TiVo, so no one's yet managed to hack into it.

    See here: http://www.linuxhints.info/index.php/Roku_Netflix_Player

  6. Roku already uses some open source by Thornae · · Score: 3, Informative

    They fully endorse the open source Firefly Media Server for use with their nifty Soundbridge devices.

    Runs on FreeBSD/Linux. Integrates with iTunes (if you must). What more do you want?

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