nzTiVo effort and state

[Schumi]

I think Chieftain has hit the nail on the head - there are many of us out there who are willing to contribute if they only knew what to do and how. It's all nice and well to say "we need more people to enter guide data", but what is really needed are some New Zealand specific instructions what is required and when to do it. I am willing to help but I don't have the time to sift through 200 channels of program data to find a small gap that I can populate, and I am sure others feel the same. If there was a simple report method that would tell me "TV3 has a data gap on X day from A to B" then at least I could concentrate my efforts. Maybe there is, but if so, where? I also don't have the time to go through a ton of messages on the forum to find a specific issue I might be able to fix.
What I think contributes is the fact that the community doesn't really know who the champions in the system are, or how to communicate to them. The NZ site is down "for Maintenance" whatever that means, so there is no real contact to the other team members possible aside from the forum, which again isn't the best way of communication. Why is the site down? I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation, I just haven't found it yet. We need someone who can lead and tell us where the problems are, then I am sure we will find people who are able and willing to fix them.

[jaidev]

We are not going to get into the discussion of why the guide creation process is not public knowledge there are reasons for this and I'm sure you appreciate why.
If I got a C & D for a domain I'm sure they know about our NZ emu service and can quite easily issue one for that, then it is all over no warnings.

The simple fact is previously we required 1 or 2 people with programming skills and web coding skills i.e. perl, java etc. Founding members such as myself were around to keep things ticking along. However it has come to a situation where we now we require people in a few areas. Obviously we have plenty of volunteers who can update and fill gaps in guide data however we were unable to use that until the system to do it is in place.
We require someone to develop and create the web system to allow this, then you can volunteer to enter guide data and fill gaps.

As discussed about the nztivo site.
We require someone willing to develop the nzTivo site, maintain it and update it, no one did bite at this offer,
I can make a login for someone who is willing to do this. First of all it requires a update to the latest release of wikimedia. Or if you have better ideas and want the domain pointed to your nztivo creation I can facilitate that too.

Continue posting what your skills and what you would like to contribute too. If we don't get the required volunteers for this round of asking then the system will be placed in EOL mode for the next year.

[DJC]

I've noted posts here (and on the other thread) wanting to know who, what, why and seeking explanations ...

A couple of things need to be made clear from prior exposure to decentralised structures like this:-

1. The nzTiVo setup is not a commercial service ... far from it ... never intended to be ... its a volunteer best endeavors setup which may or may not work, but has worked pretty well in the past. But of course as various people move on numbers need to be kept up, otherwise EOL will come sooner rather than a planned date.

If you don't agree with that SLA, ie there is not a service level agreement - you still have the simple alternative to set up your own system and to get it to work the way you need, this is what the original team did to evolve from the old VCR manual record and then loadguide methods.

2. If members of the nzTiVo team choose not disclose their details or level of contribution, then that is really their decision. After all, they are volunteering their time to help others and are not accountable for doing so or not doing so, we just hope they do.

This is the nature of a loosely knit group of volunteers. Personally, I'm just thankful for the contributions that many have made in the past - its been a great service while it lasted.

[Schumi]

Hi guys,
I thought I better make it clear that it is my and presumably everyone elses view that you have done fantastic work to keep this going for as long as it has. From day one when I imported my TIVO from the US I have always viewed this as a volunteer service with a no-guarantees-attached policy. I have often pondered where to help, but since I have no experience in java programming and have done little perl scripting my assistance is probably only minimal; I could update an html page with an FAQ if that skill was required. I have no problem if the guide creation process is not published or members don't want to reveal some of their personal "tricks", but if that's the case where is the rest supposed to pick up? No one is asking for the inner workings of it all, but if we are supposed to contribute we need to know what needs doing. I don't believe you will get like for like replacements for the team members who have moved on. The way I see it the jobs that need to be done are not bite size, so some just shy away because they are overwhelmed, which is why they need to be made small and overseeable so when someone can't do it any longer a replacement is easily found. Someone who knows the systems needs to take the lead. If this isn't possible then maybe it is best to say thanks for the good time and move on.

[jaidev]

........As discussed about the nztivo site.
We require someone willing to develop the nzTivo site, maintain it and update it, no one did bite at this offer,
I can make a login for someone who is willing to do this. First of all it requires a update to the latest release of wikimedia. Or if you have better ideas and want the domain pointed to your nztivo creation I can facilitate that too.

NO BITES!!!

[zoia]

Willing to help out. My strengths lie in backend work though, not front end interfaces. I'm a full-time Linux user and have been since '96.

Languages: C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, Lua, Tcl (though it's been a few years since I did any Tcl). Probably just about any scripting language given the APIs and a description of the language syntax, usually easily available. Looking at 12 years experience all up, 7 of which are professional employment, the other 5 working on projects (MUDs, Papaya mud client, TkTurf mud client) outside of university study.

Specialist areas: SS7 and IP network programming, SLEE.

Professionally I'm a Java and C++ software engineer working mostly with SLEE and SS7 (providing the interface that allows a SLEE programmer to send and receive SS7 messages).

In terms of time, over the long term no more than a couple of hours per week. Obviously with any software effort there are busy and quiet times.