Is HG dying?

[bkenobi]

Attention from the author(s) is not the same as attention from the user.  When HA works as designed, it can go untouched by the user for months or even years.  The project can always be improved but that doesn't mean that the specific user in the above example needs to implement those updates if they don't affect that specific configuration.

FWIW, I'm not disagreeing with you.  I'm simply stating my opinion of one reason why there are a lot of users but possibly less activity on the forum than you might expect.

[pim555]

@Pete, I believe there is something in between a 599$ license fee like exists with Homeseer and a voluntary contribution.

From my perspective, a modest license fee would not set me off. it is the same as the license fee that Gene asked for the Android app which I happily paid for. If that helps solve the test set-up issues I would be glad to pay for that. But it has to be a license fee for all, not a voluntary contribution because I dont think that will work (or at least it is not per today).

I agree with raptorjr that the key thing is that HG depends on a single developer and that is not good. Of course a lot of people are contributing with apps and modifications but when there are core issues to be solved, I have seen over the last 2 years that only Gene can pick those up. That is a limiting factor for further growth.

I guess a lot of us are waiting for a word from Gene on this subject...

[bkenobi]

I've been involved in a number of projects and in my experience when a free app with a voluntary contribution converts to a mandatory fee things tend to stagnate.  There are a lot of people who will contribute much more in time/coding than the fee would have brought in and will be driven off by such a move.  I'm not arguing one way or the other, but I don't know that simply charging a fee fixes things.  My local DOT decided that doing that (adding tolls) would fix traffic and add a revenue stream.  It's broken traffic significantly and they were (presumably still are) far under collecting their predictions (taking a loss).

Projects stagnate when there isn't interest by the users or the developers.  I don't know that adding a cash incentive will cause either side to reprioritize anything in a beneficial way.

[raptorjr]

I don't think cash is the solution either. At least not a fee for the whole program. But I do think that donations could help to buy the hardware that sometimes is needed to add new features.

Even if you add a fee, the money involved is never enough for the time being spent. And as previous said, would make others stop contributing.

I think that a few developers with deep knowledge of the software, donations for hardware, and some developers that is interested in making other changes that are easier. But maybe most of all, the developers need to love the project and not only make things that they are interested in.

I guess besides getting enough developers the last part may be the hardest. There are many developers in open source software projects that have that attitude against new users asking for features: "It's open source, make it yourself" To few projects have developers that love the whole project and often only add features that they want. And in some way I could understand that. But in the end it is not a attitude that attract new users.

There are things I would like to change, small things, but since I know nothing about JS or web development it could take some time. But I hope that I some day will contribute to HG. Hopefully by then, there is someone around to commit those pull requests.

[mvdarend]

I see that my Pull Request has been merged in HG, so he's still active.

But it's a bit unfortunate that Gene hasn't replied here to shed some light on his intentions.

I really like HG and have been a fairly active member the last couple of years, but I've been playing around with HomeAssistant the last few days and am considering the switch.

[raptorjr]

Good to see that he is alive, but I think we could need some signs of life on the forum also. But losing you at this point would be a loss. You are among a few users still active that know enough about HG to give support.

[Gene]

Hi all,

I haven''t lost my interest in HG. Though I won't be doing much coding for some time more.
Instead I will try to spend some time in writing all the new documentation. Posts from this forum will also be useful to figure out what topics to write about.
I was hoping that more developers would have embraced this project, but it seems like this is not the case
So don't ask about timings... whenever I'll have a chance, I will work on it.
@mvdarend if you found a better HA solution for your needs, please don't hesitate to write about it. You know, I may want to try it too

[mvdarend]

Hi Gene,

Good to hear from you again. I hope your friends/family weren't affected by the recent earthquake.

Also good to hear that you haven't given up on HG, I was a bit worried that you'd had enough. With very little activity here in the forums and GitHub in the last few months.

I'm still on the fence whether to stay with HG or not. I really like the software, but I find I'm spending too much time writing stuff/ experimenting when I should really be spending more time with the family (four small children)

HomeAssistant is great in that it's fast and supports lots of new stuff, but the scripting engine is horrible... especially when you're used to being able to use a 'proper' programming language and not familiar with YAML. I think the scripting possibiliteis and the Scheduler engine are the best of any Home automation system I've ever seen.

[mmotley]

I'm also glad to see Gene is still with us, and also hope that the recent earthquakes didn't affect any of your family... those of us in California can certainly understand how scary they can be (as we wait for our "big one").

I've been using HG for quite a while now, all Z-Wave on a Rpi3, and really like it.  In fact, based on my experience, I converted my neighbor to HG to handle his extensive X10 setup (replacing a VERY old X10 home controller that was starting to die) and he's been very happy too.

So, I plan on keeping it around for a while.  It has been rock stable for me, and I love the flexibility of writing C# code (which I'm still very much learning).

I wish I could contribute, but I'm not that strong of a coder... especially C#/.NET.

[Johnny H]

Hi,

I've been using for a year or so. I'm pretty much done with HG at this point also. It was fun, but now its costing me more time and effort to try to get/keep it working. As of late, HG all of a sudden loses connectivity to the z-wave device, so event though the interface says its turning lights on/off - its not, I have to restart HG on a daily basis.

I'm just going to purchase a commercial controller as all I want it is the lights to turn on and off at different schedules... Also, this is too complicated for the wife to use, not end user friendly. Plus, as with any open source project "buyer beware", the support mechanisms are not usually there for prompt assistance.

If you are looking to play around with code and experiment, then HG would be perfect.... I just need something that works reliably at this point -- not more experimentation.... I need my thermostat to turn on when requested!

Johnny,

[raptorjr]

We can only hope that the documentation that Gene is working on will help not only how to use HG, but also how to learn more about how HG works. Which would probably help to get more people interested and also have the possibility to help other users that only want a working controller.

I'm still having a hard time to understand how to use/customize HG to my needs. And not even close to understand how to fix bugs and add features that I think is missing.

[bkenobi]

I use X10, so I can't say how other systems work.  But, I haven't changed anything in months and everything has worked flawlessly without any attention for ages. ZWave may require resets (can't say, never used it), but X10 is very stable.

[Anyasz]

I suppose the best person to comment on the state of HG is Gene and no doubt when the time is right he will do so. Maybe he is working on a large upgrade and will unleash it onto the community when the time is right.

[Anyasz]

In the meantime I'm still working away on rc525 on a RPI2 and still discovering new and very useful features. It covers most of my x10, camera and security needs.