I've been using Premise for five years. Scroll to the last page of this forum and you'll see a truckload of posts dated March 6, 2008. That's an indication of the interest I had in this product. I hand-copied hundreds of posts from the old Premise forum, in Yahoo Groups, to Cocoontech in an effort to expose it a broader community of like-minded individuals. I had hoped that if more people were exposed to Premise's elegant design, they'd be smitten and would contribute to its continuity.
That hope was never fulfilled. Many of the old-hands from the old forum did not participate in the new forum. Several new members appeared but, except for two or three notable exceptions, the majority were consumers, not contributors. You can't expect a community-run project to flourish if no one makes a contribution.
I thought if I were to write a few drivers, and document them properly, it would set a good example for others to follow suit. I wrote more than just a few drivers but it failed to inspire others. I'll temper that statement by saying there are 'notable exceptions' and their excellent work speaks volumes.
I had hoped that by nurturing new users, some would rise to the challenge and share their expertise and work. Some did, many did not. I spent hundreds of hours answering questions, troubleshooting, running simulations, debugging other people's code, and generally doing things others get paid to do. Eventually, I burnt out, pushed away from the keyboard, and left this forum for a year. For the last few months, I've been collaborating, privately, off-line, with the 'notable exceptions' I've mentioned.
Let's face facts, most people simply want to use Home Automation software and not to write, document, share, and support drivers let alone tinkering with Premise's underpinnings. They don't want to understand how things work under the hood in order to enhance them; they just want a feature-laden product to automate their homes. If they can get it for free, all the better.
Based on the posted feedback, I am surprised to learn that many people expect dramatic improvements from an open-sourced Premise. It currently works well, is extremely stable, and its bugs are so benign that they aren't worth mentioning. If you aren't using it yet, open-sourcing will not be a panacea. To my mind, it is naive to assume there are skilled software developers, proficient in C++ and Home Automation, waiting patiently in the wings for the day when Premise's source code is posted on github. If Motorola's concern is that an open-sourced Premise will compete with its existing HA products, their fears are unfounded.
I'd like to see Premise open-sourced but I doubt it will herald a new age. I'd also like to state that it would not bother in the least to be proven wrong.
. I also have access to a number a number of lawyers if we need any legal help getting this across the finish line. I also have "access" to a 501C3 and S-Corp if that helps.
