If the "Pro" version had some very installer specific features, you still probably make it very attractive to them.
- An easy way to do branding. As an installer, I could remove all reference to CQC and put my company name into it.
- Centralized management.
-Installer has a server. CQC box at the client's house establishes an encrypted connection to it and maintains that connection. If the client needs troubleshooting help, or changes, I can use my centralized management box to push those changes down to the client.
-Templates for different things. I can select a template, and then hit a list of checkboxes for each client that I want to push the template down to instead of configuring it for each client
-The centralized server could allow you to "link" together multiple homes. Like if I were a customer and had a cabin and a regular home. I could control everything through a panel in either house.
-The centralized manager could also provide offsite video surveillance storage for customers.
YOU could actually run the centralized management server. Installers would get access to it when they got the Pro version. And you could sell bits and pieces of the functionality to Community version users, such as "linking" and offsite surveillance camera storage.
CQC, while a great piece of software, didn't exactly have a huge adoption rate. Part of it is because there just aren't that many DIYers that do home automation. It's a niche market, even commercially. Only 2 other people I know (in real life, not internet), and I know A LOT of people, have home automation systems. But I do know a lot of guys that have played around with it at some point. Giving away something for free is an almost certain way to increase your adoption rate, and if you make it extensible with additional non-free modules or support, you have a much larger potential customer base that is going to fork over the money.
I guess I look at it this way... If you can get people to use CQC over all of the other commercial options out there, then they will be more likely to spend money on additional things to extend the system. Right now, if I want to play with CQC, I have to spend money. Demos are fine for some people, but I rarely install them since with all of the crap I'm busy with doesn't really allow me to sit down and focus on it before the demo period expires. If I can whack something in, knowing that it won't expire, and that I can continue to use it without spending money, I'm all for it.
I looked at a lot of options for CMS/Shopping cart software for CollarWise.com. Many were free, many were commercial, and some were hosted. I eventually chose Magento, and the reason I chose it was because:
- It worked
- It was free
- I had the option of purchasing additional functionality as I needed it
- I have the option of purchasing full support for it
- There are independent consultants that are familiar with the code and I can pay them to make it do whatever I want if I don't have the time
This was in February when I first installed it. Since February, I have required some additional functionality on the backend and the frontend, and I've purchased around $1k in additional modules. I needed to be able to hide the price on some items until they were added to the cart because of manufacturer agreements, I needed a one page checkout, and on the backend I needed some better reporting tools. Out of all of the times I've purchased software, the model that Magento uses is by far the best experience I've had. There's a strong community of people that use it, so it's easy for me to converse with others on how to do things, and I can buy just about any functionality I need when I need it.
Can you tell I'm trying to convince you?
Actually, I just hope you fully explore the option instead of writing it off as unworkable. If it won't work for you, it won't work for you. But it is certainly one of those things that could have a strong community following and would greatly benefit from that.