Homeseer Resource Page

[electron]

There are several plugins on in the HST updater with a lot of overlapping functionality. My problem is that HST is making decisions based on someone's unfounded accusations (or is this situation just an excuse to ban Blade's work since he isn't paying HST royalties). HST seems to be more interested in punishing the HA community than serving it.

Looks like another unfortunate case of a friendly hobby atmosphere getting divided by money matters. Sad.

Guy, Dan and others.

My sentiments exactly. Dan it's one thing to do this if you do not know or care about the person who was the original author it's another when you know the person. Bob may have not known Jim and obviously didn't care. It's all about caring that all. If you see it a different way then we are very different people.

Dan,
Your the one that stated that the HomeSeer bulletin board has changed and yet you say it's the free market,etc. Which is it. Do we keep it the same and stay away from duplicating a good plugin or do we all jump in and create similar plugins to sell them cheaper. You can have it both ways.

 

[Skibum]

You let folks create a plug in and offer it at what ever price the market will bear.
Current pricing is absurd.

If 2 plug-ins do the same thing, and one is cheaper... well I'll let you decide which one to use.

Last time I remember this was called free enterprise.

Speaking of free.. remember the original Motion sensor script was FREE. Many folks used it and modified it to their liking. It was great. Folks even sharing information.... wow... the concept...

 

[TrOjAn]

Hmmm, so applying this logic of "2 plugins doing similar things is wrong!" should we now say that Homeseer is similar to HAL?

There will always be overlapping of ideas, technology etc etc... Blade was blatently accused of theft, no evidence has been offered.

At the end of the day I appreciate HST is a buisiness.. Im not stupid, but I as an end user that is unable to code has to pay for features that I want.. I can understand that.

Now try to understand my position, I have a limited budget, I have a mortgage and a family to support... if I can get what I want cheaper then I WILL!

If I go to the supermarket, I have a choice... take away the choice and there is nothing.

This like the thread on HST forums has once again gone from a good idea to peoples different opinions.. we will all NEVER agree so how about trying to get along.. I dont like Unbuntu but others do

I like Blades plugins as they are cheap (main reason) and work well.. to have the equivilent plugins from HST would have cost me hundreds of your US Dollars (bad WAF)

TrOjAn

 

[Rupp]

You let folks create a plug in and offer it at what ever price the market will bear.
Current pricing is absurd.

If 2 plug-ins do the same thing, and one is cheaper... well I'll let you decide which one to use.

Last time I remember this was called free enterprise.

Speaking of free.. remember the original Motion sensor script was FREE. Many folks used it and modified it to their liking. It was great. Folks even sharing information.... wow... the concept...

I agree that "You let folks create a plug in and offer it at what ever price the market will bear."
But I also want the HS community to be like it was and is fading fast....
Friendly, sharing, and honest.

It was only a mater of time that this happened and in one respect it is free enterprise system but there are some of us that out of respect wouldn't do this for a buck. It's a changing environment and some of us are stuck in the past, I guess it's time for me to move ahead.

 

[TrOjAn]

Would you think it better if he let people have it for free?? perhaps all his plugins for free...

then ths issue would go away?????

So the issue is Bobs making 9$ on a plugin, if he gives it away for nothing he can then use the hst forums to promote it...


TrOjAn

 

[Blade]

Would you think it better if he let people have it for free?? perhaps all his plugins for free...

then ths issue would go away?????

So the issue is Bobs making 9$ on a plugin, if he gives it away for nothing he can then use the hst forums to promote it...


TrOjAn

I am fully willing to offer the BLRadar plugin for free. I have no issues with that. I am not out to make money off of users for this. I do it to help out people and if you do not believe that then there is nothing I can say or do to prove it.

I would offer BLRadar as a free plugin on my web site. I have quite a few that are free on my site. I would also refund the users that purchased BLRadar if they wanted.

 

[TrOjAn]

Bah!!! I didnt pay for the plugin Bob I paid towards your time and support.. also adding the features I wanted.

I know you dont do it for the dosh...

I think thats the problem!!


TrOjAn

 

[Rupp]

Guys,
The last thing I would do is give hard work away. There's absolutely nothing wrong with making money and a lot of it if you can. My point and this is only MY point is I couldn't have nor wouldn't have created a plugin that duplicates the functionally of a friends plugin. This is mostly my problem and not Bob's.

 

[Rupp]

Bah!!! I didnt pay for the plugin Bob I paid towards your time and support.. also adding the features I wanted.

I know you dont do it for the dosh...

I think thats the problem!!


TrOjAn

Trojan,
What's dosh...

 

[DavidL]

I can understand both positions. Jim spent TONS of time developing a concept (debateable on real origin - but he did spend time), the codeing, the UI, and lots and lots more. Blade came in later and it's always easier to improve on something that exists then to start from "scratch" like Jim did a long time ago. Especially with HS2.1 and the newer development environments now available that Jim didn't have at the time.

Blade might have wanted to improve on what was there, and is always free to do so.

But, what incentive does Jim now have of developing the next "new" thing? and spend hours upon hours on that new project. This is way beyond the "call of duty" of a freeware project.

Seems the HA community has had a "gentleperson's" agreement to either collaborate, or work on different extensions of the HA universe so that the collective work is much more comprehensive than a singular work. That is the nice thing of a Plugin architecture.

I am sure that Jim is not getting rich on this, and if he ever stopped to figure out the hours divided by the plugin revenue, would never do this anyway. He just has even more reason not to now.

I have used Jim's plugin, but haven't even viewed a screenshot of Blades' so can't comment on what overlap there might be.

This is bound to happen, especially with more and more talented folks like Jim and Blade get involved.

 

[Rupp]

DavidL ,
I wish I could have articulated this point as well as you have. Good job.

 

[TrOjAn]

Trojan,
What's dosh...

Rupp,

Sorry.. UK speak

Dosh = Cash = Mular = Bucks = Dollars

That sort of thing..

TrOjAn

 

[WayneW]

HST does have both sets of code. No more needs to be said.

A LOT more needs to be said after a comment like that. Rupp, are you speaking your opinion or speaking as an employee of HST? Does HST have Blade's source code? Blade says he never gave it to them, so how did they get it?

Rupp, your statement implies that HST has examined both sets of source code, found evidence of theft and has condemned Blade as a thief. Is that HST's position and can/will they defend it?

If you are merely implying that HST has looked at the UI of both plugins and it is HST's opinion that they are plugins with similar functionality, then please clarify your damning comment.

Through out the years, there have been a number of similar plugins and scripts created, some paid, some free. Is it now HST's policy that creations with similar functionality will have the author banned and censored from the HST message board?

 

[Steve]

I don't disagree with these comments, whether it was the 'gentlemanly' thing to do or not, that is another topic entirely. I think the issue really comes down to why is Blade being blacklisted/censored by Homeseer? That is understandable if he did something illegal or immoral on their site or otherwise endangered business by doing such things on their site. But this really smells alot like HST playing favorites and deciding who is allowed to sell what, and THAT is the real problem. So unless HST offers up proof that Blades work is not his own and is illegal, then they are out of line in their actions.

 

[WayneW]

But, what incentive does Jim now have of developing the next "new" thing? and spend hours upon hours on that new project. This is way beyond the "call of duty" of a freeware project.

If Jim's incentive was cash profit, then all I can say is welcome to the real world. I am not being mean, but there is always somebody nipping at your heels in business and wanting to do it faster, better, cheaper, easier, etc.

If Jim's incentive was fun, sharing, learning, & helping, then I dare say that Blade's plugin hasn't diminished any of those from Jim.

What incentive does he have going forward? That all depends upon his incentive for this project. And this isn't a "freeware" project, this is a paid plugin. (not that simply having a plugin for sale means the author can live on the royalties and retire, as I am sure Jim has a lot of time invested in this)

I know that there are other paid-for plugins/scripts that have had free alternatives surface and nobody had a heart attack about those and those new authors were not shunned from the HST message board.

In summary, IMHO, if there is proof of source code theft, then the original author has a right to complain, but they better have proof. And if they don't have proof of actual wrongdoing and just have hurt feelings about somebody getting into their market, then they shouldn't make accusations.

I also feel that these things are bound to happen due to HST dictating the prices of things sold on their web site, instead of letting the market decide pricing.