Homeseer Resource Page

[upstatemike]

Why does this make you want to stay away? Most of this thread is misinformation. With a user base the size of HomeSeer you are bound to have a tiff or two along the way. A very old line in the sand was crossed and the HS community is dealing with it. Nothing has changed you can still buy Bob's or Jim's plugin and move on. You can even still use Jim's DooMotion scripts if you so choose for free.

I'm not concerned about any of the plugins in question. I'm just worried about an unstable environment where things seem to be shifting with regards to policy, plugin delivery mechanisms, or whatever.

I don't look at something like Homeseer as a product so much as an investment. That means I need to be able to understand exactly how how the system is going to be maintained and supported for a reasonable period of time into the future. If key parts of the system depend on independent plugin authors who may or may not follow some aspect of their agreement with HST and are no longer supported through the updater then I get very nervous.

In other words:

If a plugin I depend on becomes unusable for some reason then Homeseer as a whole becomes useless.

I am not comfortable with the degree to which future support of plugins depends on the relationship between the plugin author and HST. (As a paying customer this should not be my problem)

The investment in HS could be substantial once I add up plugins and specialty hardware like the Way2Call modem, so my risk tolerance is lower than it might otherwise be.

I consider HA software to be "production" equipment so that also affects my tolerance for risk.

 

[Paul]

Most of this thread is misinformation.

most of what YOU have posted so far in this thread is misinformation.

 

[Rupp]

Electron,

I whole-heartedly agree with you. I find it very strange (and somewhat sad) that Rich and the HomeSeer crew (minus Rupp) won't even post on their own message board and explain their actions, let alone here. I'm getting the idea that HS management is no longer interested in their core user base (US!) and is instead switching their attention to commercial applications/users.

After all is said and done, the HS users that were using/debugging/contributing to HS from the very beginning are being given the cold shoulder and are ignored when it comes to our perception of HS as a company and the company's policies/direction. Should we all be rethinking our investment in HS? I know I am!

Chuck

Chuck,
Ask Dean about the DIY market vs the PRO market. In this day and age the DIY market will not keep a company alive so as Dean has done I'm sure HomeSeer is doing as well. The PRO market is where the money is and that's what I'm sure all HA packages want to concentrate the most. I think now that Rich and crew have got HomeSeer 2.1 finally out the door and running stable you will see them coming back to the bulletin board and get more involved.

I'm with you on the changes. It slipped up on me without me even knowing about it but Michael McSharry called me on it this week and I'm glad he did. The markets are changing so I need to change as well. The old share and share alike days are nearly gone as is witnessed in this thread. I was told I need to get over it and roll with the changes. I'm trying.

 

[smee]

I'm with you on the changes. It slipped up on me without me even knowing about it but Michael McSharry called me on it this week and I'm glad he did. The markets are changing so I need to change as well. The old share and share alike days are nearly gone as is witnessed in this thread. I was told I need to get over it and roll with the changes. I'm trying.

He's been assimilated.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

I noticed that not all plugin authors go through HST to distribute/sell their wares.

Yeah, but I think the difference is that if it goes through HS (and they collect their fee), then HomeSeer is providing an implied warranty on the plug-in including support and future updates - right? Am I missing something here?

 

[Ripper99]

I'm getting the idea that HS management is no longer interested in their core user base (US!) and is instead switching their attention to commercial applications/users.

After all is said and done, the HS users that were using/debugging/contributing to HS from the very beginning are being given the cold shoulder and are ignored when it comes to our perception of HS as a company and the company's policies/direction. Should we all be rethinking our investment in HS? I know I am!

Chuck

I noticed this last year when Rich said I couldn't buy the new Pro controller...even though I had used Homeseer since before it was even called Homeseer! Even though they later changed their attitude when people complained by then I felt that was a big enough slap in the face and simply left the product, I was pretty choked being told I couldn't purchase their controller unless I had some elite status like "Dealer/Reseller"
and just because I used Homeseer for years didn't mean anything..gee thanks HS.

I remember the days when the users were the ones who provided everything for free and basically beta tested HS to get it to the point it is now...then all of a sudden everything is for sale and the end user is just that an end user and Homeseer is looking towards the big money and commercial sales...its funny how you soon forget all the end users that helped make your product what it is.

 

[Guy Lavoie]

The old share and share alike days are nearly gone as is witnessed in this thread. I was told I need to get over it and roll with the changes. I'm trying.

That's where the hurting is right now, more then specific product issues...and with more then just Homeseer too.

I think that this is where the vendor independance of a forum like Cocoontech can make a difference. Its too bad when the sharing culture almost gets driven off a vendor's forum in the name of revenue generation, but at least there is now an alternate destination for the hobby culture oriented folks like us.

 

[electron]

Dan,
Again I think you and others are seeing this as a much bigger deal than it really is. I'll not comment any further so as to make it a bigger deal than it really is.

Rupp,

I don't think you understand how important these issues are to us, and how bad of an impression they make on potential future customers. I am now wondering if this means HST doesn't realize this the magnitude of this situation either. You are not the one making this issue bigger than it is, so please don't stop posting, you are the only communications channel with HST, since they refuse to speak up themselves.

 

[rocco]

I'm not concerned about any of the plugins in question. I'm just worried about an unstable environment where things seem to be shifting with regards to policy, plugin delivery mechanisms, or whatever.
.
.
.
I am not comfortable with the degree to which future support of plugins depends on the relationship between the plugin author and HST. (As a paying customer this should not be my problem).

This is my concern as well.

I bought HomeSeer because it was advertised as an open system. You could download the SDK, and do whatever you like with it.

But HomeSeer has the ability to close it off, with the potential of requiring unlock codes to allow a plug-in access to HomeSeer. It appears to me that they are slowly closing it off, in their attempt to be a 'professional' system.

So HomeSeer no longer feels open to me. When, for whatever reason, I can no longer use my 1.6.150 version, I will look for the new best thing.

 

[jhimmel]

I don't see the big deal here.

Some HS plugins are available through HS and the Updater. Some are available elsewhere. Some cost money, some don't. No big deal

A plugin developer was upset because a new plugin came out that looked uncomfortably close to his - apparently from someone who he thought he was helping with something unrelated. Did Blade ever mention to Jim that he was working on a competing product while he was accepting help from Jim? Legal issues asside, is everyone here comfortable with the ethics involved? At the very least, I can certainly understand how Jim must feel - can't you? We may all come down on a different side of this one, but in the end - No big deal.

In my experience, some who complain about paying for plugins have never actually contributed ("shared") any code of there own to the "community" (I'm not referring to anyone specific in this thread). As the HA industry grows, this is increasingly so. HA isn't exactly like it used to be - how COULD it be? I for one do not code any more, do not WISH to code any more, and am happy to pay for the hard work that others put in. No big deal.

Much ado about nothing if you ask me.

 

[jwilson56]

I am lost.... there is at least 3 different Caller ID plugins... at least two of them are being sold.. one is through HST. I didn't hear anyone complaining about them. Of coarse most came out before the plugin prices went up to a minimum. Lets face it that is when most of the SH#$ hit the fan about plugins and the user community started to crumble.....

What is the deal... the more plugins for HS the better for all of us. I am sure that even if two do basically the same thing, they will have minor differences that will attract or repel people to them or the others.

Come on people... and HST... grow up... this is all starting to sound like a family squable... The world is big enough for some healthy competition from plugin authors.

I would be happy to buy a plugin from any author... either through HST or independant as long as it works.

In fact I don't think the support from a HST plugin has any better support than from an independant.... I am still waiting for a fix on WeatherPlug for HS2.1

So Rupp... when are we going to get HST to fix that?

John

 

[TrOjAn]

Did Blade ever mention to Jim that he was working on a competing product while he was accepting help from Jim?

Its funny really as the help that was given was for something else.. the motion plugin came much later.. Both me and Bob was having issues with our motion plugin.. Bob says "reckon I could write something in vb.net would be faster" and from that it was built.

I dont think either of us thought about the implications.. it was purely an on the spot decision to get a vb.net plugin.

Who would have thought the ripples it would send out.

And today I tried to help and here we are.. a huge thread with aggressive tones all over a piece of "hobbyist" software.

I wouldnt mind Ive been beta testing it for over a year <flame me baby>

TrOjAn

 

[Blade]

Did Blade ever mention to Jim that he was working on a competing product while he was accepting help from Jim?

OK to clear this up. I was not getting help from Jim when I wrote this plugin. I wrote the plugin long after Jim provided me with a sample of the FREE installer program he uses called InnoSetup.

That is all. He did not help with any of the code and I did not ask him any questions about his plugin.

He provided me a sample script for the InnoSetup installer long before I even decided to write the motion plugin.

 

[WayneW]

I noticed that not all plugin authors go through HST to distribute/sell their wares.

Yeah, but I think the difference is that if it goes through HS (and they collect their fee), then HomeSeer is providing an implied warranty on the plug-in including support and future updates - right? Am I missing something here?

One would hope you were right, but I think the recent episode of mcsAudrey proves otherwise. My apologies to Michael in advance if I have this wrong, but didn't pulling mcsAudrey from the updater leave people hanging with hardware they couldn't use?

 

[WayneW]

Some HS plugins are available through HS and the Updater. Some are available elsewhere. Some cost money, some don't. No big deal

If only it were that simple. I wish that it was true that it was no big deal. But when one author gets publicly accused of theft and then other users are actively prohibited (censored) from posting a url to that authors site, it becomes very complicated and discriminatory.