re: This is why we can't have nice things. Comcast kills stringify

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frick all this home automation crap.

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No no, frick all this relying on 3rd party services that might go away tomorrow crap.


It takes more effort in most cases (and in some cases a LOT more effort), but I highly recommend using open source software whenever possible in your home automation setup. Run as many services on YOUR hardware as you can. And make as much of your hardware YOURS as you can. That means don't buy hubs that you can't upgrade the hardware/software yourself. Build your own hub with an RPi, HomeAssistant, and whatever wireless dongles you need. Don't buy lights, sensors, or other IoT items that you can't integrate with HomeAssistant (or other open source software). Hell, make your own sensors.



The current phase of commercial IoT stuff focuses on making things easy for the masses. That's important, but it usually comes at the expense of your setup is not YOUR setup. The open source hardware and software community has some catching up to do as far as ease of use and setup, but you can't beat the fact that your stuff is going to work until it physically breaks, in which case you know enough about it to fix it. It's not just going to stop working because some bean counter decided it's not profitable.