We’ve been here before. The difference this time is there’s a far greater choice of home automation projects available now.
Users are no longer willing to wait around for the odd update here and there and being at the mercy of one single developer.
Projects like Home Assistant with a vast array of technologies already developed and its large user base and community have now taken the lead.
I’m afraid HG has lost a lot of ground and unless an experienced developer like @Bounz takes the lead with this forum there’s little chance of progressing this project with exchange of ideas on the GitHub.
Adds arent what is killing HG. There are still lots of developers (experianced and novice) that still use HG. If there is enough interest in an add then a program addon and widget can be created. The problem is slow bug fixes which affects the main server program. The inability for other developers to implement the fixes is the issue. Since the plus app is a pay app I understand a single developer working on it. However communication or lack of it is still the driving force behind progress. HG is discussed on several HomeAutomation forums. There is no offical forum for Genes HG any longer so GitHub is where all issues, suggestions, questions for the server should be posted. Suggestions or issues with the plus app should be posted in the feed back for the app on Google play.
A forum is a conduit for the exchange of ideas. Github is the place where these ideas come to fruition.
As I mentioned before the HG project needs suitably qualified coders/designers on board to bring the project to the next level. Even the original developer admitted this.
There’s no shortage of “code hackers” using HG and while they may contribute in their own way the project needs a structured approach from people who fully understand the base code.
The consensus is that the code needs a complete rewrite and I doubt under the current conditions that would happen anytime soon.
It can be clearly seen from the original HG forum how many experienced coders contributed some very useful code to the project. That has all but disappeared now.
Personally I’ve all but migrated from HG at this stage. I’m sure there are a number still using HG productively but very few if any are contributing in any meaningful way.
Maybe you should set up your own HG forum and with your enthusiasm for HG you could possibly encourage some of the “old gang” back if they haven’t already moved on to bigger and better things.
I agree HG needs designers and developers but not just fly by night ones, they need to be active and have access to update the code not just put in a pull request.
As for a complete rewrite almost all HA software can benefit from this however few are willing to take up the challenge.
I already have two forums going which have HG threads, another HG forum I don’t think is required. This one works fine, the issue is getting the word out that HG users need to participate and to use this forum to express their ideas.
There was a vibrant forum with a couple developers adding to the code base beyond Gene. Gene tried to move the forum once and it didn’t go well. When he shut doors, Bounz created this forum but 2 things hindered acceptance. First, Gene wasn’t here. Second, the forum isn’t a classic style layout and IMO users rejected participation. Add to that a missing founding developer for 2 years and the BE being more focused on Windows than RPI (where most original users operated) and you can see the result.
Those who are coming late to the HomeGenie party and have come across this forum could be forgiven for being confused as to who the actual developer of the software is.
You can clearly see this is a link to the original forum established by the original developer Generoso Martello which was shutdown by him over two years ago citing various reasons for doing so, none of which I feel were valid at the time. He also stated that he no longer intended to carry out any further development on HG as in his opinion it was a completed product.
http://old.homegenie.club:8080/www.homegenie.it/forum/index.html
It was left to a number of contributors, one in particular @Bounz to establish this forum to provide some form of voluntary support to the current user base of HG and pick up from where Gene left off. Unfortunately owing to personal commitments Bounz is no longer in a position to do this.
Fast forward two years and Gene is back on the GitHub once again developing HG.
Folks, you can make of this what you will but I for one along with others are no longer willing to invest time and energy into a product that could so easily be shelved at a moments notice. There are too many other competent alternatives out there with a vibrant community and a well laid out future development plan.
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