SWRemote vs Windows 8

[markd]

@Steve:

X-mas is still two weeks away. You can't live without an iDevice past that time

I know - that thought has already occurred to me. The thing is addictive and I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WITH IT YET! (I did spend more time ringing its neck to get it's MAC address out of it for my router than it took to install RDP and Remote.)

That thing about the MAC address is what frustrates me about macs- when they do what you want (ie you are in the Jobs groove they are great. When something goes wrong, or you try to put a foot outside the groove, things get a lot more challenging. I understand all the good reasons for this, but as a engineer, I want to see under the covers. . . . and not have my life mediated through itunes.

I'll be the lone holdout in my family after Christmas (although I do use an macbook now and again)- I did just get an android phone, so I'll be exploring a bit from that side.

And yes, I am also OT, but I don't think there is anyone else really paying attention.

[Richard Naninck]

And yes, I am also OT, but I don't think there is anyone else really paying attention.

If you go deep into Apple stuff, it's pretty easy to go under the hood

My first htpc was built around Linux and MythTV. Not that much different from Apple.. But in 2004 Meedio and HouseBot came along and I dropped all of Linux and went back to Windows and stayed there (except for my iPhone).
In 2004 HB was sold to Meedio and there was no development at all anymore behold some Meedio HouseBot Connector.. which I still use btw. When Meedio was sold to Yahoo, Scott took HB back and HB got back on track. Since that time lots has changed and many good feature requests made it into HB. Besides a few feature requests I still have and some bug fixes I would like to see, I really think HB is was it should be, except of course for the previously mentioned SWRemote not meeting the todays standards anymore. IMO nothing revolutionary can currently beat HB.

[Steve Horn]

... IMO nothing revolutionary can currently beat HB.

I haven't "shopped around" for HB alternatives, but I suspect you're correct, certainly based on price points if nothing else. My son sells and installed Crestron. Serious $ and I'm not sure it can do anything that HB can't. And talk about a closed architecture. I think it might be in the same class as Apple.

Since we're so OT here its silly, how many HB users do you suppose we have? I get the feeling there might be 10-12 of us, based on forum participation.

[Richard Naninck]

I know @least 6 active Dutch users that don't post here.

[Timoh]

Difficult to say how many users we have.... Aside from the new guy who just posted for the first time while testing the webremote... I think it's probably in the 50-100 range, with a dozen posting.

That being said, the webremote was only downloaded 7 times last time a I checked.

ts

[Steve Horn]

...That being said, the webremote was only downloaded 7 times last time a I checked.
ts

I plan to. Just haven't gotten here yet.

[markd]

I'll be checking it out too- probably when it is bi-directional.

[art]

I wonder if, since Scott is not actively developing/improving HouseBot, and if one or more of you has the ability and desire to take it over, would he be willing to make it open source or pass the source code on to someone else to continue developing. Just food for thought.

[Richard Naninck]

Not long ago I received the source for the RFXCom devices to do some debugging. The first thing I need to do is getting the source to compile which is not easy if a different compiler is used. By looking at the feature requests still open on HB, it would be a pain to figure out how to hack these requests in the code without breaking stuff. This is a one man project and I guess it will have to stay that way unless somebody or group of people rewrite it from scratch like the MeediOS guys did when Meedio stopped.

[JamesH]

I will be downloading and trying your web remote. I am hoping it gets developed to its full potential.
It is appreciated that people are still trying to improve the software.
My son has worked out the coding for the EZIO8SA - Simplehomenet Insteon/X10 7 In / 8 Out. We will be sending it in to hopefully be included as a device, instead of having to program it in. He is working on the EZIO40 - Simplehomenet 5010J Insteon and X10 4 Output Module, which hopefully will be similar.

[Nightrader_]

That being said, the webremote was only downloaded 7 times last time a I checked.

When time permits

Gene

[dlmorgan999]

Since we're so OT here its silly, how many HB users do you suppose we have? I get the feeling there might be 10-12 of us, based on forum participation.

I still use and rely on it every day. I'm not on the forums much because - as has been said by many others, especially Richard - HouseBot just works and already does everything I need. Just yesterday I was showing it to an engineer friend of mine for the first time and he was amazed what all I was doing with it.

While it might be fun to have new releases now and then (new things to play with ), I can't imagine life without HouseBot. If nothing else new ever shows up - even from users - I'll still be happy.

Having said that, I too am very curious to play with the web remote on my iPad - it's just a matter of finding the time.

-- Dave

[Steve Horn]

... Having said that, I too am very curious to play with the web remote on my iPad - it's just a matter of finding the time.
- Dave

As I posted elsewhere, I got a chance to iPad (Christmas gift to my son - I am still iThingless) and used a $1.99 Remote Desktop app to link to a SWRemote running on my HB server. It was quite impressive. And not knowing anything more than I do, I'm not sure how a Safari web browser accessing a HB SWremote would improve on that. But for non-iThings that have browsers it makes perfect sense.

[edgar]

Hi All,

Housebot is still alive and kicking well at my house!

I use it daily and it works very well! I am very excited about Timoh's work and others that have contributed here. I am not impressed with the naysayers and I don't mind saying it.

A huge Shout Out to all those who have contributed to the plugins!

v/r

Kevin