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How does it compare to OpenHAB 2, other than the language (OpenHAB is written in Java)? I'm currently running OpenHAB and it's rock solid (I have one with >2 y

by lima 9y ago

How does it compare to OpenHAB 2, other than the language (OpenHAB is written in Java)? I'm currently running OpenHAB and it's rock solid (I have one with >2 years uptime on a BananaPI). If I want to extend it, I usually write Python scripts that either use OpenHAB HTTP API or send MQTT messages, so I've not yet felt the need to write Java code. While I'm proficient with Java, I'd have to set up a development environment. But the OpenHAB scripting language - while very powerful - has a very steep learning curve. It's hard to work with if you don't use it all the time and you end up having to google everything single thing you want to do. The Home Assistant community appears to be more active (about 2x) and the barrier for entry is much lower.

oh_sigh 9y ago
I'm a software developer for one of those biG tech companies programming in Java and c++ all day, and I found openhab largely inscrutable without putting a large amount of time in. In contrast, I had the relatively simple time setting up hass and got to my desired level of automation in about 1hr. So, it was an easy choice for me. I also really like home assistants philosphy on library code- there is basically no device or tech specific code in Hass, their rule is to only use third party libraries with a wrapper around them. This greatly reduced the scope of the task for developing the internals of a home automation system Finally, there is now a system in place in has where you can pretty easily write straight python code for scripts, instead of using a yaml config
JshWright 9y ago
> The Home Assistant community appears to be more active (about 2x) and the barrier for entry is much lower. I would go so far as to say Home Assistant is literally the best open source community out there today. Very active, lots of folks happy to help users with issues, and lots of devs happy to help newer devs through the PR process.
- ghroos 9y ago
  Having contributed to a number of projects via github, this is not true at all. I have had prs closed within minutes with curt replies. That is not how you “help newer devs through a PR process.” In another case this happened for a very clear bug. I’m cool with making amendments but maintainers do not seem open to that often, feeling more content to close things because they see the fix as a “hack”. Compared to other projects HASS is one of the worst I have dealt with, sorry to say.
  - m4x 9y ago
    This has not been my experience at all when contributing to HA. Maybe we interacted with different people. They do have strict code standards, but it's hard to argue that's a bad thing.
    - ghroos 9y ago
      Probably. I had a couple prs accepted by another maintainer fwiw. The code standards were not the issue, nor were unit tests. Not my first rodeo. The later interactions were not pleasant and did not engender much interest in further contribution.
  - xur17 9y ago
    As a counterpoint, I had a really good experience with the 2 or 3 PRs I submitted. They were merged pretty quickly with helpful feedback. It definitely makes me more likely to contribute in the future.
  - JshWright 9y ago
    Obviously this is an entirely subjective thing, and neither of us is "right" or "wrong". Home Assistant has certainly gotten a lot more particular about new code as the project has grown, but I still feel they do a great job of helping new users along. Bummer you had such a negative experience...
    - ghroos 9y ago
      Which is sad considering an issue I was attempting to contribute was a bug fix rather than new feature work. Clearly a lot of the earlier code suffers from lack of design. As I mentioned later I have had PRs accepted but overall I find maintainership to be a real mixed bag. Better run open source projects do not have this inconsistency.
  - SEJeff 9y ago
    Mind mentioning a link to the PRs you're referring to?

by lima 9y ago

oh_sigh 9y ago

I'm a software developer for one of those biG tech companies programming in Java and c++ all day, and I found openhab largely inscrutable without putting a large amount of time in. In contrast, I had the relatively simple time setting up hass and got to my desired level of automation in about 1hr. So, it was an easy choice for me. I also really like home assistants philosphy on library code- there is basically no device or tech specific code in Hass, their rule is to only use third party libraries with a wrapper around them. This greatly reduced the scope of the task for developing the internals of a home automation system Finally, there is now a system in place in has where you can pretty easily write straight python code for scripts, instead of using a yaml config

JshWright 9y ago

> The Home Assistant community appears to be more active (about 2x) and the barrier for entry is much lower. I would go so far as to say Home Assistant is literally the best open source community out there today. Very active, lots of folks happy to help users with issues, and lots of devs happy to help newer devs through the PR process.

ghroos 9y ago
Having contributed to a number of projects via github, this is not true at all. I have had prs closed within minutes with curt replies. That is not how you “help newer devs through a PR process.” In another case this happened for a very clear bug. I’m cool with making amendments but maintainers do not seem open to that often, feeling more content to close things because they see the fix as a “hack”. Compared to other projects HASS is one of the worst I have dealt with, sorry to say.
- m4x 9y ago
  This has not been my experience at all when contributing to HA. Maybe we interacted with different people. They do have strict code standards, but it's hard to argue that's a bad thing.
  - ghroos 9y ago
    Probably. I had a couple prs accepted by another maintainer fwiw. The code standards were not the issue, nor were unit tests. Not my first rodeo. The later interactions were not pleasant and did not engender much interest in further contribution.
- xur17 9y ago
  As a counterpoint, I had a really good experience with the 2 or 3 PRs I submitted. They were merged pretty quickly with helpful feedback. It definitely makes me more likely to contribute in the future.
- JshWright 9y ago
  Obviously this is an entirely subjective thing, and neither of us is "right" or "wrong". Home Assistant has certainly gotten a lot more particular about new code as the project has grown, but I still feel they do a great job of helping new users along. Bummer you had such a negative experience...
  - ghroos 9y ago
    Which is sad considering an issue I was attempting to contribute was a bug fix rather than new feature work. Clearly a lot of the earlier code suffers from lack of design. As I mentioned later I have had PRs accepted but overall I find maintainership to be a real mixed bag. Better run open source projects do not have this inconsistency.
- SEJeff 9y ago
  Mind mentioning a link to the PRs you're referring to?