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Misterhouse: An open source home automation program written in Perl

42 points by ctoth 5y ago

mrtweetyhack 5y ago
haha. DOA
ctoth 5y ago
I first used this in 2008, and it was old then. As far as I know this is what eventually lead to projects like Home Assistant. Now for some reason I just don't even bother with home automation, even though there's technically more smart home stuff than ever. Perhaps it's because it's not as simple and fun as X10?
- smhenderson 5y ago
  Yes, I was surprised to see a note on the home page that "It currently runs on Windows 95". But I also noted that it says at the bottom that the same page was last updated in 2017 so still somewhat active I guess? I never got into any of this, despite a friend at work describing what X10 was to me in 1997 and being totally fascinated at the time. I think the take away there is that there are literally thousands and thousands of interesting things to do with computers but never enough time to try them all.
  - jka 5y ago
    > page was last updated in 2017 ... ...and the mailing list has had activity this year. Some software just carries on quietly, I suppose :)
    - smhenderson 5y ago
      Yes, the best software does exactly that...
  - bluGill 5y ago
    > I never got into any of this What is wrong with the simple light switch on the wall? Home automation sounds cool and all, but every time I look into it I realize that the switch does everything I need perfectly fine and doesn't have bugs. I'm not saying there are no uses for home automation, but most of them are overstated.
    - ncrmro 5y ago
      Light on when you get home before opening the door, red shift at night, automatically turn off when leaving etc. Ac follows same logic. I have a scene called good night that turns everything including the tv off
    - wkearney99 5y ago
      When you live by yourself in a small place, sure, just reaching for switches seems perfectly fine. In a larger household, with many occupants it starts becoming more useful. Simple things like roll-backs on lights for spaces that haven't been occupied 'for a while'. Or sensing occupancy and adjusting lighting and other conditions (shades, HVAC, etc). Note "occupancy" not just "motion". The lack of motion does not necessarily translate to nobody being present (sedentary use of a computer, watching tv, sitting in a bath tub, etc). Simple schedules to 'clean up' unused lighting or devices. Like turning off car/bike/power tool chargers if they've been running 'long enough'. Or activating them with simple voice commands. Do you 'need' any of this? No, of course not, but it does add a bit of convenience for not a lot of technical implementation/cost.
stewx 5y ago
The fact it's written in Perl is cause for concern...
- smhenderson 5y ago
  How so? You realize it was written in Perl in the late 90's?
- worik 5y ago
  Sigh. Perl. My second love.
bellboy_tech 5y ago
I can't believe this made the HN front page!! Bruce W. was so far ahead of his time. I have used MH since early 2000s and still use it today to fill in some gaps that Home Assistant still has. The same motion sensor code I wrote in 2005 is in use today. Originally on a spare server but now on a rasp pi. It's log design and memory leak checker keep it going. Super software design at it's core!!!
failwhaleshark 5y ago
I remember I had the whole X10 setup and the RS-232 serial port adapter. No WiFi to configure, just DIP switches.

42 points by ctoth 5y ago

haha. DOA

I first used this in 2008, and it was old then. As far as I know this is what eventually lead to projects like Home Assistant. Now for some reason I just don't even bother with home automation, even though there's technically more smart home stuff than ever. Perhaps it's because it's not as simple and fun as X10?

smhenderson 5y ago
Yes, I was surprised to see a note on the home page that "It currently runs on Windows 95". But I also noted that it says at the bottom that the same page was last updated in 2017 so still somewhat active I guess? I never got into any of this, despite a friend at work describing what X10 was to me in 1997 and being totally fascinated at the time. I think the take away there is that there are literally thousands and thousands of interesting things to do with computers but never enough time to try them all.
- jka 5y ago
  > page was last updated in 2017 ... ...and the mailing list has had activity this year. Some software just carries on quietly, I suppose :)
  - smhenderson 5y ago
    Yes, the best software does exactly that...
- bluGill 5y ago
  > I never got into any of this What is wrong with the simple light switch on the wall? Home automation sounds cool and all, but every time I look into it I realize that the switch does everything I need perfectly fine and doesn't have bugs. I'm not saying there are no uses for home automation, but most of them are overstated.
  - ncrmro 5y ago
    Light on when you get home before opening the door, red shift at night, automatically turn off when leaving etc. Ac follows same logic. I have a scene called good night that turns everything including the tv off
  - wkearney99 5y ago
    When you live by yourself in a small place, sure, just reaching for switches seems perfectly fine. In a larger household, with many occupants it starts becoming more useful. Simple things like roll-backs on lights for spaces that haven't been occupied 'for a while'. Or sensing occupancy and adjusting lighting and other conditions (shades, HVAC, etc). Note "occupancy" not just "motion". The lack of motion does not necessarily translate to nobody being present (sedentary use of a computer, watching tv, sitting in a bath tub, etc). Simple schedules to 'clean up' unused lighting or devices. Like turning off car/bike/power tool chargers if they've been running 'long enough'. Or activating them with simple voice commands. Do you 'need' any of this? No, of course not, but it does add a bit of convenience for not a lot of technical implementation/cost.

stewx 5y ago

The fact it's written in Perl is cause for concern...

smhenderson 5y ago
How so? You realize it was written in Perl in the late 90's?
worik 5y ago
Sigh. Perl. My second love.

bellboy_tech 5y ago

I can't believe this made the HN front page!! Bruce W. was so far ahead of his time. I have used MH since early 2000s and still use it today to fill in some gaps that Home Assistant still has. The same motion sensor code I wrote in 2005 is in use today. Originally on a spare server but now on a rasp pi. It's log design and memory leak checker keep it going. Super software design at it's core!!!

failwhaleshark 5y ago

I remember I had the whole X10 setup and the RS-232 serial port adapter. No WiFi to configure, just DIP switches.