EventGhost

or just good old cash.

I think our Google Adsence revenue at eventghost.net will be greater then our upkeep costs.

I think with some extra money it would be cool to buy some devices that could be used by developers to test and code with.

Just a rough sketch of an idea.
What do you think?

Or we could do something like "coder of the month/year" and give out cash.

Opinions?

Thanks.

Hi Zian,

I think the idea is good and for all users interest. I believe in something that encourages further development of either plugins or EG core should be supported somehow if there is a possibility to do so.

I would prefer a support of devices and/or sw to developers contributing. A cash handout is maybe a nice gesture but not having the same impact in improving EG itself.

The *star* of the month (or year) sounds like a good approach, maybe in the following categories:

- plugin of the month (or 3 months depending on the cash/device availability)
- best support given of the month
- most valuable improvement of the core

For most EG users, I think a continuous stream of new plugins for all sorts of (new and older) devices or sw' integrations are most wanted. To select a device (or sw) to give out to a developer, maybe a poll for each should be made to find and define the priorities.

Another important part is of course the maintenance of existing (this could still be part the plugin category) due to discontinued products and/or new platforms (e.g. Windows 7, 8....)

Not to forget the importance of providing a good support on the forum...

Best, Walter

Every point is a good one Walter.
I like it.

Speak up folks.

It is a nice idea BUT who and how do you decide what devices?
... more importantly, is really needed?

Here's why I ask...

EG is pretty mature and IMO really only missing a few features, only one being device support for Pulse Eight CEC, and barnabas1969 is on track to rectify that soon. The other features are all software basesd, like better multi-monitor detection/support, If/Then processing methods, etc. And I'm not sure how much of those can be done.

EG already works for 99.9% of all use cases I've seen posted. I have not seen any new devices that need support (except Pulse Eight CEC) nor do I think any will come along. I use EventGhost less and less these days as my home automation gets more robust (using MiCasaVerde Vera), which I purchased since EG could not support robust events (If/Then) or the huge range of devices (Insteon, Zwave, etc). So, needless to say, I think EG is what it will always be... a way to control Windows OS and associated apps, not a robust hardware control system. Home Automation devices/apps are much better suited to this.

These days I only use EventGhost for converting IR to control XBMC (on rare occasion, WMC)... and if the Pulse Eight CEC device starts working on EG, I'll use it for that too... if it does not, I'm not sure how long I'll need EG for as I may move to using an ATI RF remote directly with XBMC if I get it working.

Hello Livin,

I disagree, EG is a very well designed Home Automation tool, not only for Software, but also for Hardware - it's very flexible and has the potential of being a "one for all" Solution.

You can write a phyton script or plugin for everything you are missing in the default - tell me one other tool with such a variety of possibilities!

I wouldn't say EG is perfect, but it's very good!

Livin wrote:It is a nice idea BUT who and how do you decide what devices?

Folks speak up?
People ask/request?
We discuss it?
(not necessarily in that order)

I suggest that we create a voting after a type of qualification time. Let's say that we would do it like this:

1) First a thread is started where users can suggest plugins for various sw and hw support. During this *announcement period* of let's say a month, we would get a collection of interesting suggestions. Thread gets locked.

2) Then we start a poll for voting for another month.

3) After voting closes, we decide to make the winner,, runner up ,,, etc depending of the result and possible purchases

4) Plugin (any) developers indicate their interest to make the coding and others contributing with testing, if needed another voting...decision making

5) Purchase -> delivery to developers...

Best, Walter

Sem;colon wrote:Hello Livin,

I disagree, EG is a very well designed Home Automation tool, not only for Software, but also for Hardware - it's very flexible and has the potential of being a "one for all" Solution.

You can write a phyton script or plugin for everything you are missing in the default - tell me one other tool with such a variety of possibilities!

I wouldn't say EG is perfect, but it's very good!

Sem;colon
You did not share your experience/background with in Home Automation. I've had nearly 15 years using almost every DIY app on the market (past & present), and most protocols (X10, Insteon, Zwave, etc), and even doing some coding myself for them.

Based on your statement I suspect ...
1) are a coder -- from your 'its easy, just code it' attitude
2) you have not seen many, if any, apps/controller devices made for home automation -- "tell me one other tool with such a variety of possibilities" alludes to this since many exist and have for years.

For #1... almost ALL home automation apps made in the last decade can be easily extended with plugins and can run script-lets directly. Most actually can use more than one language, not just python.
For #2... in order to create any home automation 'Event' beyond very basic stuff would be VERY tedious and in some cases may not be possible with EG, the way the architecture is today - unless you custom code nearly everything - and then you are not actually using a home automation app, you are simply using a framework much like an very basic SDK/IDE to custom coding home automation specific to you.

If you want to see what REAL home automation apps/devices for the DIY market (not "professional" like Control4, Crestron, etc) check out...
Homeseer
MiCasaVerde Vera
Home Control Assistant
Elve
Open Source Automation
mControl by Embedded Automation
ZVirtualScenes

Good stuff Walter,
I like the voting/discussion aspect.
I also would like to, somehow, figure out need.
Who are the good devs who just may not have the funds to put into new hardware?

I imagine some of us are doing pretty well financially.
Some of us may not be. I would love to see any EG.net created funds go to those that may not otherwise be able to get the hardware.

In a mere less then 7 days...

"our" Adsense info...
Estimated earnings
$1.57
Today so far
$3.35
Yesterday
$11.15
This month so far

You all better start picking out some devices

PAKO!!!!

If you have one can you PM your PayPal email address?
I think it's time you got PAID for all ya do around here.
Thanks pal.

I agree, I think Pako deserves to get a bonus. I know there are many others who contribute but Pako has been working hard for EG for years.

Pako for sure, fully agree

Livin gives me too much credit. I'm trying to get the Pulse-Eight device working with EG, but it's very difficult when I don't really know Python nor C++ well, and the Pulse-Eight API is so poorly "documented" (if you can even call their comments in the source "documentation").

I don't really have an opinion about what to do with your ad sense revenue, but I can tell you this:

I would happily buy a Pulse-Eight CEC adapter for a dev who has a lot of experience with Python, the "ctypes" library, and C++, as long as that dev promises to deliver an EG plugin for the Pulse-Eight device in a reasonable amount of time. All I need is a shipping address and the promise that a plugin will be developed within the next month (or two at most). Are you interested Walter?

Livin wrote:
If you want to see what REAL home automation apps/devices for the DIY market (not "professional" like Control4, Crestron, etc) check out...
Homeseer
MiCasaVerde Vera
Home Control Assistant
Elve
Open Source Automation
mControl by Embedded Automation
ZVirtualScenes

I think there's room for both. There's some things I can do with EG, that I can't do exclusively with Vera, Homeseer, etc. and vice-versa.