I see no signs of any desire to commercialize the project any more than is needed.
Offering an optional paid cloud service to fund so much other work they do is really a good model for how to get a bit of money to pay the bills but still run the project as pure free open source. Honestly I can’t say I’ve seen any other FOSS project do a better job than has been done here. Most either go full commercial and fork the project to make the big bucks (a la Plex) or simply lose steam and die (most others).
I think the Nabu Casa team has struck a really delicate balance that allows them to do this in the right way, and I’m very impressed how carefully and considerately it’s been done so far. Of course no one can see the future, but for now, I have to commend them.
Party on… cheers to Otto for planting the seed that grew into the code I use to power the majority of my devices. I started off, and still am capable of rolling my own firmware for my esp devices, but esphome definitely makes deploying a new device easier, and it is easier to maintain vs scratch firmware.
I am with those who have echoed concern over NC moving toward a profit oriented stance. I have seen it happen all over the place as more of the rule than exception; greed seems to be growing in popularity these days. Of course NB has shown better in the past, which is a great sign going forward. I donate to the devs of merlinwrt and the popular scripts I use on my router. I hope in the same manner, NB can remain true to the core of what esphome was created for by creating ways for folks to donate and take the edge off of all the ‘hobby turned to work’ stress. What would really suck, is if esphome was ever pulled into some subscription based scheme… that would end the party quickly.
I appreciate the move to keep this project alive and active, and although I don’t need any of the services provided by Nabu Casa, I think I’ll subscribe to support this growing ecosystem.
I don’t see the issue with people trying to make a living and I don’t understand all the fuss, if push come to shove, FOSS projects can be forked or abandoned for something better.
People are willing to pay a shady Chinese manufacturer 5€ for a microcontroller board that may even be DOA, but 5€/month for quality software is too much?
The recent announcement on Yeelight demonstrates that Nabu Casa can play an important role in securing access to the hardware that HA controls. Otto has done a great job so I think this is a good move, as long as the more general access is maintained and it doesn’t become locked into HA.
I think Nabu Casa need to do more of this. Partner with (a) hardware manufacturer(s) to provide HW that is HA ready so it doesn’t suddenly stop working at the whim of the provider. With ESPHome, Nabu Casa have just what they need for WiFi devices.
I’ve just bought some Shelly devices. First thing I did was to take away any dependence on the Shelly Cloud/App offering, flash with ESPHome, and integrate into HA. It would be so much better if there was an option that these came preflashed with ESPHome and therefore be HA ready.
I know it isn’t required but I have an aversion to any firmware that requires me to use a supplier’s dedicated App. I’d rather take control now, than have to do it in several years time. I do the same for smart plugs and Sonoff gear as well. Everything else is ZigBee.
But you don’t need the app either.
I don’t have any Shelly products, but as far as I know you can integrate them without even downloading the app.
But I can see a reason to have everything in one place.
“What was it now, MQTT, cloud, ESP-Home, Tasmota or rest-api that controlled that socket…?”
You possibly can (I’ve never tried) but as all my IOT gear is on Fixed IPs, I doubt I can do that. The integration via the ESPHome addon is also brilliant so why not use it.
All this is slightly beside the point (it is what I do). The key point is that the HA Ecosystem needs it’s own Hardware so events like Yeelights and TP-Link cannot happen for the broader user base.
ESPHome is based on libraries by PlatformIO; in monetary terms, what was ‘acquired’?
I see ESPHome as a collection of other people’s libraries, and open source contributions for devices (I/O) bound together through a YAML based editor.
ESPHome has never been a paid for project, has no registered users, so has no immediately obvious monetary value, brands only have a value if they can be monetized through hardware, software or membership of the same.
Perhaps those of us who are troubled by this latest move, might be more at ease if we knew what the plans are for this ‘acquisition’ by the Home Assistant founders?
Do they plan HA branded hardware? Do they see a commercial opportunity to embed ESPHome binaries in ‘white label’ imports that can be turned for a profit perhaps?
Given that ESPHome is mostly open source submissions from volunteers, it’s hard to see what exactly was transacted, the name alone is not enough, forking the project would have been less contentious.
HA is certainly growing, and like all great ideas that grow, at some point people with money will make an approach to make more money.
I do think HA is safe for the time being as ‘investors’ generally want to buy proprietary products that they can monitize and given that HA is, like ESPHome, mostly based on integrating other IP owners code with extensive scaffolding, it’s unlikely to be viewed as something to be bought any time soon.
Perhaps this ‘acquisition’ event and the commentary it’s generated might be a clue to how any erosion of Ha’s Open Source ‘honest’ status might go down if it comes to pass in the future. The Dev’s are on notice, play with fire proof gloves…
