HS3 Poll

[Blade]

I am looking for responses as thr whether or not you will be upgrading to HS3 when it comes out. This will help me determine if it will be worth converting all plugins to HS3 right away or not as it will be a lot of work.

[sonypoolplr]

I would like to upgrade, but since I have a Hometroller 1 that I think might not work well with it, I might not be able to. I know its not the answer you were lokking for, but that's where I stand.

[Wadenut]

When the time comes that HS2 and it's plugins are no longer viable, I suppose I will have to make a decision. At this point, I have no plans to upgrade. I feel I'd be trading one can of worms for an even bigger one. Had HST decided to maintain compatibility, it might have been a different story. It seems to me this is a deliberate attempt to force users to keep HST afloat.

[nightwalker]

I will at some point upgrade to HS3 but I can tell you it won't be on day one of the release. I just plain don't know yet what upgrading will require me to do to keep things running. HomeSeer here has gone from a hobby, fun project to something the family counts on and I can't screw with it or face the wrath of a significant WAF, something I do my best to avoid. Since a majority of the plug-ins I run are BL plug-ins what you do will be a very major factor in any upgrade of HomeSeer, but you knew that!

[mmn]

I'd have to see the benefits, costs, etc. I really haven't seen any information yet.

Factors important to me are:

1) End-of-life plan for HS2 and plugins

2) Functional comparison HS2 vs. HS3

3) System (hw and sw) requirements, minimal/optimal.

4) Migration process and what the plugin guys are going to do.

5) Upgrade costs

I really want to get to a low power 24/7 dedicated HS server, and I'm waiting for more info on HS3 before I move in that direction (if my present hw will hold out long enough).

Seems to me plugins are important to HS success, so I have some concerns in that the plugin guys are asking these kinds of questions. I'd have thought the HS people would have gotten the plugin people involved early on, unless they are going to do their own thing with regard to added functionality.

They must have floated some concepts somewhere, else how do you make a business case to justify the development expense?

So if the poll had had a fourth option - "Wait and see what it is", that's what I would have chosen.

Regards
Michael

[Blade]

It is going to take a lot of my time to update all of my plugins and I am afraid it will not be free. I plan to charge a one time upgrade fee that would include all plugin updates. It will not be expensive but I do have to get something for the amount of time I am going to have to spend updating them. Hope everyone understands.

This poll is really to check if there will be enough people updating to HS3 in order to make my efforts worthwhile.

[Rotech]

I still can't tell you if I am or not because I don't even know what HS3 will benefit me. I wish they can come out with concrete info and maybe some ilustrations of how this is going to take me from where I stand now. I understand that time s money, and if u put in time work u should get paid, but now this will become a big expense if all the authors of plugins do the same (which I understand).....

[travisdh]

I will likely upgrade, but will be really tied to the platform I am currently on.

I would like to (ideally) run Homeseer on some form of Linux platform for stability and security, however quite a few of the background things i run on the HomeSeer Server for my Emergency Response System only have windows applications, with heavy interfaces into the soundcard, Serial over IP with Windows only Drivers, communication ports and so on, which makes changing across very difficult at best.

Ideally if I could find a good, linux supported Networked Serial Device, i may make the switch, but would likely need to look more into running some VMWARE Server.

For me i would suspect the upgrade would not be right away, especially given all of the useful things my system does is driven by plugins which may not be compatible with Linux versions, if windows versions are available at the start i might initially reconsider.

As to cost, i think whilst all users want to minimize cost(s) for bringing all plugins up to the new HS3 level, but especially with paid plugins it is unreasonable to expect free upgrades given the amount of work required.

[donstephens]

I too will wait and see. Probably I will upgrade. I'm curious; there have been clues as to how radical the new version is, but Rich hasn't really laid out what will have to be changed, at least to my knowledge. The only thing I have heard is that device states will be dead.

[reidfo]

OT: Network serial

Ideally if I could find a good, linux supported Networked Serial Device, i may make the switch, but would likely need to look more into running some VMWARE Server.

I'm using the Digi PortServer TS devices and they have current Linux drivers. I picked up both of mine on ebay for around $75-85 each. I have both an 8 and 16 port model. Pretty solid devices, though I have not been able to make my Rain8Net work with them (yet).

[Uncle Michael]

Given the track record, upgrading immediately is a HUGE risk. The question for me will be, Do I upgrade in the first few months after the most debilitating bugs have been subdued, or do I wait much longer because a key plug-in or some other feature I depend on is no longer supported? If I lose functionality, like the Stargate plug-in, then I'll have to begin to implement a transition plan, which may take some time to develop and then carry out. My enthusiasm will depend on what additional benefits are offered. Are they worth the pain, or do I just hunker down and make do with what I have?

[joegrace13]

Since doomotion runs pretty much most of my house it will be a while before I upgrade.

[megatron2]

I only see myself upgrading if there is a great deal for existing users (under $100) and a significant technology or reliability break through with HS3 in order to sway me to upgrade . That said I would do the same thing I did for HS2 and that is get in on the initial low price upgrade deal and then sit on it for a year. I just do not have the patience to deal with the bugs and conversions anymore. I honestly only upgraded to HS2 due to the fact I wanted to migrate to Z-wave (Z-Troller). I would have been perfectly content staying at HS1 if there was better Zwave support. I can live with HS2 for a long long time and do not have any intention of even updating within HS2. I have never seen a higher version released that convinced me that I would be missing out on something yet with HS2.

[Bestgear]

Hi Bob

I have a few of your plugins and am happy with HS2....

I am sure we will all be forced into HS3...but for me it will need a killer app to do it.

Of course, HS3 might just be that killer itself!

I think most folks will have too much baggage to move and not have the time to donate to the task... I couldnot bear to think about starting that level of commitment to a rebuild in foreign lands.

David

[alphatech]

Hi Blade,
Another question, if I purchase one of your plugin today, do I need to purchase or upgrade again with HS3?

Thanks,
Aldo