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If you would start again, how would you do it? (feddit.de)
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by glasgitarrewelt@feddit.de to c/homeassistant@lemmy.world
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It seems that there are a lot of things to consider before even buying the first smart device. How would you start when you would start over?

Are there any good beginner guides that helped you?

Important points for me are

  • privacy (everything should be local, no Alexa-Karens in my home)
  • use of open source/free software
  • a good variety of smart things I can use (I don't want to be tied Apple-like to only one company)

Is there a golden way to build a smart home with these factors in mind?

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[-] HughJanus@lemmy.ml 12 points 11 months ago

I probably would have never started.

Everyone insisted that it was "easy". I've come to realize this community is heavily developer-based and completely unaware of what they average person would consider easy.

My system breaks all the time and I have to spend hours trying to just get it back up and running again.

I was never able to get the app to work.

If I could have all my money and time back I would have just stuck with "dumb" electronics.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Everyone insisted that it was “easy”. I’ve come to realize this community is heavily developer-based and completely unaware of what they average person would consider easy.

This is applicable to every piece of advice I've gotten from lemmy and from reddit before it.

No, I can't work from home.

No, I don't have a raspberry pi and I don't know how one works.

I don't know what podcast you're talking about.

I have to fight to prevent my eyes glazing over when you say apk.

If you link me to something and it's just a list of the latest bugfixes without even a summary of what the fucking software IS, I won't understand.

Poor people are not scary. Some of them wear glasses too.

I don't even HAVE a PC, just a laptop that I carry with me.

You lost me at "terminal".

I don't know what any of those acronyms and abbreviations you're using mean.

[-] Thisismyusername@feddit.uk 1 points 10 months ago

Or the "step-by-step" guides that are missing a step. Or assume a bunch of knowledge. If you don't tell me I need to download a special compiler to install this thing, it's not step-by-step.

I found one the other day that failed to mention that I had to put some code in config to make it work. But they had put a screenshot of the code they used, just hadn't referenced it in the steps 🙄.

I've also seen one of the main devs respond to a user on GitHub saying that the bug they were seeing was not a bug because it was caused by the third-party system and "that's just how it is". Completely ignored the fact that the user could not achieve the intended behaviour from the integration. Was this information anywhere in the notes? Of course not.

this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. Available for free at home-assistant.io

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