> but the more complicated models are run in the cloud This is a massive problem with home automation tools today. I need to rely on Comcast to stay alive to be able to turn lights on and off in my house? To me, it's an absolute dealbreaker. I've spent more time than I feel like I should have had to in order to control devices I own without any data leaving my LAN. Am I the only one who feels like it's a totally absu…
I think it's okay as long as it fails to a usable state when the internet connection is interrupted. To me, the bigger worry is having cloud connected video cameras (or microphones) in my home at all. Obviously many people are happy to trade privacy for convenience, but this this is a red line for me. There are too many ways for it to get deeply dystopic really quickly.
It depends on your definition of "usable".
For instance, if I want to tie 3 bulbs together (e.g. treat them as a single bulb for on/off/brightness/color) in SmartThings, that has to go to the cloud. That was when I stopped trying to make things work in SmartThings.
Comparing ST (which costs $$) to HA (which is free) is a no-brainer; HA will run Python scripts (or shell out) on hardware I own, on my LAN.
We, the users, should refuse to pay for anything that doesn't actually let us control our homes. The case for FOSS is stronger here than it's ever been.