Get Ready for Open-Source Home AutomationBy Julie Jacobson
Charmed Quark is closing shop after eight years, offering its robust CQC home automation software and a rabid fan base to the open-source community.There have been plenty of efforts over the years to bring home automation to the open-source community. However, none of those efforts has started with a fully baked home-control system, a rabid fan club and sizable installation base.
Now, we have the first real shot of open-source success with the unfortunate demise of Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd., developer of CQC automation software.
Charmed Quark founder, developer and indefatigable evangelist Dean Roddey is giving up on the business after eight years. The passionate guy that he is, however, instead of abandoning CQC’s fan club altogether or selling the company for a pittance, Roddey is opening up CQC’s source code and documentation for the taking.
Until this week, the software plus an almost-obligatory one-year maintenance fee cost $795 for a single use.
Roddey posted this message on his Website July 5:
Quote:
| I have decided to open source the product and withdraw it as a commercial prospect. I don't really think it has a home other than with you brave folks who are willing to take on something fairly heavy. Basically there are tinkerers and there are professionals, and in between those two large groups are the few, the proud, the techno geeks. But the professionals aren't interested in our product, and I don't think it can compete in the lower end, and I don't really want to honestly. There are other products that already have that niche filled fairly well. |
Having followed Charmed Quark for years, I couldn’t agree more with Roddey’s assessment, but I hoped he could beat the odds.
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