I think that was just a comment on the first known usage of the word (mud) rather than the later pig slop which is pretty clearly listed in the definition

Yes, that's the origin of the word. Maybe you can see the connection to the more recent variation of the definition?

Probably because it's become popular enough for the ones in charge to take note of it. Just because it's a dictatorship doesn't mean it's a competent government

Good thing about podcasts is you can listen to them on the go where the point isn't to get the gist of information, it's to be entertained without visuals.

If you're thinking in arrays, you're thinking too low level. Obviously the underlying code supports arrays and more advanced users can even use them in templates via the front end. The use cases for having a full GUI based abstraction of more complex data structures can probably be counted on one hand so for those cases it's easier to just let the users access via templates or custom components

Ah that sounds similar to ESPHome or Tasmota. They have their uses, but a centralized system is needed for more complex automations.

Most users don't want to be coding to create automations. Systems like HomeAssistant (and NodeRed) have done a good job abstracting the underlying code and data to something that's more user friendly for non-developers. Most people don't even know what an array is

Huh? what would be the point of that? Sounds like something the IoT device would need to support. Can look into ESPHome if that's a feature you need.

More advanced data structures have always been a little challenging to abstract for end-users. HA has a pretty good balance and of course if you want to do something more complicated you can always implement a custom component (or official one if it's something others might need).

If you can't even explain what makes your product better to someone technical, it might not be that game changer you imagine.

Nabu Casa isn't really HA's parent company, it's a commercial service that employs the devs, but doesn't own the product. The main advantage of subscribing to Nabu Casa is remote access and tie-ins to services like Alexa and Google. HomeAssistant by itself is still run locally.

It's a shame you got a bad setup, but that's the case with computers sometimes. The good thing was that when a commercial device breaks down people just toss it, but in this case it sounds like you were able to fix it!

Of course any devices can connect to a cloud server if you have the proper interface. I can "trivially" connect my dumb light bulb to a cloud server using a smart switch.

The point is that a zigbee device cannot connect to the internet unless the gateway is configured in a way to do so, but if you're running HomeAssistant as your zigbee coordinator then it won't do that.

Sometimes people aren't completely clear on the Internet and you have to use context clues from the rest of their post to understand the meaning, even if it's not exactly what they wrote

I don't see anything there that Home Assistant can't do

I've heard people complain of confusing configuration but reliability has never been an issue with Home Assistant

That's as it should be. If you don't want to use the app you don't need to but it shouldn't be dictated to update devices a certain way

Hard to say if it would have gone in a more locked down direction without OHF involvement. If you're fine with Apple Home or manual switches, Home Assistant might not be for you

Yes HomeAssistant can check for firmware updates for devices and install them if permitted. Or you can ignore the updates.