Subject: From: Date:

RE: [ECS] general comments about ECS Nathan Brown Mon, 13 Nov 2000 12:35:34 -0800

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 Mon, 13 Nov 2000 12:35:34 -0800
I have to agree with David.  I too am a developer by trade.  I have
started my own HA package about five or six times now.  David brought up
the definit functionality benifits that are very good points, but from a
programmers point of view functionality can be duplicated.  Yes, I
believe I can develope a solutions that will solve all MY CURRENT needs.
However, I know this:
1) I don't have the time to keep updating and adding functionality all
my life as my needs change
2) I don't have the time to learn all the expertice that has gone into
ECS
3) When I decide to sell my house I cannot leave the new owner with a
system that I wrote and no tech support.
 
For me it came down to an easy equation.
(Time it would take me to write the software
+
Time it would take me to do updates & bug fixes)
*
Current hourly consulting rate
>
$200 for ECS

-----Original Message-----
From: JoAnne Letkeman [mailto:joalet@telusplanet.net]
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2000 10:08 AM
To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
Subject: [ECS] general comments about ECS


Hi All,
 
     Some time ago (over a year probably) I gave ECS a try and
found it didn't work well for me.  I found it very confusing trying
to get rid of the default functions without disabling the whole thing
and could never get the newly written functions to work the way I
wanted.  Being an embedded programmer, I always wanted to 
"write the code" instead of being forced to do it the ECS way and
I had an existing graphical interface that displayed a floor plan of
the house with doors and window states being displayed.  After
getting ECS to interface to a VB program through the DDE link,
I finally gave up because the whole thing seemed too dis-jointed.
I told myself that it would be easier to just write the whole thing
myself and erased ECS.  Since then I have continued to follow
this mailing list and have noticed a lot of very enthusiastic people
with what sounds like some great ideas and after a year or so
I still haven't gotten around to writing my own system.  
  My point in writing this is to find out if others have found the
ECS system difficult at first but stuck with it despite their 
"do it myself" attitude?  I'm considering giving ECS another
try but would like to know whether the average ECS user knows
anything about programming and maybe it is easier for them
to figure out because they don't have pre-conceived knowledge
or ability (in programming)  This in no way is meant as a slur
or meant to start a flame war.  Or maybe like all things worth
doing right, it takes time and patience to learn and spending a few
hours isn't enough??  Comments??

Sincerely,
Max

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