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It’s JAVA-based, so extending it requires learning how to code, however the user experience was positive and configuring it was always relatively straight forward. OpenHAB is also Open Source and will run on just about any bit of hardware (I’ve run it on Linux servers with significant resources and I’ve run it on raspberry pi’s!). It worked fantastically well as a home media centre, and because it was Open Source then it was free to download and use, but then new challengers came along. LinuxMCE was the first of it’s kind to offer some really cool niceties including media following you from room to room based on the signal from your bluetooth-equipped device, and integration of Media, Gaming, and Home Automation for those who could afford the X-10 devices that it spoke to. I started with LinuxMCE sometime around 2004/5, then moved over to OpenHAB, then over to HomeAssistant, dallied with LightwaveRF, and then settled on Hubitat just over a year ago. I’ve been playing around with smart home kit for a long time now. In this post, we’re going to look at the various options that are out there, focus on the ones that I’ve used, and talk about why I’ve made the decision to settle on the Hubitat C5 as the heart of my smart home. In our last post, we looked at smart bulbs vs smart switches and why I’ve chosen to go down the smart switch route (spoiler alert: it’s easier for people to use without voice control or installing an app). At the centre of all smart homes lives a “hub”, but what do they do, how do they do it, and what do you need to look for when choosing one?