[ Thanks to Dave
for this link. ]
“Recently, I had the pleasure of tinkering with some X10 home
automation devices. When I first ordered my kit, I thought that it
would be a giant hassle to setup, and then not really be worth
using. I don’t know if I’ve ever been more wrong in my life. The
kit that I got was very basic, but still useful. It came with a
transmitter for your computer, a receiver that acts as a control
unit, and a lamp control module.”
“The kit came with a URL that I could go to and download
software for Windows. That’s nice an all, but I don’t own a
Windows-based computer. Luckily, the x10 protocol is pretty old, so
there is some Linux software available. A quick search for
“x10” on Freshmeat brought me to Bottlerocket, a command-line
program that can control x10 devices. I have a cable modem at home,
and I use a Linux box as a firewall, so I also downloaded CGI-x10
so I could control devices remotely. I think that this type of
setup has the potential to be a “killer app” for Linux.”