heyu: X10 for Linux

Because it’s the dominant desktop operating system, most of us run home automation control software under Windows. But over the last decade, Linux has emerged as a robust competitor for Windows, with application software available for almost every niche. For X10 control, Linux users (as well as those running FreeBSD and Unix operating systems) can turn to a free application called heyu.

Unfortunately though, heyu isn’t as highly evolved as open-source applications in other categories. The program offers only a command line interface, is awkward to install, and hasn’t been updated in nearly two years.

It’s not clear whether its drawbacks will trouble Linux partisans, however. They’re already accustomed to having to know their way around an operating system, much as DOS hackers did a decade or more ago. In fact, they share the same "let’s make this work" philosophy as home automation aficionados, and with that determination, they should conquer any problems they find with heyu.

To give it a try, download heyu to a Linux system. (We used Mandrake Linux 8.0.) What you’ll get is a gzipped tar file. If you don’t know how to turn that into a program that will run under Linux, you can turn to heyu’s online FAQ, which walks you through the process. The FAQ, a README file, and man (the Linux equivalent of help) pages are useful documentation, but they would benefit from more troubleshooting tips and more (or any) explanations of error messages the program generates. If you run into a glitch while trying to decompress, compile, or run the program, the documentation probably won’t help you.

Nowadays Linux offers standard installation routines such as RPM Package Manager (RPM), and heyu would benefit from the inclusion of an RPM procedure to streamline the installation. Alas, the current version of heyu, version 1.33, hasn’t been updated since May 2001, which makes us wonder about the developer’s commitment to keeping the program current.

Fortunately, heyu has an active user community centered around a Yahoo! discussion group with more than 100 members. Searching through the group’s archives helped us solve a configuration problem we had.

The program has a limited command set, but you can use it to turn devices on and off and dim and brighten lights, get the status of smart modules, and monitor X10 activity. You can also upload macros to a CM11A controller.

The flip side of the program’s slim feature set is that with simplicity there’s less to go wrong. Once we got things set the way we wanted, everything ran smoothly. We put a series of commands into our Linux crontab file, which the operating system’s cron program uses to automatically run jobs as a given time. Our lights went on and off as scheduled.

If you really want to make X10 useful under Linux, you’ll want to extend heyu with David Shaw’s Xtend program. Xtend monitors a process heyu starts the first time it runs which tracks X10 events. Upon seeing a given event Xtend executes any command you specify. For example, when you turn a lamp designated as device A2 on, Xtend can send an e-mail message, play a song, or run a heyu directive — or do all three. You can use if-then logical to check system time and X10 device status before executing a command. With a little planning, you can combine the capabilities of heyu and Xtend to perform complex tasks.

While we like Linux and think it’s just about ready for widespread use as a desktop operating system, we can’t really say the same about heyu. Most of our concerns center on the complicated installation process and the lack of a graphical interface. If you’re a Linux command-line guru, chances are you’ll see past those flaws. In that case, we refer you to Neil Cherry’s Linux Home Automation page, the best repository we’ve found for information about X10 under Linux. But we think Windows home automation control software is a better deal for now, with products like Trax Softworks’ Zeus setting the bar for power and ease of use.