Some of the same questions keep popping up. So, here are some answers to the most common questions about Spook 👻.
Is this a serious thing?
Yes! It absolutely is.
It is just not a normal Integration, like one that connects to a Device or Service, or one that provides a helper of some sort. But it is a serious integration that is meant to be used in a serious way.
Does this integration break my Home Assistant instance??
Well, that is not the goal of course. But it is a custom integration, so there is a chance it might break your instance as it is not maintained by the Home Assistant project. This applies to any custom integration, not just Spook.
I’m just sharing what I have without any warranty.
People say I’m not allowed to use Spook or should not use Spook, what is going on?
The early versions (before version v3.0.0), was published under a Passive Agressive License. This license made the source code available but prohibited the use of the software. This was to discourage the use of Spook, as it was meant as highly exprimental. It’s slogan was “Spook 👻 Not your homie” even.
Spook got popular and loved by many, so I decided to change the license to the MIT License, which is an permissive open-source, OSI-approved, license as of version v3.0.0; taking this more seriously. There is even extensive documentation now! Additionally, I changed the slogan to “Spook 👻 Your homie” to reflect the change in license and the love it got from the community.
Spook is and remains a custom integration, that is not supported, maintained, or endoredes by the Home Assistant project. Just like any other custom integration out there. It is up to you to decide if you are comformtable using a custom integration or not.
Does Spook do random things to my home?
No. It does not do random things. It is not a chaos testing thing, and it will not turn lights on/off randomly in the night. Unless it is a bug or broken of course.
I want to suggest a new feature for Spook
Oh! Lovely, please share your idea on our discussion forums! Maybe it is something that can be added to Spook 👻 in the future.
Why is Spook called Spook?
“Spook” is the Dutch term for “ghost”, as was inspired by Casper the Friendly Ghost. Check out the Background and the history of Spook 👻 for a more detailed version of the story.
What is going on with the version numbers of Spook?
This repository keeps a change log using GitHub’s releases functionality.
Releases are based on Semantic Versioning, and use the format of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. In a nutshell, the version will be incremented based on the following:
MAJOR: Incompatible or major changes.MINOR: Backwards-compatible new features and enhancements.PATCH: Backwards-compatible bug fixes and package updates.
The version change you see on upgrade will thus tell you what type of changes you can expect.
All versions before v1.0.0 have been different and were random version numbers. From v1.0.0 and forwards, the versioning is based on the above.
I’m waiting for the next release because of <insert any reason>. Got an ETA?
Sorry, no ETA. This is a pet project on which I work in my spare time. I will release a new version when I feel like it.