BACnet?

[barry...@gmail.com]

Has anyone tried to implement/or know of anyone who has a BACnet protocol binding for openHAB yet?

Think it might be something I might enjoy working on in my free time, if it's not already out there.

http://bacnet4j.sourceforge.net/ there is already a BACnet stack for java, so should be pretty easy task I hope? I haven't written anything for openHAB yet, but have for commercial systems such as NiagaraAX. Just looking for thoughts from the community.

Thanks!

-Barry

[Kai Kreuzer]

Hi Barry,

I am not aware of anybody working on BACnet so far, but this could indeed be a nice addition!

Having a Java library at hand will definitely facilitate things.

There is just one thing to note: The bacnet4j library is provided under the GPLv3. GPL is incompatible to openHAB’s EPL, which effectively means that we would not be allowed to add the library in our (addons) distribution. The full binding would have to be GPL licensed and would have to be hosted somewhere else, e.g. on a separate Github project.

Best regards,

Kai

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[Helmut Lehmeyer]

Hi Kai,

bacnet4J is an interesting Library, yes!

Found this Extension of GPL3 in there License headers:
...

 *
 * When signing a commercial license with Serotonin Software Technologies Inc.,
 * the following extension to GPL is made. A special exception to the GPL is 
 * included to allow you to distribute a combined work that includes BAcnet4J 
 * without being obliged to provide the source code for any proprietary components.
 */

Doesn't this allow to add the library in our (addons) distribution?

If not, what License header extension is needed to make this Library allowed to be distributed with OpenHab?
I would ask the authors then for an appropriate extension.

Matthias Schwab has already begun a good working OH binding using bacnet4J, unfortunately outside of OpenHAB:
https://github.com/arrizer/BACNet-openHAB-binding

Best regards,
Helmut

[Thomas Eichstädt-Engelen]

Hi,

from my point of view the only possibility would be a) to let “them” add another exception especially for openHAB to their license header b) change the license for this single Binding to GPLv3 (which would - from my point of view - be theoretically possible licensewise since it would not infect the rest of the openHAB code - but it would increase the administrative overhead a lot) c) check the code and estimate if it is worth the effort of a) or b).

Does anybody know the developers by chance and discuss possibilities with them?

Best,

Thomas E.-E.

On 19 Dec 2014, at 10:42, Helmut Lehmeyer <helmut....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Kai,

it is an interesting Binding, yes!

Found this Extension of GPL3 in there License headers:
...

 *
 * When signing a commercial license with Serotonin Software Technologies Inc.,
 * the following extension to GPL is made. A special exception to the GPL is 
 * included to allow you to distribute a combined work that includes BAcnet4J 
 * without being obliged to provide the source code for any proprietary components.
 */

Doesn't this allow to add the library in our (addons) distribution?

If not, what License header extension is needed to make this Library allowed to be distributed with OpenHab?
I would ask the authors then for an appropriate extension.

Best regards,
Helmut

Am Sonntag, 16. November 2014 00:06:57 UTC+1 schrieb Kai Kreuzer:

Hi Barry,

I am not aware of anybody working on BACnet so far, but this could indeed be a nice addition!

Having a Java library at hand will definitely facilitate things.

There is just one thing to note: The bacnet4j library is provided under the GPLv3. GPL is incompatible to openHAB’s EPL, which effectively means that we would not be allowed to add the library in our (addons) distribution. The full binding would have to be GPL licensed and would have to be hosted somewhere else, e.g. on a separate Github project.

Best regards,

Kai

[Helmut Lehmeyer]

Hmm after study: http://mmilinkov.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/epl-gpl-commentary/

I wrote a Mail to Matthew Lohbihler, one of the Authors of BACnet for Java.

Regards,
Helmut

[Kai Kreuzer]

Hi Helmut,

Yes, this is the problem I referred to regarding the GPL.

Their license text sounds as if they only provide the code as GPL and that you can buy the code from them in order to include it in a non-GPL (possibly commercial) product. This seems to be their business case, so I very much doubt that they will agree on adding a license exception for free for openHAB. But let’s wait for their answer…

If it is only available as GPL without any exception, the only way to go would be to put the whole binding under GPL and best maintain and distribute it in a separate repository. We could nonetheless add it in the official wiki and link to it, it just could not be part of the addons zip.

Best regards,

Kai

[Giuseppe Scarpi]

Time ago, I discussed this protocol with some guys at Climaveneta (a medium-level Italian producer of energy generators) and they seem to appreciate it a lot.

They explained me that BACnet it is not uncommon in large installations and is preferred over other protocols, despite its complexity.

So, IMHO I think that adding this protocol would be much more than a nice addition: it would be a strategic move, that may catch (even more) interest of industries towards oH.

[Kai Kreuzer]

You are right, BACnet is widely used for building automation, i.e. commercial & office buildings rather than private homes.

So I agree that reaching out to this sector can open many new opportunities for openHAB, though I personally do not have many experiences in that area.

Best regards,

Kai

[Helmut Lehmeyer]

Hi Kai,

You are absolutely right, this is the right way!

My original hope to eventually obtain a special license for OpenHAB, makes no sense on closer inspection.

Joel Haggar (www.InfiniteAutomation.com) replied as the actual copyright owner of BACnet4J. He prefers to leave existing license as is, simply to avoid costly license discussions with his license attorney.

Additionally, since Version2 BACnet4J seems to have some dependencies to seroUtils.jar and its proprietary licensing.

Not only for this reason that Michael O'Neill has probably created a fork of bacnet4J to eliminate the dependencies on seroUtils.
https://github.com/empeeoh/BACnet4J

So far as the history.

Regards,
Helmut

[ge...@ge-volution.eu]

Just to add my two cents... BACnet would certainly be an interesting addition to OpenHAB due to its wide-scale use in building automation.   It would probably be a pretty heavy undertaking however.  Another option could be to tackle BACnet via OPC.... there is a working group working on establishing a standard for mapping between BACnet objects and OPC.  So if an OPC client/server with appropriate licensing could be found it could perhaps fill the gap in a certain way.