feature requests

[arthurdent4242]

I have a list of feature requests, some things are things that I believe should be setup by default, some things are different. Please see below.

1) Have greyhole enabled by default in amahi 7. I will not switch/upgrade until this happens. I have a feeling many users are in the same boat here. Amahi 7 seems to have gone the way of WHS 2011 in this aspect. Drive pooling not included by default. This is what set Amahi apart from WHS2011 and one of the big reasons I went with Amahi over WHS2011. At the moment they are basically the same thing. Many users that are converts from WHS may or may not possess the appropriate knowledge/skill to configure greyhole on their own. Having it setup from the get helped everyone.

2) More apps need to be ready on 7. All of the media apps are basically missing. Plex, Subsonic, DLNA are just a few to name. My suggestion here would be to work on the system and make sure it's ready. Then work on the top 10 most popular apps in the app store and make sure they are ready. Then do the release. Amahi 7 feels very incomplete at the moment.

3) Either set OpenVPN to be bridged by default or make the option easily selectable by the user (drop-down box or radio button?). I have a feeling that many users who use OpenVPN may want to access the clients on their remote LAN.

4) Have the IPSec tunnel set to pass all traffic by default. Similar to the OpenVPN request above.

These are all that I can think of off the top of my head. I would welcome more users to add their thoughts here. Admins too.

Question for you guys, what is the reason for not having GH setup by default in Amahi 7 like it was in Amahi 6?

[arthurdent4242]

Another that just came to mind:

Allow in place upgrades. What I mean by that is this: Suppose user A is on Amahi 6.x on either Fedora 14 or Ubuntu 12.04. When a new release becomes available (Amahi 7 for example) the user is prompted with the option to update both their distro and their HDA package all in one.

[arthurdent4242]

And another:

An app that shows the SMART status of drives.

[bigfoot65]

Please file an issue in the bug tracker for each. This allows us to track and prioritize. We will forget about them here.

[bigfoot65]

Another that just came to mind:

Allow in place upgrades. What I mean by that is this: Suppose user A is on Amahi 6.x on either Fedora 14 or Ubuntu 12.04. When a new release becomes available (Amahi 7 for example) the user is prompted with the option to update both their distro and their HDA package all in one.

While a good idea, this is virtually impossible. There are too many differences between the OSes and platforms to make upgrade possible.

If it was doable, we would have already done so.

[bigfoot65]

1) Have greyhole enabled by default in amahi 7. I will not switch/upgrade until this happens. I have a feeling many users are in the same boat here. Amahi 7 seems to have gone the way of WHS 2011 in this aspect. Drive pooling not included by default. This is what set Amahi apart from WHS2011 and one of the big reasons I went with Amahi over WHS2011. At the moment they are basically the same thing. Many users that are converts from WHS may or may not possess the appropriate knowledge/skill to configure greyhole on their own. Having it setup from the get helped everyone.

It was decided to separate it from the platform. There are many who do not use or want Greyhole running by default. We learned that from Amahi 6. We are working on an app to automate the integration of Greyhole with Amahi 7 though.

2) More apps need to be ready on 7. All of the media apps are basically missing. Plex, Subsonic, DLNA are just a few to name. My suggestion here would be to work on the system and make sure it's ready. Then work on the top 10 most popular apps in the app store and make sure they are ready. Then do the release. Amahi 7 feels very incomplete at the moment.

There are many apps available, just not many in the particular category you mention. While ideally we wanted to have them all ready, it's just not possible with such a small all volunteer team. If this was a funded larger team, I would agree, but it's not. We are doing the best we can to get them tested and released. We ask for your patience.

3) Either set OpenVPN to be bridged by default or make the option easily selectable by the user (drop-down box or radio button?). I have a feeling that many users who use OpenVPN may want to access the clients on their remote LAN.

This is something we would like to work on, but just have not had the time. It's on the list. The main function of VPN is to access your HDA and that is provided by the app. If someone can contribute what needs changed/configured, we would be happy to implement it. Of course there would be testing needed.

4) Have the IPSec tunnel set to pass all traffic by default. Similar to the OpenVPN request above.

Same as above, it does what is intended currently. If someone has the technical knowledge to make it work as you desire, we would be happy to update the app accordingly.

Question for you guys, what is the reason for not having GH setup by default in Amahi 7 like it was in Amahi 6?

Keep in mind not everyone uses Greyhole. There were many who wanted it turned off in Amahi 6, so we decided to separate it from the new platform.

We are in the process of building a Greyhole for Amahi 7 as an app. Rather than delay release, it was decided to move forward with it as is. Those who use Greyhole have enough technical knowledge to make it work for them.

Hope you can understand our position. There were many delays in getting Amahi 7 released. Now that we have a fairly stable platform, we can improve on it over time.

We ask that you have patience as Amahi 7 evolves.

[bigfoot65]

And another:

An app that shows the SMART status of drives.

This is a good idea, just not sure how hard it will be to implement. If you would like to assist or package an app to do so, please let us know.

[arthurdent4242]

Another that just came to mind:

Allow in place upgrades. What I mean by that is this: Suppose user A is on Amahi 6.x on either Fedora 14 or Ubuntu 12.04. When a new release becomes available (Amahi 7 for example) the user is prompted with the option to update both their distro and their HDA package all in one.

While a good idea, this is virtually impossible. There are too many differences between the OSes and platforms to make upgrade possible.

If it was doable, we would have already done so.

Perhaps I don't have the technical knowledge to understand why, but I don't see how it is impossible. You are limited to only upgrading from an earlier Fedora release to the latest. A script could be put together that would update Amahi, could it not?

The same would apply for Ubuntu, when the next Amahi release for Ubuntu comes out (14.04 mayhaps?).

[arthurdent4242]

It was decided to separate it from the platform. There are many who do not use or want Greyhole running by default. We learned that from Amahi 6. We are working on an app to automate the integration of Greyhole with Amahi 7 though.

Were your users polled on this decision, or was this an 'executive decision'?

There are many apps available, just not many in the particular category you mention. While ideally we wanted to have them all ready, it's just not possible with such a small all volunteer team. If this was a funded larger team, I would agree, but it's not. We are doing the best we can to get them tested and released. We ask for your patience.

I do not disagree that there are many apps on 7 already, however it seems all of the media apps are lacking. I understand that the people working on this are few and I do not want you to interpret my post as impatient. I am just pointing out things. This is why the suggestion of taking the top 10 most downloaded apps from the 'app store' was mentioned. Perhaps the apps that already exist on 7 are the top 10 most downloaded.

This is something we would like to work on, but just have not had the time. It's on the list. The main function of VPN is to access your HDA and that is provided by the app. If someone can contribute what needs changed/configured, we would be happy to implement it. Of course there would be testing needed.

I would disagree with you about the main function of a VPN in this instance, however I hear what you are saying.

Same as above, it does what is intended currently. If someone has the technical knowledge to make it work as you desire, we would be happy to update the app accordingly.

The IPSec VPN actually allows me to access all of my LAN clients as well. Something the OpenVPN setup does not (and is a feature I desire, not sure about other users. Poll them maybe?). This is obviously due to the technical differences in how they are setup.

Keep in mind not everyone uses Greyhole. There were many who wanted it turned off in Amahi 6, so we decided to separate it from the new platform.

We are in the process of building a Greyhole for Amahi 7 as an app. Rather than delay release, it was decided to move forward with it as is. Those who use Greyhole have enough technical knowledge to make it work for them.

Hope you can understand our position. There were many delays in getting Amahi 7 released. Now that we have a fairly stable platform, we can improve on it over time.

We ask that you have patience as Amahi 7 evolves.

Again, please do not interpret my post as not respecting what you guys do or that I am impatient. I am fine running on 6.3, I have dabbled with 7 in VMs and had too many issues with it to consider it workable for me.

I have heard that the greyhole app is in process, is there any ETA on its completion?

Rushing a release for the sake of having a release is never a good idea. People would be willing to wait for something that was rock solid and as robust as what they were used to.

I would ask again about if the users were polled before stripping GH from 7. Also, to assume that anyone who is using GH has enough technical knowledge to get it working in 7 is a fallacy. A quick search around the forums will tell you that much. I tried continuously to get a setup working how I thought it should in an attempt to do a DIY setup, but I never could. That was most likely due to either my lack of understanding, or me doing something incredibly wrong. Either way, I look forward to seeing GH as an app in 7. I also can't wait for the next Ubuntu release. I presume the next Ubuntu release will be on the next LTS?

Again, please do not mistake my comments in this thread as disrespect. You guys are awesome, I know you guys are working hard for all of your users and so far the results are amazing. However, it is user feedback that can only serve to enhance Amahi and make it even better. This is the aim.

P.S. It has been suggested to me before that I file a bug/feature request, however when I browse to https://bugs.amahi.org I am unable to post anything new (yes, I am logged in). I can only read what already exists. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place or there is something wrong with my account?

[bigfoot65]

I do not disagree that there are many apps on 7 already, however it seems all of the media apps are lacking. I understand that the people working on this are few and I do not want you to interpret my post as impatient. I am just pointing out things. This is why the suggestion of taking the top 10 most downloaded apps from the 'app store' was mentioned. Perhaps the apps that already exist on 7 are the top 10 most downloaded.

It's not so much that we didn't try to get the most popular apps ready. Many of them are needing additional work that was not anticipated. We are trying to work through the issues and get them released.

I would disagree with you about the main function of a VPN in this instance, however I hear what you are saying.

I am not saying that the way it works with Amahi is the way all VPNs work. Just was pointing out that our main goal of the VPN app is to connect to the HDA, not so much other machines in the network. That is a bonus once we get it sorted out in my opinion.

I have heard that the greyhole app is in process, is there any ETA on its completion?

No estimate yet as we only have one developer. Once we have an estimate, it will be posted.

I would ask again about if the users were polled before stripping GH from 7.

I believe this was an executive decision. We are trying to remove things from the platform and make them apps, such as VPN. It used to be integrated. The intent is to give users the choice. Some don't want VPN or Greyhole, but I understand there are many who do.

Also, to assume that anyone who is using GH has enough technical knowledge to get it working in 7 is a fallacy. A quick search around the forums will tell you that much. I tried continuously to get a setup working how I thought it should in an attempt to do a DIY setup, but I never could. That was most likely due to either my lack of understanding, or me doing something incredibly wrong. Either way, I look forward to seeing GH as an app in 7.

My intent was that most users have the technical knowledge to get it working. What would be beneficial is to update the wiki with all the steps. The initial part is already there, just need to add a bit more on how to update the config file.
https://wiki.amahi.org/index.php/Amahi_ ... n#Greyhole

I also can't wait for the next Ubuntu release. I presume the next Ubuntu release will be on the next LTS?

Not sure if there will be one anytime soon. It depends on the availability of the Amahi Ubuntu developer. We will have to wait and see when the next LTS release comes out.

Again, please do not mistake my comments in this thread as disrespect. You guys are awesome, I know you guys are working hard for all of your users and so far the results are amazing. However, it is user feedback that can only serve to enhance Amahi and make it even better. This is the aim.

I understand, was just making sure to manage expectations. Some do not realize who is behind Amahi and why it takes us so long to get things done.

P.S. It has been suggested to me before that I file a bug/feature request, however when I browse to https://bugs.amahi.org I am unable to post anything new (yes, I am logged in). I can only read what already exists. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place or there is something wrong with my account?

You are in the right place, it's just not as straight forward as it should be. Once logged in, go to Projects, Then choose Platform or Apps depending on your desire. You should see the New Issue option.

Thanks for the feedback and we will get there eventually. Unfortunately, all good things take time