Putting Mazda on my no buy list π
this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
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Yup, I'm in the car market and shit like this immediately makes it a no-buy.
There are worse reasons to not buy an automobile, but lack of app integration is probably the silliest reason I've seen so far.
Privacy issues, subscriptions for basic features, removal of physical buttons in favor of janky touch screens...the list is endless and you guys settled on the app not working on a 3rd party system as the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Yeah but there are too many brands out there to choose from; as a consumer our only power is to speak with our wallets.
Corporations donβt get to pick and choose which actions from them result in lower sales; all of their actions are judged, and by all potential customers.
I don't see how it's silly.
Hyundais and Kias literally have the defect of exploding into fire. The manufacturers say not to park indoors. That's a great reason not to invest in one of their machines.
I'll take a broken third party integration any day over an unsafe car.
That's a false choice. Nobody is saying that there aren't other good reasons to avoid a manufacturer.
It's all down to personal preference anyways. Cheers
If you're investing in a car, you're either obnoxiously rich or don't know what the word investing means.
Sure, we can argue the semantics of it being the wrong word, but I would argue that a car can be an investment. A necessary way to get to and from work. Even if it's ultimately a money pit that devalues the second you drive it off the lot, it's a required part of living in a lot of North America. Don't blame me for 100 years of suburban sprawl and steady dismantling of any decent mass transit.
So no, it's not that I don't know what the word means, it's maybe that we have a different understanding of the value of a car as an integral part of mobility based on our different geographies. If I want to do anything, I have to get on the highway. I'm sure if you want to do something you can walk down a few blocks to the high street.
You know what? I actually agree with you, in that context it's a (little) silly
Not really sure how you can DMCA other peoples code when the only thing of yours it references are API endpoints which, while not intended for general use, are publicly available.
That seems like an abuse of the DMCA.
Wasn't it a cease and desist rather than DMCA?
The article states a DMCA notice was sent to GitHub.
Recently certain Mazda Information, including proprietary API information, was used to create code and information posted to GitHub.com identified in repository of bdr99 ([private]). This repository contains code developed in python (https://github.com/bdr99/pymazda) and javascript (https://github.com/bdr99/node-mymazda), and appears to have been uploaded and used to create computer code associated with home-assistant.io and mobile applications. MNAO analyzed some of the code and determined that the code provides functionality same as what is currently in Apple App Store and Google Play App Store.
Wow, what a rediculous statement that has absolutely nothing to do with copyright. As far as I'm aware you can't copyright the functionality of your app
Yup. Honestly they donβt have a leg to stand on. The dev was well within his rights to not comply. Though Mazda would potentially have hit them with numerous frivolous suits in response.
That's exactly it. They will punish transgressions by financially ruining the targets with protracted lawsuits.
And sue in a corrupt/rigged jurisdiction
My guy, you couldn't read the first paragraph in the OP link?
I must've skipped over that bit, my bad
Ok, Mazda, not considering you for my next ride then.
I'm only just starting to use home assistant, but what are the kind of things people do when integrating their car with HA? Is this for stuff like controlling charging speed with your solar panels?
I've seen people do things with the Tesla integration where they turn the car heaters on X minutes before it's time to leave for work on a work day if the outside temperature is less than Y
The hyundai app is really unresponsive. So I've used the integration to create my own version of it. It also let's me tie in other things like garage doors and security cams in one place.
So DIY home-assistant based cloud-relay is better than custom made purpose built cloud-relay by muliti billion dollar company? xD
Which is both hilarious and a testament to the power of Home-assistant and open source (and I suppose it says something about how much Hyundai cares about their app)
It's crazy, right?
It's because hyundai outsources the front end development to a different company (maybe a subsidiary) called bluelink.
The APIs are pretty good and, I assume, would be done by the hyundai team directly.
The issue really is the front end being bad ux and poor implementation of those apis
The Mazda app allowed you to track the location of the automobile, turn it on and off remotely, activate hazard lights, and lock/unlock from the HA integration.
Most of what I used it for was to see where my dad had taken my car with the GPS tracker. Sometimes I would fuck with him and turn on the hazards.
What a bunch of asshole (mazda that is)
Another reason for me to hate our Mazda.
I had no idea this was available at all, so the loss didn't affect me. But it's like, yep, this tracks with all the other complaints I've had about that car.
Many old Japanese company are conservative, so it's not a very surprising thing to see though, it's disappointing. I wonder if those companies are sensible enough to provide dedicated APIs for communities to use.
Was never even available as a service in my country so no loss to me.
Japanese company doing Japanese company things..
The only similar integration for Ford is only available through HACS. Maybe this could be installed that way?
I can't wait for my Aptera...
Stop. Using. GitHub
What would you suggest then? Any company receiving a takedown request will do the same thing. The laws don't selectively apply to mega corps.
GitLab I noticed usually doesnβt get as many since itβs not as well known and discoverable like GitHub is (who is owned by Microsoft)
I have a roommate who used gitlab. apparently the current ownership is extremely profit motivated, and they still respond to DMCA takedowns.
No real upside except microsoft not owning them. Canβt even actually subscribe monthly last Iβve heard. Like, they show a per-month price, but you still have to do annual payments.
Man that sucks and is a far cry from the GitLab that I previously knew
Yeah i originally heard it was great, but that seems to have changed. Happens to a lot of good services
Self hosting Gitlab or Gitea is always an option. Dead simple to do with docker (which the HA devs obviously are very comfortable using).
Self hosting comes with administrative and financial burdens, something that the F in FOSS doesn't really help with, hence using a free service that deals with that for you.