ETS as Web app (in a container)
Due to the lack of support for operating systems other than Microsoft Windows—and the resulting limited control over workstations with regard to data sovereignty and data privacy—renewing the technical foundation of ETS to support non-Windows systems such as macOS, Linux derivatives, or even mobile platforms is becoming increasingly important. This would help ensure data privacy and reduce dependency on a single large technology provider.
There are already requests to enable ETS Pro for macOS or Linux. I would like to take this idea one step further.
With features such as access to USB ports or the use of local storage, there is no clear reason why ETS could not be delivered as a web application that uses a standard web browser as its user interface.
By doing so, packaging ETS in a (Docker) container would resolve many of the current limitations and inconveniences. This approach would also open up a wide range of new possibilities for configuring the KNX bus.
If preferred, the container could be deployed locally on a workstation running Docker, which already includes most common client platforms.
Additionally, this would enable new integration opportunities—such as embedding ETS into smart home systems like Home Assistant—creating an entirely new end-user experience.
In short:
The request is to refactor ETS as a web application, accessible through a standard web browser and delivered via a Docker container.
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MACOS OR LINUX COMPATABLE WOULD BE GREAT
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I fully support that. It's time to provide compatibility for alternatives to Windows.
The trend is here, it will pay off.
I had to teach myself to setup qemu/kvm for a win11 virtualization with good performance on my Linux laptop, just for ETS6.
Europe has been increasingly moving towards Open-source solutions adoption. KNX, as an european standard, would fit right in by, at the very least, offering a compatible solution for other platforms than Windows.The real clever move in my opinion would be to fully open-source the software, and only licence the catalogue.
Home automation is booming, Home Assistant is incredible, people will come. I feel it would be detrimental to KNX to miss that train.3 -
I also fully support that. Windows only is a very strong tech limitation at the moment and a reason not to choose KNX in the first place.
Thanks in advance to make this possible.
Best regards, Stefan
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I'd say that a major international standard being limited to a single operating system (and more or less to a single hardware platform) is a major issue (technical, reputation etc.). I don't know how ISO operates but I wonder why they do not require at least two independent implementations of each necessary tool & support for at least two operating systems/hardware platform before they approve whatever (computer-related) standard.
At this point you need to take backward compatibility/support for e.g. legacy ETS3-style device configuration plugins into consideration. Those were native (32-bit) Windows binaries, which are still supported in ETS 6.4.0.
Windows on ARM64 should probably work through their x86 emulation layer.
On other operating systems platforms (including wasm (WebAssembly) in browsers) you could solve it by integrating something like Hangover (Wine + FEX / Box86 / Box64) or CrossOver (which is the commercial version of Wine). It won't be cheap though.
Or forget about backward compatibility.
(Less likely alternatives: force/motivate manufacturers to create new platform independent DCAs for their long discontinued products; create some sort of "recomp" tool similar to how e.g. old console games (N64, PS1 etc.) can now be recompiled to run on current generic hardware and major operating systems.)
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