How to do simple home-automation?

Question

I am looking for some guide, examples, books to do simple things (automation) with Ubuntu. Like

• turning on / off the electricity
• open doors
• etc

Any idea would be appreciated,

thanks.

Answer 1

LinuxMCE is a free, open source add-on to Kubuntu.

Linux Home Automation has a lot of links.

Answer 2

Just this instant I stumpled upon Open Advanced Process Control (OpenAPC) in an article about home automation in a german Linux online zine.

Looks quite powerful, but also complicated, I guess. Let me know if that's the right direction.

Answer 3

for hardware - check Arduino controller - open-source electronics prototyping platform. Plays nice with Ubuntu