# NoLongerEvil-Thermostat

12 Hacker News commenters recommended NoLongerEvil-Thermostat and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free firmware giving discontinued Nest thermostats new life; critics say it is untested and still relies on a proprietary server.

## Why people recommend it

- Gives discontinued Nest thermostats new life (2 comments): "they're offering you the ability to turn what's effectively e-waste into an operable device" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45817724)) "Giving old hardware new life through open source innovation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46615225))
- Promising replacement firmware for Nest (3 comments): "I'm reasonably excited about the prospect of this authorship of replacement firmware" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45818113)) "Seems a good step towards a whole replacement firmware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45817019)) "I see it as a great starting point." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45815204))

## What people warn about

- Still relies on proprietary server (3 comments): "It's pretty neat but, at this point, it's just a hacked firmware that talks to a different proprietary server." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45816297)) "Right now it's just a blob that you flash to your device to make it talk to a proprietary service." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45815949)) "This isn't a firmware, it just redirects the traffic from your nest." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851215))
- Unknown maintainer, trust concerns (2 comments): "So, trade the "evil" Google for the totally not evil trust-me-bro "nolongervil Corp"?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45815932)) "Why should I trust them? I don't know them at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45816329))
- Not truly open source or free (2 comments): "without a dashboard it's still not really Free" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45814757)) "it's not actually open source either" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45817013))
- Untested firmware risks heating system (2 comments): "Running open-source firmware someone's hacking on (which gets little to no testing) on a gas appliance that can burn your house down" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45816771)) "Do NOT use this firmware on any thermostat that is critical for your heating or cooling needs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45817959))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "NoLongerEvil-Thermostat", https://hackerapproved.com/p/nolongerevil-thermostat/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).