Minerva For Linux

Minerva is an open source web-based home automation software written in PHP and Perl, designed to allow users to control various aspects of their house, such as to switch on the lights from anywhere, check CCTV footage, email a video, control the central heating, etc.

With Minerva you will be able to control your whole house from one location. The project features multiple controls on one web page, a three-phase system that separates process, human readable time reports, vocal feedback, personalised alarm clock, and integration with Google Calendar.

Key features include Minerva TV server, SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) control layer, FM radio control, contacts manager, advanced remote control support via SMS (Short Message Service) through TxtLocal, IntelliSMS or Gnokii, as well as IR (Infra-red) through LIRC and KIRA.

The Minerva software also includes numerous web applets, including TV guide (with keyword navigation), video streaming, MP3 jukebox, X10 control, audio mixer, clock, weather reports, calendar, CD player (with CDDB support), RSS feed reader, photo frame, Twitter support, kitchen timer, bluetooth scanner, currency converter, as well as various administrative tools.

Installing Minerva is quite easy, as the software must be deployed on the cloud, on top of a web (HTTP) server that is connected to your house’s infrastructure. To install it, simply download the latest version of the program from Softpedia or via its official website (see link at the end of the review).

The software is distributed as a tarball (TAR archive). Save the package on a location of your choice, extract its contents using an archive manager utility, open a terminal emulator, navigate to the location of the extracted archive files (e.g. cd /home/softpedia/minerva), run the ‘sh install.sh’ command as root (system administrator) and follow the on-screen instructions.