tuya-convert VS ubuntu-report

First of all I've tried Tuya-Convert but it was never able to find the device. I've also tried TuyOTA with similar results, it just seems like it can't detect the device at all - neither in pairing mode, nor in normal operation mode.

I was about to say a similar thing. Companies closing off their devices with paywall and other closed API are calling for a hack. I found this repo on GitHub

Mit tuya-convert.

Is it possible to run custom firmware on them? Like using https://github.com/ct-Open-Source/tuya-convert (not sure if this one is compatible with the newer lamps). Or maybe something else?

If it has an ESP chip, it probably won't OTA with https://github.com/ct-Open-Source/tuya-convert since that doesn't work on recent Tuya firmware, hence the blakadder page showing manual flashing.

> They cost >2x the Meross ones. Got 2. They work so far. Crossing my fingers they're legit, though my guess is they won't last.

FYI - there are cheap Tuya devices that can be flashed with alternative firmware[1] which works locally. More generically, there a lot of ESP32-based switches that work with Tasmota open-source firmware[2]. There breadth of devices is annoying because it makes configuration difficult because because different manufacturer wire up the relays differently, so it took me trial and error to figue out which device "port" the firmware needs to toggle to turn the switch on/off

1. https://github.com/ct-Open-Source/tuya-convert

2. https://github.com/tasmota

If you're already comfortable with Docker, setting up ESPHome and Home Assistant should be fairly easy for you, and will unlock lots of options. Depending on the hardware revision of your smartbubls, you might even be able to use Tuya-Convert to install ESPHome or Tasmota on your existing bulbs, and completely cut ties with Tuya and the cloud.

As far as I can tell, Snaps themselves do not send telemetry to Canonical. It just auto-updates your Snap packages. Ubuntu overall does send telemetry, but it can be entirely turned off. If you do leave it on, Ubuntu only sends basic information like what version of Ubuntu you installed, what your specs are, what timezone you picked, etc. Again, this can be entirely disabled. And their telemetry tool is completely open source. As for proprietary drivers, you can choose to simply not install them. The option isn't even enabled by default in the Ubuntu installer.

I remember Ubuntu having some sort of deal with Amazon, deal that fell around 2015, so that's no longer an issue. They also have an option at installation time to turn on some data gathering and they will also show you what exactly is collected. The tool itself can be examined here: https://github.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-report I took a look and there is not much that I care about, personally. In any case, you can decline. What exactly have you heard?

Ubuntu

It's trivial to disable any telemetry considering it's open source:

https://github.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-report

It's opt-in during install. It's basically generic system information and info about the install process. The source code is here: https://github.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-report you can download that repo and explore/grep around in it to see exactly what they collect.