Linux equal to QuickBooks
Dennis
found one. gnuCash has some of the features, but it seems to be aimed
more at Quicken than QuickBooks. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Dennis
Christopher Browne
If you're after payroll functionality, there is Not Anything, and
won't likely soon be, at least not as "free software," as that's a
perpetually-changing morass of jurisdiction-dependent legal details.
The "free software" package that is probably most similar to QB is
SQL-Ledger. Runs as a web application, written in Perl, using "just
about any web server," an assortment of free and commercial DBMSes,
and whatever web browser you like.
--
(concatenate 'string "cbbrowne" "@acm.org")
http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/finances.html
TECO Madness: a moment of regret, a lifetime of convenience.
-- Kent Pitman
B. Joshua Rosen
I run Quickbooks on Win4Lin. I think that Intuit offers a web
version of Quickbooks, but I suspect that it might have some IE
dependancies built into it.
Fred Tourette
In short, there is no equal to QuickBooks (nor Quicken) out here in
LinuxLand, no matter what anyone says. When someone finally comes up with
one, don't let the stampede of "regular" Windows users crush you to death
as they finally migrate over to Linux. (Hint: we don't mind paying for
software, we just want it to install and work.)
MyBooks promises the world, but I never got it to install on my Mandrake
machine on the first go. They were quick to send out follow-up email asking
me to register my trial copy, but I never heard boo from support when I
asked about installation problems. Since I'm still dual-booting due to
other chunks of Windotic needs, I didn't spend a whole lot of time dicking
around with it; Intuit still has the job of managing my finances.
MyBooks:
F.T.
--
Supporting alternative software now ensures that
we will be able to choose it in the future.
Just say No to Microsoft.
Fred Tourette
> Dennis wrote:
>> I've been looking for a Linux equal to QuickBooks, but so far have not
>> found one....
>
> http://nola.noguska.com....
>
> Tricky to install, but it runs on a stock Debian system. The install
> scripts neglect to connect to the MySQL database (edit them to do so).
> You must also customize includes/my_defines.php and be sure to change
> 127.0.0.1 there to read "localhost". I don't know why.
Dennis - and most Linux users - may not be put off by that, but the average
QuickBooks user is also a Windoze user, to whom "equal" also includes setup
that doesn't go much beyond dropping in a CD (usually without even having
to light off the executable, let alone mount the drive) and answering a few
questions. This is a crowd who breaks out in a sweat when they hear the
words, "Edit CONFIG.SYS"; a little caveat such as the above will send them
running home to the comfort of Redmond's breast.
Until the Linux community - software developers especially - can truly
understand what "easy" means to the non-geek Windoze user for whom the
computer is a tool, not a thrill or a challenge (and in many cases a
necessary evil), it doesn't stand a chance with the jan...@aol.com and
Small Company, Inc. crowd. "Free" (of charge) is not the main goal here;
freedom is.
I'm not saying that it's a good thing that we've been dumbed down to the
point of knowing practically nothing about our PCs - especially since it's
all a part of the Beast's devious plan - but there it is. Manual choke was
arguably better than automatic, but the latter came to be and the masses
adopted it. Put today's driver in a car with a manual choke (assuming you
could find something with a carburetor) and they probably couldn't get it
started.
Yes, people continue to buy Microsoft because they often don't have an
option or even know that options exist. But they also buy Microsoft because
they know how to install and use the damn software - crashes and all.
It ain't pretty, but there it is.
Dennis
Thanks all, very informative. I'm looking at MyBooks, but am put off by
their refusal to answer some questions. Their answer is "get the down
load and try it". Wish I had time to thoroughly investigate each
product, but I don't.
I'm not a fan of Intuit, especially after this TurboTax mess. So saying
good by to them will be nice.
Dennis,
John Hasler
> "Free" (of charge) is not the main goal here; freedom is.
Did you look at the Web page at all? James was writing about the
freely-downloadable version. Noguska will sell you all the support you
want.
--
John Hasler
jo...@dhh.gt.org
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, Wisconsin
Fred Tourette
> Did you look at the Web page at all? James was writing about the
> freely-downloadable version. Noguska will sell you all the support you
> want.
Yes and, judging books (or websites) by their covers aside, do you honestly
think that Nola - paid support or not - can fit the needs of the *average*
QuickBooks user?
Lifted from the LinuxWorld article linked to from their very site:
"The first downside of Nola is the convenient installation utility. There
isn't one. At least, not one that works.
"Secondly, there is a problem with the manual installation instructions
available at the Noguska Web site. They don't work either."
Right about there is where you lost the average QuickBooks user.
Christopher Browne
> Dennis wrote:
>>
>> I've been looking for a Linux equal to QuickBooks, but so far have not
>> found one. gnuCash has some of the features, but it seems to be aimed
>> more at Quicken than QuickBooks. Any ideas?
>
> their refusal to answer some questions. Their answer is "get the down
> load and try it". Wish I had time to thoroughly investigate each
> product, but I don't.
Their web application considers my email address to be invalid;
apparently they think that TLDs have only two or three characters,
which is Not Correct, and not true for my work address.
So I can't even _attempt_ to request a download.
--
(concatenate 'string "cbbrowne" "@cbbrowne.com")
http://www3.sympatico.ca/cbbrowne/unix.html
Rules of the Evil Overlord #55. "The deformed mutants and odd-ball
psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However
before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact
and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally
qualified who would attract less attention."
<http://www.eviloverlord.com/>
Adams-Blake Co.
> I think it was Dennis who said:
>
>> I've been looking for a Linux equal to QuickBooks, but so far have not
>> found one. gnuCash has some of the features, but it seems to be aimed
>> more at Quicken than QuickBooks. Any ideas?
>
> In short, there is no equal to QuickBooks (nor Quicken) out here in
> LinuxLand, no matter what anyone says. When someone finally comes up with
> one, don't let the stampede of "regular" Windows users crush you to death
> as they finally migrate over to Linux. (Hint: we don't mind paying for
> software, we just want it to install and work.)
>
> MyBooks promises the world, but I never got it to install on my Mandrake
> machine on the first go. They were quick to send out follow-up email asking
> me to register my trial copy, but I never heard boo from support when I
> asked about installation problems. Since I'm still dual-booting due to
> other chunks of Windotic needs, I didn't spend a whole lot of time dicking
> around with it; Intuit still has the job of managing my finances.
>
> MyBooks:
>
> <http://www.appgen.com/>
>
> F.T.
You might take a look at MoneyDance. I have not used it but it looks good.
Here is what our company did. We bought the Win4Lin product. It allows us to
run QB, Quicken, some propriatary VB programs, and most importantly,
PC-Authorize (credit card dial-up software to send sales to the bank). I
can't say enough good things about Win4Lin. It works flawlessly for those few
programs we just "gotta have" and which are only in Windows. It's a simple
install. Unfortunately they don't have an evaluation version... UNLESS you
ask them for it... and they WILL give you a link to a download good for 30
days.
Usual disclaimers apply... we have zero connection with Netraverse except
being a satisfied customer.
Al Canton
Adams-Blake Company, Inc.
www.adams-blake.com
Fred Tourette
> You might take a look at MoneyDance. I have not used it but it looks good.
Unfortunately that's what I find quite often - things look good, until you
finally get them home and take them out of the box. This is not limited to
software, nor commercial or GPL types of same. The nature of marketing is
rarely to say, "We have this product and, while it works for the most part,
these are the bad things about it." In fairness, Open Source is about the
only place you will ever see words to the effect of "this is still kind of
buggy" or "this feature doesn't work yet." Nonetheless, that doesn't help
those who don't want bugs and do want working features, and don't mind
paying for same.
> ...and most importantly, PC-Authorize (credit card dial-up software to
> send sales to the bank).
These are the little surprise "gotchas." Just when you think everything is
in place....
Win4Lin is definitely an option - for many, *the* option - but what we're
really waiting for is a true replacement for Quicken/QuickBooks. (A
slightly less dumb interface than the current versions would be nice.
Lately, Intuit seems to have merged with Playskool.) Birds will sing,
flowers will bloom....
Christopher Browne
> Fred Tourette wrote:
>
>> I think it was Dennis who said:
>>
>>> I've been looking for a Linux equal to QuickBooks, but so far have not
>>> found one. gnuCash has some of the features, but it seems to be aimed
>>> more at Quicken than QuickBooks. Any ideas?
>>
>>
>> <http://www.appgen.com/>
>>
>> F.T.
>
> You might take a look at MoneyDance. I have not used it but it looks
> good.
The thing is, MoneyDance is aimed more at Quicken, not at QuickBooks.
And there appears to have been some strange failure at Appgen; they
had brought MoneyDance in, creating the "AppGen Personal Software"
division just for it. But now, MoneyDance is being run by the
totally-separate Reilly Technologies LLC.
<http://www.moneydance.com/about.shtml>
Apparently Appgen decided not to continue the association; couldn't
speculate why.
--
(reverse (concatenate 'string "ac.notelrac.teneerf@" "454aa"))
http://cbbrowne.com/info/sgml.html
All extremists should be taken out and shot.
Bob Hauck
> In an attempt to throw the authorities off his trail, "Adams-Blake
> Co." <aremovet...@adamsremovethis-blake.com> transmitted:
>> You might take a look at MoneyDance. I have not used it but it looks
>> good.
I've used it for several years now. I switched to it from a thing
called Money Counts which was an excellent DOS app that unfortunately
thought 2000 was the year 100 <grin>.
Moneydance is pretty good for personal finance, but not really intended
to be used for a business. You need a reasonable computer to run it on,
since it is a Java app. I have been pretty happy with it overall.
> The thing is, MoneyDance is aimed more at Quicken, not at QuickBooks.
Yes. Moneydance is a personal finance program. It does have
heirarchical accounts and double-entry, so it can be customized it to
handle many kinds of small business. But it doesn't have payroll,
inventory, things like that, although it is of course possible to do
those things manually like you'd do them on paper.
> And there appears to have been some strange failure at Appgen; they
> had brought MoneyDance in, creating the "AppGen Personal Software"
> division just for it. But now, MoneyDance is being run by the
> totally-separate Reilly Technologies LLC.
Sean Reilly originally made the program as shareware. Appgen bought it
from him and sold it for a while. But then, for reasons that aren't
clear, they suddenly folded that division. Maybe they weren't making
enough money, no one has ever really explained what happend as far as I
know. At any rate Mr. Reilly has apparently bought it back or made some
other arrangement to continue development.
--
-| Bob Hauck
-| To Whom You Are Speaking
-| http://www.haucks.org/
Todd Boyle
> >> good.
>
> I've used it for several years now. I switched to it from a thing
> called Money Counts which was an excellent DOS app that unfortunately
> thought 2000 was the year 100 <grin>.
Then it ought to work fine now, you can go back to it... :-)
> Moneydance is pretty good for personal finance, but not really intended
> to be used for a business. You need a reasonable computer to run it on,
> since it is a Java app. I have been pretty happy with it overall.
Too bad it's not free.
> Moneydance is a personal finance program. It does have
> heirarchical accounts and double-entry, so it can be customized it to
> handle many kinds of small business. But it doesn't have payroll,
> inventory, things like that, although it is of course possible to do
> those things manually like you'd do them on paper.
There was a little thread on the webfunds or XML/X mailing list last
week, about possibly extending it to support digital money; in other
words you would have like, a webfunds wallet integrated with it, so
you could actually do hard currencies payments like egold.
> > And there appears to have been some strange failure at Appgen; they
> > had brought MoneyDance in, creating the "AppGen Personal Software"
> > division just for it. But now, MoneyDance is being run by the
> > totally-separate Reilly Technologies LLC.
>
> Sean Reilly originally made the program as shareware. Appgen bought it
> from him and sold it for a while. But then, for reasons that aren't
> clear, they suddenly folded that division. Maybe they weren't making
> enough money, no one has ever really explained what happend as far as I
> know. At any rate Mr. Reilly has apparently bought it back or made some
> other arrangement to continue development.
Interesting... I subscribed to the moneydance mailing list, there is
really quite a bit of activity; a lot of users, I mean. That's
encouraging....
Todd BOyle - Kirkland WA http://www.ledgerism.net