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GnuCash 1.9.0 Released
Grendel Drago writes "The GnuCash team have released GnuCash 1.9.0.
After literally years of waiting, GnuCash is now a GTK2 application. The current version is unstable, and testers are needed."
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Finally...software that is a perfect fit for my finances.
A buggy, unstable money management program... BRILLIANT!
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
Who's been waiting? I liked the application the way it is. With something as important as finacial tracking, there's no way I'd want to test it. I don't need a pretty ui to tell me I'm broke.
I've been waiting for this FOREVER. Another alternative for Linux is Moneydance, a java app that apparently spoofs Windows quicken online banking on Macs (or Linux)..
It would be nice for someone to do a mini-review or comparison of the different FOSS or FOSS-friendly financial packages, because frankly, I'm ready to leave Intuit.
Oh, and speaking of which--y'all know that you can file your taxes for free, right? Or at least 70% of Americans can. Down from 100% last year, but still something.
W
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This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Once it works for him, it certainly works for all of us.
Since it is slashdotted, here are some excerpts from the site:
The GnuCash development team proudly announces GnuCash 1.9.0 aka "We're gonna make it!", the first of several unstable 1.9.x releases of the GnuCash Open Source Accounting Software which will eventually lead to the stable version 2.0.0. This release is the very first of the gtk2-based GnuCash series, and is intended for developers and adventurous testers who want to help tracking down all those bugs that are still in there.
What's New in GnuCash 1.9.0?
o Welcome to GnuCash 1.9.0 aka "We're gonna make it!" the first of several unstable releases of the GnuCash Open Source Accounting Software which will eventually lead to the stable version 2.0.0. This release is the very first of the gtk2-based GnuCash series and is intended for developers and adventurous testers who want to help tracking down bugs.
o WARNING WARNING WARNING - Make sure you make backups of any files used in testing versions of GnuCash in the 1.9.x series. Although the developers go to great lengths to ensure that no data will be lost we cannot guarentee that your data will not be affected if for some reason GnuCash crashes in testing these releases.
o PLEASE TEST TEST AND TEST SOME MORE any and all features important to you. Then post any bugs you find to bugzilla http://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Gn uCash
o If you have the urge to help beyond testing please get involved in the discussions on the GnuCash mailing lists which you will find at http://www.gnucash.org./ We especially need people to help with updating the documentation as all texts refer currently to the 1.8.x series. Please see http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Development on how to get involved.
o PS I'm not going to list the many features changed or updated in this release because obviously there is so much that has changed.
Caveats
Caveats for testers:
* Any 1.9.x version might crash unexpectedly at any point during runtime. If you test some serious work in a 1.9.x release, make sure you hit "Save" after ever non-trivial workstep.
* Keep in mind that features which are not used in everyday work might crash unexpectedly at all times. This includes but is not limited to: graphical reports, scheduled transaction editor, price editor, financial calculator, OFX/QIF/HBCI import.
* Especially all the new features might crash instantly on testing. This applies in particular to any of the budget-related features. We may always decide to disable such new features for the initial 2.0.0 release, and re-enable them in a later release.
* The documentation is completely outdated. All help texts usually only refer to the 1.8.x series; please expect all descriptions in the help texts to be totally wrong when applied to the upcoming 1.9.x series. Everyone is invited to help improve the documentation; see http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Development on how to get involved.
How can you help?
* Testing: Test it and help us discover all bugs that might show up in there. Please enter each and every bug into bugzilla at http://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Gn uCash
* Translating: The new release comes with plenty of new translation strings. If you consider contributing a translation, we invite you to test this release already, but please keep in mind that we are not yet in our string freeze phase. Please check http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Translation_Status for updates on this, as we recommend to wait for the string
If we don't fight for ourselves no one will.
Am I the only one who read GnuCrash?
I've been using GNUCash on Linux for awhile, and have wanted to also use it on Windows, as I've found it to be better than Quicken and the like. I looked for a Windows port, but the only thing I found were some messages saying something to the effect of "Wait until it's on GTK2."
With this news, it looks like a port might finally be reachable. This may be the next great OSS app that I can show off to friends and family, and I'll be able to use it on my Windows laptop. Here's to the GNUCash team for all their hard work!
Maybe Bill can finally have his taxes processed on a 'normal' computer now that GnuCash 1.9.0 is out?
3 3
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/01/14182
Now, I have nothing bad to say about GnuCash. It's a good program and served me well when I used it. I only mention KMyMoney as an alternative worth considering.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Why I would want a web browser that is able to browse the Internet inside an application that holds all my financial information? Sounds Microsoft Money-ish to me. I'd prefer to keep applications separate so there is less possibility that a malicious website could pull financial information off my computer.
I bought Quicken Deluxe 2006. And, I started entering in a bunch of data. I found a flaw where if you enter data quickly by tabbing through the boxes, it will eliminate the categories you need for reporting taxes..
I spent about 2 hours talking to an Indian guy over chat who barely spoke English who could not help me. He switched me over to a hispanic girl who spoke even less English at me for another 3 hours. Seriously.. both spoke horrible English. About three-fourths of my effort went to trying to communicate with them. Also, they knew shit about Quicken. It was easy to tell I knew more about it than them - just they were there as 'support' for idiots only or something.
Then, I called in the next day and spoke with person after person for another three hours. Each time, I had to duplicate the problem on my end, reinstall Quicken, duplicate the problem again.. and show them how to duplicate it. They duplicated it and still could not tell me how to fix it. They said they will send it to the development team. That was a month ago.. Hopefully they can fix this before tax season.
Whereas, in open source, if there was a problem like this, I could probby get one of the developers to issue a minor quickfix in a matter of days..
Hopefully there's a way to convert all my current data (about 50 hours of entry worth) into GnuCash's format. I'm definitely willing to give it a try..
--- We need more Ron Paul!
GNUCash is a *fantastic* finance tool. I use it every day to keep track of my tech consulting businesse's bank accounts, expenses, liabilities, and so on. It's absolutely great. It's so nice having tools like this that not only gives you equal (or greater) power than it's commercial alternatives, but is free (as in beer) so small and new businesses don't have to pay an arm and a leg to simply track their small business finances!
Horray!! Thank you, GNUCash team!!
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
In plain English, this means if you know only your little backyard, then there is just US. Otherwise your world may include Germany, and the rest is, of course, US. Now, some people may find this funny. Others might cry. I am just confused. How can they write such code? It should read if Germany
The last time I put numbers like the shown 5 into code was almost three decades ago in a Basic program. I have seen much better GNU software and hope someone removes the word GNU from this project's name.
No offense, but I thought financial planning software should comply with higher standards.
It was about three years ago in February that I decided to switch to BitchBetterHaveMyMoney, and I've never looked back. The application is rock solid. And it keeps track of not some of my money, but all of my money.
Truth be told, their motto is proof: "Through rain, sleet, snow, or dark of night: BitchBetterHaveMyMoney."
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
Come on... they've just done a major conversion, and now it's testing time. OF COURSE it's going to crash. Why not channel your criticism into more constructive uses of your time and help with the testing?
I've been into Personal Finance Manager appliction for a while. Just for fun, because now that i actually make money i would like to manage my accounts in a proper way. Unfortunatly i've found that not to be easy at all.
Tried with:
GnuCash
Quicken
and now with MS Money
None of them really do what i want.
GnuCash had double entry accounting which i think is just much to manage for my personal finances. Support to import transaction was incomplete back then (only QIF format worked, and QIF is a PoS). Now it seems that they improved on that but still the double entry system makes me nervous.
Quicken is a buggy, ad invested piece of software. Whenever you click on a "function" you're send to some third party website. Their move to not allow import of QIF for certain types of accounts gave me the rest and i quit.
Money is not as ad invested, but buggy as well. But right know i still kinda like it, except that some general functionalities are missing that i really would like to see in the future.
What's missing in all of these PFM's is that they don't take stupid work away from me, they should help me, not give me more work than necessary.
Example: My Payee information that i download in the transactions of the banks looks like encrypted bullocks to me. There has to be a way to name these things in user friendly way.
The automatic categorization of transaction lacks functionality as well. It should be possible to define rules. Like: i went to Safeway at noon on a weekday -> Lunch Category, otherwise Groceries
Furthermore i like to have the whole thing setup as a service on my computer, it wouldn't take too much... The service would then automatically log into my bank accounts everyday and download latest transactions. Maybe even sent me an e-mail or text message that i should maybe not use credit card XYZ anymore, because i'm about to bounce the credit limit.
There is more and i just wish i could see any sort of progress in their yearly releases, but i've given up on that.
What is wrong with all (most) of you?? All I see are flames here, toward GNUCash, how blah blah, it's unstable, blah blah, use KMyMoney, blah blah, the code is lame... I've been using it for 2 years straight and haven't had a problem ONCE. No database corruption, no corruption of any kind. THERE is your proof that GNUCash won't fuck up your finances.
I've learned so much about finances with GNUCash it's amazing - much more, I'm sure, than using some other program. The layout is very LOGICAL - maybe not the easiest, or prettiest (1.9 will probably fix the prettiness though) but crap... aren't we all about the functionality? Using "accounts" instead of "categories" is really cool IMHO - it allows so much more flexibility with what you're doing and doesn't corner you into doing things one certain way - it just teaches you how things are done.
Give me the name of another financial program that's able to track BUSINESS finances (not just personal), other than GNUCash. Now sit down, shut up and eat your beans!
GO NINERS! =p
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
I have been using GNUcash 1.8.X for some time and it has never crashed. I think the point is that 1.9.X is unstable because it has been converted to GTK2, not that the whole GNUcash application is unstable. The waiting part refers to the fact that everyone has been waiting for the GTK2 conversion to happen, since previously the project has stuck with GTK1. I would suggest doing some research and using the program before making such innane comments.
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
Quickbooks Pro has a web based version that's pretty nice. Pros: great tech support. Cons: $25/month and only works in internet explorer.
I would pay a monthly fee for a standards compliant web based version of Quicken.
Bigtime Consulting - "We're the best because we cost the most"
FWIW, I've made several comments and suggestions to the GnuCash user list and I always get a helpful response. No one treats me like an idiot, has an axe to grind or the like. Most of the time, someone named Derek is the one responding who I believe is an MIT graduate and writes very clear English. In general, I dislike the quality of most OSS software, but I like the way GnuCash is run, especially considering how few people actually contribute to it.
I can certainly relate to your experience with Quicken, although mine is with an AT&T VPN dialer. When it refused to work after an upgrade, I had to re-explain my problem over and over again, and their perspective, even after spending hours on the phone with me, was that *I* was the one doing something wrong. I've gotten better tech support by calling Microsoft, if you can believe it.
Best wishes anyway.
~Boring
I had to switch from MS Money to Quicken after I found a bug that incorrectly calculated values. I spent almost an hour trying to get through to someone at MS. When I finally did, I walked the tech through recreateing the bug on his machine. He was able to easily recreate the problem to verify that it was in fact a bug. The next time I heard from them was about three months later when they left a message on my machine saying that they found this old trouble ticket, and since I wasn't home, they were going to close it out. Not fix it mind you. Just close out the ticket.
Uh-huh. And I suppose when you hear "Microsoft releases buggy beta version of Vista", or "prototype car doesn't pass crash testing" you complain about that too.
I get the "idea." But, being F/OSS doesn't make it instantly the most awesome product available. No, Moneydance isn't that either; it is better than GnuCash, though. At least, it is better than the last version of GnuCash I used. I like free just as much as everyone else, but I like quality better.
I wonder if they or someone else will release Mac binaries finally?
Yes, I know you can install GnuCash using Fink, as that's what I do currently. But it would be so much more convenient to be able to download a standalone GnuCash.app like you can with Gimp, Frozen Bubble, OpenOffice, AbiWord, and others.
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
I've been using Gnucash for close to two years now. It was the final step to me ditching my Windows install, since I was using Quicken before.
;-)'
Gnucash isn't perfect, but it's got everything I need to keep track of things. I do all my entry manually, although I have imported a few times just testing (I prefer my own formatting and such and don't care which gas station, etc., just that it was a gas station).
I figure if I'd been upgrading Quicken versions, I'd have spent at least $50. Plus, I would like be able to link to a Windows port on my Free GPL Programs page which I list all the apps I use that others should check out on Windows.
I decided to donate to the cause. Hopefully others who use Gnucash will consider tipping the developers. I'm sure even $5, especially if it's dozens of folks, will help motivate them.
I wish I had the time to bug-test v1.9, but I don't, so I'll tip a little more
There was a /. article about two weeks ago about Novell listing apps to be ported or something like that and at the top was Quicken/Quickbooks, which I use and am well pissed off that I can't get it to work on Linux.
One reply suggested that GnuCash was a viable alternative to quicken. My problem with GnuCash (or really with Quickbooks) was that I couldn't export the accounts from Quickbooks into GnuCash. Well anyway, at the time of the Novell article, we had just hit our year end, so we had P&L and Balance sheets for everything.
So, perfect time to try GnuCash, just resetting everything off the Balance Sheet. Anyway, through this process I discovered that Quickbooks had 'lost' some of my previous VAT payments. Added them all up - £400 for me (don't worry I triple checked - no messing with the tax man). So GnuCash wasn't free for me - they actually paid me to use it. Cheers, GnuCash!
I miss the simple 'VAT Report' from QuickBooks - it's quite tricky in GnuCash. But if it was costing me £400 - I can handle the minor inconvenience.
I'm really looking forward to the 1.9.0 - hopefully, some more of the inconveniences will disappear and maybe the interface will be a little less GTK1.
Genesis 1:32 And God typed
I've been using Quicken 2004 on linux through crossover for a while now. I'm very satisfied with it. It is stable enough for me to do everything I need to do. I see little to no reason at all to use GUNCash until it is stable enough.
I am searching for a replacement package for our small charity in Brussels. My main concern is that the authorities here have quite clear guidelines for reporting our finances - they dictate account codes for example. To do quaterly VAT returns we need to know some precise details for some precise forms.
My question is are the FLOSS accounting packages up to this. Can the/have they been customised for the accounting systems here in Europe?
Any ideas/help please!
Well, there's both maintainability and feature reasons to move to gtk2 (and, generally, modern libraries), as well. It does require non-trivial changes; "optional" gtk1 and gtk2 front-ends would be a massive undertaking that no one has helped do.
... over-engineered. I'd rather reduce some of the dependencies through simplificiation of the code base.
While the overall dependecy profile of gnucash is large, it's really not that large; but it certainly sits very high up on the desktop application stack, so there's a lot of depth below it. In any case, the dependencies are there for two reasons: it's a comparatively featureful app as well as
In any case, static linking binaries is generally silly.