Small business and organizations with a need for accounting will not get by with the "designed for home use" accounting packages. If this were not the case then the Quicken people would not have also created Quickbooks for business people.
Based on my experience with small business people this individual needs a package for Linux that approximates the functionality of PeachTree Accounting (or a competing product with similar functionality).
Since all of my customers with accounting needs are married to Windows I cannot recommend a package for Linux, but a Quicken replacement will NOT do the trick.
The only package for Linux I've seen that looks like it might have the right stuff is SQL-Ledger http://www.sql-ledger.com/features.html, but I cannot recommend something I've never tried.
More details from the person asking about this might help get a recommendation based on required functionality.
I tend to agree with pretty everything above. If you're married to the idea of exposing the kids in your class to computers, then go the next step and see if you can submit grants for enough computers to set up a lab somewhere on campus as a resource for the entire school. If you want to donate a couple yourself I'm sure that will be appreciated without stepping on anybody's toes. If the school library could use more computers this would be a nice place to start.
BSD experience is much more useful for someone with commercial UNIX aspirations.
There is no single OS that rules, and learning that will be the best lesson you EVER learn.
"Total domination is bad. The Microsoft dominance already badly misled people about how to choose systems. Instead of 'what tool do I use for the job' it's 'well it was shipped with the box'. Linux is a tool, Windows is a tool and so are numerous other systems. It's really important people go back to looking for the right tool for the job. That will never always be Linux. No single tool can do everything well."
Alan Cox
The reality is large SPAMmers make major campaign donations and YOU don't!!!
Politicians only respond to two things ONLY.
1) big campaign donations
2) huge numbers of voters bitching constantly about the issue*
A solution I saw used in some Las Vegas Casinos 10 years ago (I did some unrelated VMS software upgrades for them) was accomplished by printing their reports to Optical drives. The data was pure ASCII (cannot get any more portable than that), which they could search and reformat as needed for later output to screen or printer using COBOL, Perl, etc.
With some tweaks to allow for improvements in technology and your situation this technique could work for you.
I always laugh when you *experts* who have *never* worked in a DP shop in your life telling those of us who have we are stupid for using tools you think have too much functionality. DB2 Rocks!!! Just because you don't have a clue about how to use this monster doesn't mean it's not a great tool.
IBM *is* exactly right about MySQL, and for that matter most Open Source databases. It takes years to mature a major product like AIX and DB2, and the GPL competitors (which I love and use daily) do *not* have the same functionality. They are *lite* versions of the real deal. The two most important features of Open Source products is they are 1) Free, 2) come with source code. It is *not* their functionality!!!
IBM and Borland will do *allot* to improve these GPL products and all the grousing by people with little to no expereince in the *real world* won't change that.
There are still a few BBS systems out there connected to the Internet running Tele-Arena.
Sean Ferrel the author seems to have disappeared from the planet.
I was suprised this "timeline" had no mention of Galacticom MajorBBS/Worldgroup based multi-user games like Tele-Arena, MajorMUD, GE, etc.
Allot of people got their start playing multi-user games on Galacticom BBS systems.
"Mine is better than yours"
on
Penguin2Apple
·
· Score: 1
/. is definately one place the "mine is better than yours" crowd loves to hang out.
I learned my craft on many computer systems over the years, and am amazed by anoyone who would think their "OS of choice" is the only tool for everything.
I've used most commercial flavors of UNIX on everthing from a 286 to a Cray Super, and they all have their advantages. Several of the other non-UNIX Operating Systems I've used in my career have impressed me too.
The thing I've learned over there years is that no OS is "king", and that each has it strong points.
I have only one problem with OS X... it only runs on Apple hardware. I'll wait until Jobs figures out Apple should really be a software company (like he did with NeXT), and turn out OS X for other hardware platforms.
There is no single OS that can meet all of my needs, so I'll stick with running the various flavors of commercial and free UNIX I do now, plus Win2k for games and software unavailable for ANY of my UNIX boxes.
BTW, I don't know why that guy was complaining about Win2k crashing all the time (unless he just likes to run junk hardware, or he is an OS config idiot), since mine has been surprisingly reliable for something coming out of Redmond.
For those looking for a bargain in computing power/OS I would suggest you look at an UltrasparcIII for under 1k. I just ordered one to take the 4th spot on my home KVM switch.
It's getting the space OS X could have if it ran on something besides Apple hardware.
"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer,
a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon,
and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
Robert X Cringely
Napster and it's legal team screwed us. Any lawyer will tell you "bad law suits (or bad responses to them) make bad laws" The idiots at Napster and their greedy lawyers fought their case in the worst way possible with their bogus claims of "fair use", etc.
The court decisions handed down in the Napster case were their own fault, and now eveyone trying to run a file sharing server is beaten up by the RIAA with the Napster decision.
If you've been defending Napster, then you've wasted your efforts defending somone who has screwed YOU!!!
Slackware is the ONLY distribution for people like myself who had been using UNIX since many moons before Linux existed. Most Slackware users know the ONLY way to install new software is from a source distribution. RPMs and GUI-based config tools are for reformed Windoze users, not those of us who cut their teeth on Mainframes and Super-minis.
Slackware is used by more people than gets reported, because almost ALL Slackware users download their distro.
Thank the computer gods for Volkerding and company!!!
I love free software, and use it daily, but I also use commercial software purchased with my hard earned dollars. If all software were free then all programmers would need a second job for money to live on.
Borland is trying to make a profit, and paying programmers to write free software will NOT do this. Microsoft did allot of underhanded stuff to remove Borland from the #1 spot in the PC development tools arena. Since then Borland has struggled to stay alive.
Borland is trying to provide something Linux desperately needs (IE: professional software development tools).
Borland and IBM will help provide many of the commercial programming and admin tools missing from Linux that are available on almost every commercial OS.
Some people need reminding that Linux is behind commercial UNIX in many important areas. My 1985 copy of SCO Xenix-286 has good stuff still missing from Linux.
Software you have to pay for on the Linux platform is good news for those of you not still living at home popping zits on Mom's mirror. It means that Linux is becoming a platform for commercial software too, and those of you who have REAL programming skills can get a good job.
At some point you are going to want to get paid for at least part of the work you do, so don't dog Borland for not giving away ALL the software they create (costing them millions).
A couple of Universities have done studies showing that even under the best of conditions that GUI based data entry is 15% to 20% less efficient for volume data entry than a text interface.
Most volume data entry people use only one application all day long, and a GUI does nothing to improve their productivity.
Ternimal/Console based applications are alive and well in the data entry arena, and until a GUI can improve (instead of decrease) productivity test based interfaces will be the platform of choice for volume data entry.
AT&T UNIX (now Caldera/SCO Unixware) is the only real "UNIX" due to registered trademark issues. Since it is also the "original UNIX" that must count for something too.
ALL other *NIX (xBSD, System V, etc.) Operating Systems are "UNIX-like". Of the UNIX-like systems some have paid the trademark toll to be able to call themselves "UNIX".
I've worked on many of the various flavors of "UNIX" since my days in the University of California CS lab. I've been running various commercial and free flavors of UNIX at home since 1985. IMHO they are all great when compared to most of the other Operating Systems I've used since getting into this industry in 1974.
Arguing about which "UNIX-like" OS is really UNIX is pointless.
These "my favorite OS is better than your favorite OS" arguments are for lamers anyway.
BTW, what Linus Torvalds did is reverse engineer the AT&T UNIX kernel (major league task). IMHO that is not "writing from scratch" which suggests creating something completely new.
When Steve Jobs built his NeXT computer system he managed the creation of the OS the Mac should have always had.
When he returned to Apple his stupidity returned.
1) he killed Mac clones
2) he killed the x86 version of OpenSTEP
His need to "control the hardware" undercuts Apple's software efforts.
The Mac OS or NeXT/OpenSTEP could've stomped Windows if Jobs had the brains to license the hardware widely.
Jobs should stand on the platform next to Xerox for creating some of the most exciting stuff in the comuter industry, then blowing the possibility of owning the industry with their stupidity.
They both make Bill Gates look the the genius he isn't!
>StarOffice, which in my mind is basically a
>Linux port of Microsoft Office
You obviously never used StarOffice. It doesn't work anymore like MS-Office than any other GUI based competing Office Suite does.
BTW, Wordperfect for Linux is NOT a native port.
Wordperfect for Solaris and Unixware is. Doesn't matter MS paid Corel to get out of the Linux biz anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
1) Soldiers fall under the UCMJ not the Constitution when it comes to legal rights.
2) These Naval Academy students face being bounced out of there for violating the "code of conduct".
3) Ragging on /. will NOT change the fact that the RIAA has the "current" law on their side.
If you don't like the law, then become politically active and lobby for change instead of wining that you think it is wrong.
"All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be somewhere else." John Wayne
Small business and organizations with a need for accounting will not get by with the "designed for home use" accounting packages. If this were not the case then the Quicken people would not have also created Quickbooks for business people.
Based on my experience with small business people this individual needs a package for Linux that approximates the functionality of PeachTree Accounting (or a competing product with similar functionality).
Since all of my customers with accounting needs are married to Windows I cannot recommend a package for Linux, but a Quicken replacement will NOT do the trick.
The only package for Linux I've seen that looks like it might have the right stuff is SQL-Ledger http://www.sql-ledger.com/features.html, but I cannot recommend something I've never tried.
More details from the person asking about this might help get a recommendation based on required functionality.
I tend to agree with pretty everything above. If you're married to the idea of exposing the kids in your class to computers, then go the next step and see if you can submit grants for enough computers to set up a lab somewhere on campus as a resource for the entire school. If you want to donate a couple yourself I'm sure that will be appreciated without stepping on anybody's toes. If the school library could use more computers this would be a nice place to start.
Algorithms+Data Structures=Programs is classic CS material.
BSD experience is much more useful for someone with commercial UNIX aspirations.
There is no single OS that rules, and learning that will be the best lesson you EVER learn.
"Total domination is bad. The Microsoft dominance already badly misled people about how to choose systems. Instead of 'what tool do I use for the job' it's 'well it was shipped with the box'. Linux is a tool, Windows is a tool and so are numerous other systems. It's really important people go back to looking for the right tool for the job. That will never always be Linux. No single tool can do everything well." Alan Cox
Politicians only respond to two things ONLY.
1) big campaign donations 2) huge numbers of voters bitching constantly about the issue*
* this means ALL the time, not this week!!!
A solution I saw used in some Las Vegas Casinos 10 years ago (I did some unrelated VMS software upgrades for them) was accomplished by printing their reports to Optical drives. The data was pure ASCII (cannot get any more portable than that), which they could search and reformat as needed for later output to screen or printer using COBOL, Perl, etc. With some tweaks to allow for improvements in technology and your situation this technique could work for you.
IBM *is* exactly right about MySQL, and for that matter most Open Source databases. It takes years to mature a major product like AIX and DB2, and the GPL competitors (which I love and use daily) do *not* have the same functionality. They are *lite* versions of the real deal. The two most important features of Open Source products is they are 1) Free, 2) come with source code. It is *not* their functionality!!!
IBM and Borland will do *allot* to improve these GPL products and all the grousing by people with little to no expereince in the *real world* won't change that.
Do a web search for Linux exploits and Red Hat is ALWAYS number one.
There are still a few BBS systems out there connected to the Internet running Tele-Arena.
Sean Ferrel the author seems to have disappeared from the planet.
I was suprised this "timeline" had no mention of Galacticom MajorBBS/Worldgroup based multi-user games like Tele-Arena, MajorMUD, GE, etc.
Allot of people got their start playing multi-user games on Galacticom BBS systems.
I learned my craft on many computer systems over the years, and am amazed by anoyone who would think their "OS of choice" is the only tool for everything.
I've used most commercial flavors of UNIX on everthing from a 286 to a Cray Super, and they all have their advantages. Several of the other non-UNIX Operating Systems I've used in my career have impressed me too.
The thing I've learned over there years is that no OS is "king", and that each has it strong points.
I have only one problem with OS X ... it only runs on Apple hardware. I'll wait until Jobs figures out Apple should really be a software company (like he did with NeXT), and turn out OS X for other hardware platforms.
There is no single OS that can meet all of my needs, so I'll stick with running the various flavors of commercial and free UNIX I do now, plus Win2k for games and software unavailable for ANY of my UNIX boxes.
BTW, I don't know why that guy was complaining about Win2k crashing all the time (unless he just likes to run junk hardware, or he is an OS config idiot), since mine has been surprisingly reliable for something coming out of Redmond.
For those looking for a bargain in computing power/OS I would suggest you look at an UltrasparcIII for under 1k. I just ordered one to take the 4th spot on my home KVM switch.
It's getting the space OS X could have if it ran on something besides Apple hardware.
"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." Robert X Cringely
Napster and it's legal team screwed us. Any lawyer will tell you "bad law suits (or bad responses to them) make bad laws" The idiots at Napster and their greedy lawyers fought their case in the worst way possible with their bogus claims of "fair use", etc.
The court decisions handed down in the Napster case were their own fault, and now eveyone trying to run a file sharing server is beaten up by the RIAA with the Napster decision.
If you've been defending Napster, then you've wasted your efforts defending somone who has screwed YOU!!!
Slackware is the ONLY distribution for people like myself who had been using UNIX since many moons before Linux existed. Most Slackware users know the ONLY way to install new software is from a source distribution. RPMs and GUI-based config tools are for reformed Windoze users, not those of us who cut their teeth on Mainframes and Super-minis.
Slackware is used by more people than gets reported, because almost ALL Slackware users download their distro.
Thank the computer gods for Volkerding and company!!!
Borland is trying to make a profit, and paying programmers to write free software will NOT do this. Microsoft did allot of underhanded stuff to remove Borland from the #1 spot in the PC development tools arena. Since then Borland has struggled to stay alive.
Borland is trying to provide something Linux desperately needs (IE: professional software development tools).
Borland and IBM will help provide many of the commercial programming and admin tools missing from Linux that are available on almost every commercial OS.
Some people need reminding that Linux is behind commercial UNIX in many important areas. My 1985 copy of SCO Xenix-286 has good stuff still missing from Linux.
Software you have to pay for on the Linux platform is good news for those of you not still living at home popping zits on Mom's mirror. It means that Linux is becoming a platform for commercial software too, and those of you who have REAL programming skills can get a good job.
At some point you are going to want to get paid for at least part of the work you do, so don't dog Borland for not giving away ALL the software they create (costing them millions).
If you cannot "get a life", then rent one.
Bell Labs System V Release 4 UNIX *IS* AT&T UNIX.
AT&T sold it to Novell who renamed it Unixware.
Novell later sold it to SCO.
SCO sold it to Caldera (the Linux people).
Most volume data entry people use only one application all day long, and a GUI does nothing to improve their productivity.
Ternimal/Console based applications are alive and well in the data entry arena, and until a GUI can improve (instead of decrease) productivity test based interfaces will be the platform of choice for volume data entry.
ALL other *NIX (xBSD, System V, etc.) Operating Systems are "UNIX-like". Of the UNIX-like systems some have paid the trademark toll to be able to call themselves "UNIX".
I've worked on many of the various flavors of "UNIX" since my days in the University of California CS lab. I've been running various commercial and free flavors of UNIX at home since 1985. IMHO they are all great when compared to most of the other Operating Systems I've used since getting into this industry in 1974.
Arguing about which "UNIX-like" OS is really UNIX is pointless.
These "my favorite OS is better than your favorite OS" arguments are for lamers anyway.
BTW, what Linus Torvalds did is reverse engineer the AT&T UNIX kernel (major league task). IMHO that is not "writing from scratch" which suggests creating something completely new.
When he returned to Apple his stupidity returned.
1) he killed Mac clones
2) he killed the x86 version of OpenSTEP
His need to "control the hardware" undercuts Apple's software efforts.
The Mac OS or NeXT/OpenSTEP could've stomped Windows if Jobs had the brains to license the hardware widely.
Jobs should stand on the platform next to Xerox for creating some of the most exciting stuff in the comuter industry, then blowing the possibility of owning the industry with their stupidity.
They both make Bill Gates look the the genius he isn't!
>Linux port of Microsoft Office You obviously never used StarOffice. It doesn't work anymore like MS-Office than any other GUI based competing Office Suite does.
BTW, Wordperfect for Linux is NOT a native port.
Wordperfect for Solaris and Unixware is. Doesn't matter MS paid Corel to get out of the Linux biz anyway.