Linux apps like Quicken are badly needed 3373

Larry Qualig

Sounds familiar. My dad loves quicken and also uses quickbooks for some freelance accounting work. He's been using Linux about 8 years now, and uses Linux most of the time, but he keeps Windows around almost exclusively to run Quicken.

GNUCash is a nice little program, but remember, it's an Open Source product. It's a decent checkbook capture system. Linux has other commercial software including MoneyDance which are probably a bit closer to Quicken.

Larry, I think we have had this discussion before. You've been using Quicken for around a decade, and you've been using ONE possible accounting package for ONE DAY! This really isn't long enough to make any realistic buttestments or conclusions. When you publish these opinions at this early a stage, it shows that you are too lazy to take the time to learn what GNUCash and Linux CAN do, as well as what it can't. Many people prefer to let GnuCash extract the account information then export it to other databases, which they can use to do more of the complex work like analysis.

Again, this goes back to the whole concept of UNIX "Components" rather than "Megalithic applications".

You might want to look at OpenOffice Base as well. I believe there are some accounting and banking packages now available for OpenOffice Base. Most banks now offer financial statements in CSV or Excel formats as well. This makes it much easier to build or import the bank's download files into your databases.

You are probably right, which is why there are a number of COMMERCIAL applications competing for the accounting market. They range from simple personal accounting packages like MoneyDance to enterprise applications like Oracle Financials, SAP, and Seibel.

I've posted a few surveys on accounting packages for Linux. There are around 400 packages available, ranging in price from free to several thousand dollars, and ranging in function from simple "get qif from bank" to full-blown Sarbanes-Oxley compliance business accounting packages, usually including some consulting for customization.

Often, accounting packages also come linked to tax filing services. You send them your database file or let them access the database remotely, and they import that into their filing process. Even with Quicken and TurboTax that whole filing process is a PAIN! I wouldn't mind letting the guy with the green eyeshade handle the final details.

Looking at GNUCash and buttuming that's the best Linux has to offer is like looking at notepad and buttuming that's the best Word Processor Microsoft has to offer.