Philosophical Question

[plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us]

> I'm inclined to want to keep on with it instead of learning a whole new
> program, but on the other hand I sort of like the dea of going all open
> source.

Life is learning, I would recommend stopping either :)

> What will win out, convienience or ideology?
>
> Are there any gnucash users out there that can give some feedback, pro and con
> on this application? My accounting is one of my mission criticle items so I
> don't want to make a mistake.

Well, I've been a GnuCash user since the mid nineties when it was still
Xaccountant (that's not quite the history, but it works).  I would have to
say that I'm pretty impressed with the program, especially in it's growth
(it wasn't always the program it is today, and 1.8 is coming out shortly).
Here are some things that I like:

- GnuCash is full double entry accounting, but you don't have to know that
to use it.  GnuCash allows you to set up your Expense categories (like
Quicken, except that it doesn't come with a default set :( ) and then just
put every expense into a category right on the register.  But then, if you
want to use true double entry for a transaction (something like a split
transaction) you can go into the full register and have fun.  (I do this
for things like my paycheck, which has various taxes taken out of it, but
is still one transaction)

- There are some nice default graphs.  I have about 5 graphs that I use
consitently to look at how my finances are doing, and how much I'm
spending.  These allow me to see whether I can really afford that flat
screen :)  (I'm not entirely sure if realizing that I can't afford the
flat screen is a good thing though)

- Scriptability.  There is complete Scheme back end for custom reports.
I've played with it a little, but I have done anything impressive yet.
Some people may see this as a bad thing, but (like (I Scheme)).

- It's simple and straightforward.  I tried to work with my dad on Quicken
and dialogs kept popping up and trying to show me movies and stuff, I
really found that annoying.  If nothing else the GnuCash people can't
afford to make movies :)

- Quicken won't run on my PPC Linux (yes, I could run Quicken in MOL, but
what about if I switch to Alpha or MIPS?)

Some downsides:

- I haven't found a good way to import all my data into Turbo Tax, but I
don't have that much tax related data, so it isn't a really issue for me.

- I have never seen a program with more dependencies.  If it doesn't come
with your distribution, don't try installing it yourself - there is no
pain like trying to find the dependencies for GnuCash (apt would probably
help now, but I tried for 1.6...)

- Start up time is a little bit slow, not enough to be annoying, but
longer that alot of other program.  This also could be because my data
files are over 3 MB now :)


So, I like GnuCash, I hope that you give it a try... Ask if you have any
questions.

		--Ted