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Accounting Free Software

Posted by garym on Fri, 03/04/2005 - 10:35

Phil and Brad had a business problem: After over a decade with a product successfull enough to keep them in , they still hadn't made that leap out of Saskatchewan and into the mainstream ...

"We wanted to see Quasar used all over the world and have the pride of it being our product," Pepers says. "But we needed to figure out a way to do it and still make a living."

First they tried a low, low price for their point-of-sale/SME accounting pack, then they tried giving away the core engine for free hoping to drive sales in the accessory full-feature modules ...

They've settled on rewrite to remove any lingering proprietary bits, and going with a pure , and watching their creation blossom:

Developer input on the mailing lists has provided valuable information to help Canada with important details, such as streamlining the installation process and improving the international customization (l18N) aspects of Quasar. For example, "a user in Norway has sent an example import he was using," says Pepers. "He was having problems with non-English characters, and working with him we were able to use his data to test character set encodings and their interaction in Quasar between Qt, Tcl, and the supported databases."
[ via NewsForge | Quasar Accounting finds move to open source adds up ]

That's the thing: Alone, best they could do was a clunky but functional package that would suit their customers so long as they were local to the partners and within reach of their expertise; now they have the benefit of many minds, many problem spaces, many channels of exertise who are also channels of potential sales leads.  read more »

Balmer FUD: Linux is Illegal

Posted by garym on Tue, 11/30/2004 - 14:58

This is Steve Balmer, not some third-string assistant to the VP of Fringe Accounts for South Africa -- for those of you who still buy into his all-American dream, not that you'll care, but here is yet another example of the sort of unfounded fear mongering your precious CEO spreads ...

Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Ballmer, speaking in Singapore at Microsoft's Asian Government Leaders Forum, warned that governments using the Linux operating system are in risk of violating patent laws. Linux, Ballmer claimed, infringes on more than 228 patents. Ballmer did not elaborate on specific alleged violations.

Balmer is, of course, simply reframing to his advantage the argument against patents given by RMS earlier, where his point was not that these patents form a clear and present danger to the users of the software so much as the abject unenforceability of these claims illustrate the lunacy of software patenting in the first place.

[ via Governments using Linux risk violating law, says Microsoft's CEO - Wikinews Demo ]

283 Possible Patent Infringments

Posted by garym on Thu, 11/11/2004 - 09:56

Richard Stallman continues his Asian tour: Last Tuesday Richard teamed up with Sunil Abraham of the UNDP's IOSN in addressing the Singapore Management University on the threats and limitations of software patents.

For example, Stallman notes, while Linux accounts for only 0.25% of a typical GNU system, the kernel has already accummulated an estimated 283 possible patent infringments. Mr. Abraham added

'The current patent regime sharpens the economic divide, blocks access to life-saving medicines, stifles innovation, ignores traditional knowledge systems, and halts the progress of free/open software,'

[ via IT AsiaOne: Patenting of software stifles growth ]

283 Possible Patent Infringments

Posted by garym on Thu, 11/11/2004 - 09:56

Richard Stallman continues his Asian tour: Last Tuesday Richard teamed up with Sunil Abraham of the UNDP's IOSN in addressing the Singapore Management University on the threats and limitations of software patents.

For example, Stallman notes, while Linux accounts for only 0.25% of a typical GNU system, the kernel has already accummulated an estimated 283 possible patent infringments. Mr. Abraham added

'The current patent regime sharpens the economic divide, blocks access to life-saving medicines, stifles innovation, ignores traditional knowledge systems, and halts the progress of free/open software,'

[ via IT AsiaOne: Patenting of software stifles growth ]

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