Will GnuCash ever work for me?

[Tim]

Hey..

This all started for me when I decided WinXP was where I was gettin' off =
the=20
Micro$oft train, and so bought Mandrake 8.0, which comes with GNUCash 1.4=
=2E =20
Then I tried to load QIF files exported from MS Money and it gave me a=20
message that I needed to upgrade to a newer version.   So I went to=20
gnucash.org and it seemed simple - everythings's in the GNUCash 1.6.1 rpm=
=20
except Guile & Guppi, basically - hey, even I can do this, right?...

Eversince then, I've been trying.  I've been reading these messages, tryi=
ng=20
to get a handle on how to get GNUCash 1.6.1 to work.  In the last 3 weeks=
=20
I've spent many hours trying.  Guile needs this, Guppi needs that, everyt=
hing=20
needs something else.  I've dowloaded and installed several packages, alw=
ays=20
trying to use the GNUCash, Mandrake, or Red Hat rpms to keep compatibilit=
y. =20
But I still have many dependencies I can't seem to get past because some =
of=20
the packages I've dowloaded to try and correct those dependencies conflic=
t=20
with other packages already installed.   The rpms seem like they're just=20
never gonna work.

So, I hate to do it, but at this point, I might give up unless someone ca=
n=20
come up with a method to solve this a newbie can grasp.  I guess I can tr=
y=20
to run MS Money with VMWare...but it bugs the hell outa me that I can't u=
se=20
GNUCash to help eliminate any need for Win98 on my machines...
Now, I'm not trying to put GNUCash or the dedicated programmers who've wo=
rked=20
so hard on it down, not at all.  Up and running, I'm sure it's pretty nea=
t. =20
And I figure programmers are much like artists or engineers or whatever. =
=20
They don't write code strictly for self-satisfaction, they want people to=
 see=20
their work, to use it and appreciate it.  To buy it even, so they can mak=
e a=20
living at what they like to do.  I for one would be more than willing to =
pay=20
for GNUCash to eleiminate M$ Money from my desktop.  I paid for M$ Money,=
=20
right?=20

I'm not a total rookie.  I'm slowly catching on to Linux.  I build my own=
=20
white boxes, used PCs since the days DOS 5 and 286's were king.  But over=
 the=20
years I've forgotten most of the dos commands I ever knew.  Basically, I'=
m=20
Joe Gui, I'm Joe's dad, his boss, his mom.  I'm the typical person who ne=
eds=20
GNUCash and would use it.  I'm Linux newbie, fed up with M$ and crap soft=
ware=20
for it, wanting an alternative but without the time, knowledge or inclina=
tion=20
to become a command-line whiz or build GNUCash from source.  Someone who =
just=20
wants to support Linux and the open source community in general the best =
way=20
I can - by buying (yes, buying) Linux software, using it and spreading th=
e=20
word.   Gui-imparied, non-command-line enabled users like me make up abou=
t=20
98% of the computer users (and potential GNUCash users) in the world, whi=
ch=20
is why the original Mac and now Windoze succeeded - they worked for anyon=
e,=20
with little technical expertise needed. =20

The point I'm trying to make is, if Linux and open source is ever to succ=
eed=20
beyond the server market in terms of user numbers or profitability for Li=
nux=20
companies and programmers, and as a real alternative to Windoze, we need=20
software anyone can install and use.  Neither Micro$oft nor any of the=20
companies writing software for it would be anywhere without easy installa=
tion=20
and the gui interface for the masses.=20

Unfortunately, for now at least Linux and GNUCash aren't there yet.  They=
're=20
like a  foreign language film without subtitles for those who don't know =
the=20
lingo - good, but for a limited audience.  But I know you're workin' on=20
it...maybe I'll try a little more before I give up...

Tim, a frustrated would-be GNUCash user