A response from the trenches (was Re: giving up on gnucash)

Andrew Sackville-West andrew at farwestbilliards.com
Sun Apr 24 14:49:41 EDT 2005


I hope that the responses from those of us defending the project and the 
developers are an effective counter-balance. I, along with many others 
REALLY appreciate the work you've done. It makes me sad to read the 
kinds of posts we've seen. Thanks a whole-heck-of-a-bunch!

I've been using gnucash for 4 months now and I love it. ITs great and 
I'll never leave. Keep on truckin' buddy!

Andrew

Derek Atkins wrote:
> John Sowden <jsowden at americansentry.net> writes:
> 
> 
>>This has been going on for a while.
>>
>>I agree that gnu-cash does not provide basic accounting features that a 
>>business might expect.  The problem is that gnu-cash is a personal accounting 
> 
> 
> Um, I'd like to know what "basic accounting features" gnucash does not
> provide "that a business might expect".  I've been running my business
> finances on gnucash for three years.
> 
> Perhaps it's valid to say that it doesn't have the features that YOUR
> business needs, but what you said above just isn't true.  We have
> plenty of business users of gnucash to prove that what you say isn't
> true.
> 
> So, no, gnucash is not just a personal accounting package.
> 
> And now for something completely different....
> 
> Previously in this thread someone talked about tone of comments and
> how the tone of the request affects those of us close to the project.
> What harm can a harsh comment make?  
> 
> Well, it's certainly no way to motivate me.  I'm actually more
> motivated by a cry for help than a "you suck and here's why!" or even
> a "I'm leaving you and here's why."  I'd rather someone say "hey,
> thanks for the hard work, but, how can I get gnucash to do ___."  The
> former two makes me feel unappreciated.  Think about it from my side
> -- what do I get out of my work on Gnucash?  The only thing I get out
> of it is appreciation.  When you take that away (like you did starting
> this thread) it's an EXTREME demotivator.
> 
> In fact, this whole thread has turned me off.  Honestly I've barely
> read it because it's been too painful.  And frankly I feel little
> incentive to try to work to fix the original poster's "issues",
> regardless of how real they are.  Seriously..  Why should I help you?
> You don't care how I feel or what I've put in, so why should I care
> what YOU have to say (even if you do have some valid points).
> 
> For the record, I've seriously considered charging for GnuCash Tech
> Support.  "You want Derek to respond?  Send him $50 by Paypal for each
> question you have."  It's threads like this that make me seriously
> consider it.  Why?  It makes me feel unappreciated.  And yes, a few
> bad apples can definitely spoil the bunch.  :(
> 
> To whomever started this thread, assuming you're still reading: I'm
> sorry you're unhappy, and I wish you luck in whatever you do.  I also
> hope you're happy with the results of your "goodbye wishes".
> 
> Siyonara.
> 
> -derek
> 


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