GnuCash on windows vs Ubuntu

Donald Allen donaldcallen at gmail.com
Mon Apr 20 17:22:31 EDT 2009


On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 5:12 PM, Laura Lincoln <cblist1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 3:19 PM, Donald Allen <donaldcallen at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 2:28 PM, Derek Atkins <warlord at mit.edu> wrote:
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > Laura Lincoln <cblist1 at gmail.com> writes:
>> >
>> >> Greetings,
>> >>
>> >> I have a client using GnuCash on Ubuntu. I have setup a separate
>> >> computer
>> >> with Ubuntu on it just to support this client. We do pass the file back
>> >> and
>> >> forth....
>> >>
>> >> I won't have access to my Ubuntu laptop this summer so I am trying to
>> >> determine what my options are....
>> >>
>> >> Does anyone know if I can use the windows version of GnuCash and pass
>> >> the
>> >> file back to her without running into any file corruption or
>> >> incompatibilies? I see that the windows version is 2.2.9 and I know the
>> >> Ubuntu version that we are using is older.
>> >>
>> >> Or would I be better off installing Ubuntu under Wubi on my XP laptop
>> >> instead? I don't want to do a real dual boot on the XP laptop but I
>> >> would
>> >> consider installing Wubi as an option since I can uninstall it when I
>> >> get
>> >> the Ubuntu laptop back in the fall.
>> >
>> > You should be able to pass the data file back and forth.
>>
>> I can attest to this in the Linux -> Windows direction.  I normally
>> run gnucash on Linux, but at tax time I have to run The World's Most
>> Annoying Operating System. So I boot XP on one of my machines
>> (dual-boot setup with the Windows partition just big enough for it to
>> run; all my Windows datafiles live in my Linux home directory on
>> another machine, courtesy Samba) and have installed gnucash there so I
>> can have my financial data in front of me while doing my taxes. This
>> works very well. I have not made changes on the Windows side, however,
>> so I can't say from personal experience that going the other way works
>> (I normally copy the my gnucash file from the Linux file system
>> temporarily to a temporary place in the Windows filesystem, so I don't
>> accidentally write to the Linux filesystem from Windows). But Derek's
>> usually right about matters Gnucash, and I'm also pretty sure there
>> have been messages from people who have moved gnucash files from
>> Windows to Linux without trouble.
>>
>> /Don
>>
> Thanks for that confirmation.
>
> Since I will be updating the file and returning to my client do the versions
> of GnuCash need to be the same?

Backwards compatibility reaches only so far into the past, but I think
you're ok with at least the last few 2.2.x versions. Somebody like
Derek or one of the other gnucash developers (which I am not) can give
you better information.

>
> Would running Ubuntu under Wubi on my XP machine be bettter?

If what we have been discussing (that Derek's assertion that going
back and forth *should* work is correct) is true, then this is an
unnecessary complication. If you want confirmation, I'd suggest
searching the archives of this forum because, as I said in my previous
post, I think (but do not *know*) that others have successfully gone
from Windows to Linux.

/Don


>
> Laura
>


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