sequential use of Gnucash on multiple computers

[Liz]

On Mon, 20 May 2013 09:14:45 +0000
Steven Hale <email at stevenhale.co.uk> wrote:

> > Date: Sun, 19 May 2013 08:47:40 +0100
> > From: Peter von Kaehne <refdoc at gmx.net>
> > Subject: sequential use of Gnucash on multiple computers
> >
> > All work is done by one user. Up to this point all work was only
> > ever done on one computer. It would be better if we could use
> > several computers - in sequence, not concurrently. There is no
> > likelihood at all that there is even accidental concurrency - as it
> > would be the same user on each computer.
> >
> > I am thinking of setting up something which automatically uploads
> > and downloads onto a shared server, or maybe a dropbox account or
> > something similar.
> 
> Have a look at "subversion".  It is a package intended for sharing
> source code, but I find it just as useful for sharing my gnucash file
> between different computers.
> 
> I simply "checkout" my file on each computer I use.  Then when I've
> made changes I "commit" them back to the central repository, and run
> "update" on any other PC.
> 
> It's best to turn off file compression in gnucash so that it uses
> plain ASCII text XML files.  This way, subversion can see exactly what
> has changed and only commit the differences.  This reduces the
> bandwidth required for each update over the network.  Using subversion
> also has other significant advantages.  It's like an automatic backup
> from one PC to another.  Also, you can checkout old revisions, so if
> you realise you've made a load of mistakes and want to go back to how
> your file was a week ago, that is very easy to do.
> 
> You will need a server somewhere to host your repository.  I use my
> home PC and simply run subversion over ssh.
> 
> > Which files should shared? Just the account files or also some
> > gnucash setup files (i.e. in .gnucash/?)
> 
> You can share just your .xml file.  That's fine.  But I also add
> .gnucash and .gconf/apps/gnucash to my repository so that it also
> stores my preferences.  For example, the account tabs I leave open
> when closing gnucash also get propagated to each other PC.
> 
> I create a subversion repository for pretty much everything I do.  I
> couldn't work without it.
> 
> Steve.

Steve could you write this up for the FAQs?
It makes a lot more sense than a single file shared over the network /
internet.