Using Gnucash from multiple computers?

[Buddha Buck]

On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 2:07 PM, Sean Clarke <seanchk at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a desktop box and 2 laptops all running Linux Mint.
>
> I do a fair amount of traveling often for long stretches of time,  so would
> like to have the data files on Dropbox or Google Drive so I can access my
> accounts no matter where I am or which of my laptops I'm using.
>
> I don't want to be limited to only doing my accounts from one machine.  I
> will however only be using Gnucash on one machine at a time.
>

I have a desktop box at home, a desktop box at work, a desktop box at my
Makerspace, and a laptop, running a mix of Ubuntu, Debian, and Windows.
Dropbox works great for using GnuCash on the same accounts on all of them.

Some caveats:

1) GnuCash trails behind log and backup files, which should be cleaned up
periodically. I have a folder for each GnuCash file I use, so that the logs
and backups are all in that folder, not mixed in with all my other files.
These will get put on Dropbox/Google Drive as well, if that's an issue.

2) Your security of your financial records is limited to the security of
Dropbox/Google Drive. If you are concerned about unauthorized people
reading your books, you may wish to rethink that strategy. A more secure
alternative would be a USB flash-drive on your keychain.

3) The multi-machine issue does not just affect multi-users. It also
affects the "did I remember to quit GnuCash at home?" situation. Luckily,
the lock-file helps catch that, but it will mean that you may have to go to
the other machine that has it open to close it before you can open it on
the machine you want.

4) The multi-machine issue is complicated by the Dropbox synching issue.
Sometimes, especially in areas of limited net connectivity, you may end up
with stale files in your local Dropbox folder, leading to Dropbox merge
conflicts. This will lead to trying to untangle things. Luckily,
transactions will not be lost, just spread between different files, so you
won't have to remember details you thought were recorded.