[GNC] Best way to upgrade from an old version (2.6.14) to current

Fri Jan 8 18:03:03 EST 2021

First, I just know enough about computers to be dangerous.  So I am ultra
conservative about going in over my head trying to stay near the (b)leading
edge of technology.  Like you I have been using GnuCash since very early in
the 2.something days sometime after it was ported to Windows.

That said, I recognized early on that the transition from GTK-2 to GTK-3
was going to be a challenge for the GnuCash developers, and I wanted to
stay out of that issue until they had paved most of the bumps in that
road.  Unfortunately, Release 2.6.19 runs very slowly for me and 3.8 is
still pretty sluggish.   I ran both in parallel for a few months.
Considering their limited resources, the developers are doing a phenomenal
job.

Now Linux technology has started to move away from PPA protocols toward
Flatpack or possibly other alternatives that I still feel need more
development before I am ready to jump from GnuCash 3.8 to 4.4 or beyond.
Reading the tales of woe here and on the developer mail list with flatpacks
and particularly with building the program from source in various flavors
of Linux has me sitting on the sidelines for now.

I wish GnuCash developers would look for ways to port GnuCash seriously
over to Android or whatever to run nicely on tablets or smartphones, as
they seem to be replacing PC's for many users.  I will be personally
continuing to use a PC for many years yet.

On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 3:53 PM D. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> David,
>
> I don't understand; could you explain what exactly is taking such a long
> time to upgrade? I've been using Gnucash for, like, 15 years, and the
> upgrade process (across multiple major versions [I believe I started around
> 2.0.5 or so], using multiple installation methods [anyone remember fink?],
> and multiple operating systems [MacOS and then Windows]) has never taken
> particularly long. So, I'm curious what is causing you such troubles.
>
> David T.
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> From: David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Fri Jan 08 12:34:48 EST 2021
> To: Tfastle <tfastle at aol.com>
> Cc: Gnucash Users <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
> Subject: Re: [GNC] Best way to upgrade from an old version (2.6.14) to
> current
>
> Tfastle,
>
> I am currently at release 3.8, half way through the process of migrating
> from 2.6.xx to 4.4.  I can tell you that the migration is very time
> consuming and it looks like it is going to be a challenge to take the step
> from 3.8 to 4.4 in a Linux OS.
>
> If you are contemplating running GnuCash in Windows, which you may be,
> since Quicken runs in Windows, skipping intermediate steps and starting
> with release 4.4 might be the best option.
>
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 10:53 AM Tfastle via gnucash-user <
> gnucash-user at gnucash.org> wrote:
>
> > A few years back I was going to switch from using Quicken to GnuCash.  I
> > downloaded and spent a fair amount of time reading about GnuCash and
> > getting
> > my Quicken Account imported.  For me, it was a bit of a learning curve
> and
> > a
> > lack of time thwarted my effort.  I now hope to make the move for good.
> >
> > My plan is to initially run GnuCash on my old laptop which is where I
> have
> > the 2.6.14 version now and concurrently run Quicken on my new laptop
> > (basically entering all the same transactions) until I feel comfortable
> and
> > adept enough to abandon Quicken.  I really only use Quicken as a
> glorified
> > register and tool to balance my main checking account but do have over 20
> > years of those transactions with regard to it.  The file I have in
> GnuCash
> > from my attempt a few years ago was imported from Quicken and represented
> > where that account was at that time.  That GnuCash file is not of any
> value
> > or importance so abandoning it is an option and no problem at all.
> >
> > So my questions are:
> >
> > Should I "update" to the most current stable version of GnuCash or
> should I
> > just uninstall ver 2.6.14 and start over with the current stable version
> > and
> > then import my current Quicken file? I suspect this is the best route to
> go
> > but, if for some reason updating is better, how might I best go about
> that?
> >
> > I tried to figure this from reading various post online but it was pretty
> > confusing.  It appeared that files save in older versions often don't run
> > in
> > newer versions so, to "update" (if it's even possible) I would need to go
> > through a series of updates to get current and still have my file read.
> >  If
> > I end up just starting over then I don't really care about that from a
> > "getting to current" perspective but it does bring one question to mind.
> > Once using the current version of GC how to avoid the problem of updating
> > but not being able to read your file from the prior version?  Is it just
> a
> > matter of updating in a timely manner as new stable versions become
> > available and then your prior version file will always be able to be
> read?
> > I have to assume this is the case but would like to know before I put the
> > effort in to making this switch.  I intend to use it for a long time and
> > would hate to one day just be out of luck but (I can't imagine that would
> > ever be the case).
> >
> > Lastly, it looks like the most recent stable release is 4.4, is that
> what I
> > should start with (or end up with via upgrade(s) )?
> >
> > Sorry for how long this is or for being so ignorant on the subject.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Sent from:
> http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/GnuCash-User-f1415819.html
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>
> --
> David Carlson
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-- 
David Carlson