[GNC] New User: initial help getting up and running

[Eric Chapman]

Hello, Jim,

Thanks for your response, and thank you to the others who responded! I 
appreciate it a lot!

Below in blue are my answers & comments.

Eric

On 12/18/22 15:53, Jim DeLaHunt wrote:
> On 2022-12-18 12:20, Eric Chapman wrote:
>
> Tell me, what gives you the impression that GnuCash "is for Intel Macs 
> only"? Maybe we can reword whatever is giving you that false 
> impression, to make it clearer.
>
The section on the "Supported Platforms" made me wonder if M1 Macs were 
supported (from the README.TXT file in the Mac .dmg package):

BTW, I do not yet have a Mac with M1 or M2 processor. Just thinking it 
may happen… If one has an M1 or M2 Mac, does he/she use the same .dmg 
file to install GnuCash that I referenced? If so, then I think the file 
name should be changed, and perhaps the info in the README.TXT file 
could be edited. If I already had had an M1 or M2 Mac when I started 
researching this, I might not have even looked any further and just 
taken those two things to mean it would not work on my M_ machine.

If it is the fact that the installer is named 
"Gnucash-Intel-4.12-1.dmg", that name does not indicate that Gnucash 
works _only_ on Macs with intel processors. The word "intel" has 
technical and historical meanings. It was compiled using the machine 
code of intel processors, but the magic of macOS allows M1 and M2 Macs 
to run the machine code of intel processors, in addition to the machine 
code of M1 and M2 processors.
>> (2) I read much of the README.TXT file. With the .dmg file I 
>> downloaded install everything I need or do the instructions under 
>> "Dependencies" and "Building and Installing" mean that I have to 
>> start with getting all that stuff on the Mac first?
>
> The README.TXT comes from a history of software distributed as source 
> code, which recipients must build first before being able to run.  But 
> when you download "GnuCash for Mac", you are getting "precompiled 
> binaries". That is, you get a Mac app which is all ready to go.  The 
> README.TXT file does not really tell you how to install this.
>
> GnuCash as distributed for Mac is a Mac app. Install it like you 
> install other Mac apps: open the .dmg file, see a window containing an 
> icon named something ".app", and drag that icon to your Applications 
> folder. Then double-click on that Gnucash.app icon within your 
> Applications folder.
>
>> (3) Is there a "New User Guide" somewhere on the web that can be 
>> accessed? Tutorials?
>
> Then consider how familiar you feel with the basics of double-entry 
> bookkeeping. GnuCash relies on double-entry, whereas other bookkeeping 
> packages try to hide it. If you feel underprepared, read up on basic 
> accounting a bit. Wikipedia's 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping#Accounting_entries> 
> is a good place to start. Maybe get an tutorial book on accounting.
>
> Do you work with an accountant?
Yes, but I do not work with a programmer, and I'm not one. I have no 
problem with the accounting, it's the programs that give me grief. I 
learned accounting about the time personal computers were showing up :) 
I never have learned programming.
>
> Then run GnuCash, make a test book purely for experimentation, and 
> start entering some of your typical transactions.  Try things. Fail. 
> Learn. Then start over again with a new book for your real bookkeeping.

I am quite familiar with double entry accounting, but I have been using 
Quicken for Windows in a VMs for a long time. I've got some bookkeeping 
to do for a new non-profit, and I may move our personal stuff from 
Quicken over to whatever app I choose.