[GNC] Please address broken QIF import

Thu Apr 25 00:26:59 EDT 2024

While I am uncomfortable with Jim's overall tone, he makes valid points to consider. 

Also, https://code.gnucash.org/builds/win32/releases/gnucash-5.6-1.setup.exe was pushed out a couple of weeks ago and announced as a fix to an import problem, I believe. I admit I don't pay too much attention to discussions about importing, since I stopped using import features a long time ago. Maybe it will remedy your troubles. 

⁣David T. 

On Apr 25, 2024, 3:13 AM, at 3:13 AM, Jim DeLaHunt <list+gnucash at jdlh.com> wrote:
>On 2024-04-23 14:31, Yann Salmon via gnucash-user wrote:
>> Since there is, if I understand correctly, a fix to this major bug, I
>
>> really think a 5.6.1 release would be helpful.… 
>On 2024-04-24 15:24, Yann Salmon via gnucash-user wrote:
>> …the one thing I learned is : you do not break things, and if you do,
>
>> you unbreak them as quickly as possible.…
>>
>> …I would be interested to know the bigger picture that I am obviously
>
>> missing in the decision not to publish a .1 that fixes a regression 
>> (especially on a stable release) and allows Otto Normaluser and his 
>> Grandma to quickly get back on their feet by simpling doing what they
>
>> know and have been educated to do : upgrading their software. 
>
>Oh, I think I can help you see the bigger picture.
>
>Please run a report on your financial records in GnuCash. Look for all 
>the payments you made to the GnuCash developers, in order to have the 
>use of GnuCash software.  If your records are like mine, the total 
>amount will be:
>
>0.00 EUR (approximately 0.00 CAD, 0.00 USD, 0.00 CNY, at current 
>exchange rates)
>
>I suspect that the GnuCash team has spent at least double that amount, 
>and applied it to making a 5.6.1 release. It was sufficient for them to
>
>reach 0% of the way to completion. (I am being sarcastic. I don't know 
>the internals of the GnuCash project.)
>
>Putting aside sarcasm, please remember that the GnuCash developers are 
>volunteers. They are donating their time and expertise to develop 
>GnuCash. There are not many of them. Yet they deliver regular releases,
>
>complete with bug fixes, and ever-increasing capabilities.  The 
>appropriate tone to take with them is one of gratitude.
>
>At the same time, the GnuCash developers have granted you a license to 
>GnuCash's source code. You are permitted to see the source code, to 
>diagnose the problem yourself, and to come up with a fix. If you wish, 
>you can donate the fix back to the GnuCash developers. Or, you could 
>make your own 5.6.1 release with the fix (but this is "forking", and
>you 
>should give the new software a different name).  If you own skills do 
>not extend to diagnosing and fixing the problem, you are free to hire a
>
>skilled software engineer, and have them diagnose, fix, and release a 
>version of the software for you. If you want to pay the software 
>engineer for an extended time, so that they can build up a relationship
>
>with the GnuCash developers, they might be able to take on the task of 
>making bug-fix releases. It could be your contribution to GnuCash. 
>Please, go right ahead!
>
>However, you may discover that this costs you more in time and money 
>than the 0.00 EUR which you have paid for GnuCash so far.
>
>Best regards,
>      —Jim DeLaHunt
>
>
>On 2024-04-24 15:24, Yann Salmon via gnucash-user wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> Le 23/04/2024 à 23:48, David Carlson a écrit :
>>> Sir,
>>>
>>> In my experience most financial institutions that offer QIF exports 
>>> also offer OFX format which will often go under a similar name.
>>
>> Alas, a hundred times alas, not always. Not in France, at least. They
>
>> should…
>>
>> I was able, however, to use <https://github.com/georggrab/qif2ofx>. I
>
>> had to reverse all transactions (which is easier to do in the QIF, 
>> btw) because my bank seems to directly produce a QIF for my point of 
>> view while GnuCash seems to expect a QIF with transactions from the 
>> bank's point of view, but that is another story.
>>
>>
>>> If you need the QIF format then you will probably be stuck either 
>>> waiting for the 5.7 windows release or reverting either to an
>earlier 
>>> 5 series or maybe even 4 series if you have an older Linux based 
>>> machine as I do.
>>
>> Even though the Gnucash team has been releasing new versions at a 
>> steady and formidable rythm of one every 3 to 4 months, that still 
>> makes 4 months of non-working QIF import — downgrading is really not
>a 
>> straightforward route as software managers, for good reasons, make 
>> upgrading software easy and downgrading it harder (and one would have
>
>> to get the idea of doing so).
>>
>> While I admit I am not and have never been trained to be a software 
>> project manager, I did write some (extremely) modest pieces of 
>> software that are used by some other people, and the one thing I 
>> learned is : you do not break things, and if you do, you unbreak them
>
>> as quickly as possible.
>>
>> People can be patient with a desired functionnality not being present
>
>> yet, or even a new functionnality being buggy from its start, but not
>
>> when something that had been working, and that they are thus using, 
>> stops working. It disrupts their workflow, it may mean that something
>
>> they had to do by some date, and that they were expecting to do with 
>> the software, suddenly cannot be done as planned anymore : all in
>all, 
>> it makes the software look unreliable — if faults appear today, and 
>> are not fixed, then more and bigger faults could appear tomorrow. And
>
>> I think this is especially true for a software like GnuCash that is 
>> important to users because it is usually great at doing important 
>> things like accountancy.
>>
>> I would be interested to know the bigger picture that I am obviously 
>> missing in the decision not to publish a .1 that fixes a regression 
>> (especially on a stable release) and allows Otto Normaluser and his 
>> Grandma to quickly get back on their feet by simpling doing what they
>
>> know and have been educated to do : upgrading their software.
>>
>> -- 
>> Cordialement,
>>
>> Yann Salmon
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