Coding

Don't get me wrong... I love a bargain as much as the next guy or girl.

What I don't like however is when a computer system is implemented with little regard and isn't actively checked by a human.
It's one way to make your company look like a jack-ass.

Sorry Woolworths - you've landed yourself in such a category.

Most Australian supermarket shoppers are aware of the fuel discounts offered by Coles and Woolworths, which can slice anything from $0.03 - $0.20 per litre of the cost of your fuel. Something that's always welcome by motorists.

It's the only reason I have an everyday rewards card. Fuel discounts add up over time, even more so for myself, as I drive with LPG the majority of the time, so $0.20 off per litre on LPG is quite substantial.

During the months of April and May Woolies decided that for 8 weeks straight I would like to buy wine. I'm not talking 1 bottle either. Most 'deals' require a purchase of 6 or more bottles in a given purchase.

A sample of the Email contents is included below:

To be honest, I love a good drop of red. Probably more so than the average punter. (We normally have a few dozen on hand in the house). At the end of March I had let our stocks go down over a period of time so had restocked. This seems to have triggered their rewards system to pester me for the next 8 weeks straight. No fuel offers (which was the main selling point of the card), nor any other offer... just grog.

At 6 bottles minimum per Email over 8 weeks, anyone reading my Email from Woolworths, would think I'm an alcoholic!

The crazy thing... It backfired.
I didn't buy any wine during that period. (As I had just restocked my levels.) This form of marketing happens 'after the fact', and as such it fails. If I have already made a bulk purchase, why would I wish to repeat it shortly after, and every week for a period of 8 weeks?

Woolworths reward system needs looking at. (As does Coles for that matter). It would be more beneficial to flag such bulk purchases of your customers, then look at sending it out 'specials' say every 3,6 or 12 months... you're likely to have a bigger uptake. I can't see my car dealership sending out a "buy a brand new car" Emails if I had just taken delivery of a new vehicle.

Certainly for everyday staples, it would be nice to have these filter through regularly. However don't see these, like 25% off either Meat, Fruit or Vegies for a week. It seems to be items like Coca-Cola, Alcohol and other non-essentials. I'm not surprised though... the supermarkets know we need staples.. and are trying to increase our trolley sizes by teasing us into buying these non-basic item.

Certainly I do hope that Woolworths and Coles both learn that their average shopper has the intelligence above that of a broken trolley wheel, as the current marketing strategies to date are quite insulting.

I think we can all attest to the phenomenon known as the Teddy Bear troubleshooting.

I think we all probably need our own Teddy Bears in each of our human office box cubicles or work desks.

So next time you need to do some serious troubleshooting or some heavy lifting when debugging - try pulling out the Teddy Bear.
Even better, you can hug something after it's solved!

Often changelogs have important information on why a package was updated. Other times, they are just humorous:

tzdata (2009n-0ubuntu0.9.04.1) jaunty-proposed; urgency=low

* Add argentinas-dst-2009.diff: Disable DST switch for Argentina tomorrow,
as the Argentina government decided yesterday. Careful planning is boring.
Thanks to Margarita Manterola for the patch! (LP: #453165)

-- Martin Pitt Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:22:39 +0200

Ever wondered why PulseAudio sucks so bad?

Sick of the multiple Audio stacks in Linux? (OSS/ALSA/PulseAudio).
Ever wanted to make sense of items like JACK,ESD,aRts and NAS or just confused with either GStreamer or xine?

Here is a clever overview of the sound systems that is Linux. (click the image for a larger view)/

Linux audio like it or not is a mess. Multiple layers providing the same functionality. It's a house of cards that often falls down.
Things have been hidden well in OSS/ALSA and it's not until demanding audio like HD codecs have started to make their way across that some of these issues are starting to be uncovered (the infamous 'popping' sounds).

PulseAudio has been poking and pushing ALSA in recent times, and as a result unearthed a number of issues.

I'm hopefully eventually we'll get to a single, simple but powerful audio stack. I'm not holding my breath though.

In Australia Internet users are limited to the amount they may download. Each Internet Service plan normally involves a speed and download limit. Failing to keep an eye on this and exceed your limit normally effects the user in question either by: Paying exorbitant excess fees that can be as much as $150/GB! Being 'throttled' by your ISP, in effect turning your lovely xDSL/Cable connection into something slower than dial-up. As you can image, most people wish to avoid these. As a result ISPs provide a usage meter normally on their site, however you have to remember to view it, which unless you're diligent in doing so, you can still run over your quota. Previously I've relied on the fabulous Firefox extension NetUsage, however this meant you had to have a browser open. This isn't always the case, and I found it frustrating to have to load a browser just to check my usage. (I could just login to the ISP's usage meter if I had a browser open). I've seen others produce mrtg graphs and even Cacti graphs to display their usage; however they too also rely on having a browser open. Ideally, I want to have my usage available, when I wanted, and without loading a browser. I use conky on my desktop to display a range of information. It seemed a logical step would be to integrate a meter into my conky setup. As you can see from the graph in the picture to the left, it displays a raw percentage of what has been used, as well as a visual bar graph. Below that is the raw data, showing exactly how much I've downloaded (~11.5GB), what my ISP believes my quota to be (55GB in this case), and when this billing period ends (the 13th of every month). I can now view my current Internet usage at a glance, without the need to load any additional program. So how did I achieve it? Like many ISPs, my ISP provides an interface to the raw data. This is used by 3rd party utilities like NetUsage and others to parse and generate the information. Internode (my ISP) has such an interface. A quick and dirty script and I was able to spit out the graph in a format conky liked. Whilst this works directly with Internode, similiar ISPs have such interfaces and you will be able to hack the script to suit your own environment.

Below is the simple bash shell script used to generate the data:
#!/bin/bash

# Get usage information from Internode's web page.
# Setup to run once every half hour.
#

# Set the username and password
Username=INTERNODE_USERNAME
Password=INTERNODE_PASSWORD

# Grab the details
Temp=`wget -q -O - --post-data "username=${Username}&password=${Password}" --user-agent="Conky ISP Quota Grabber 0.1" https://customer-webtools-api.internode.on.net/cgi-bin/padsl-usage`

# Generate the percent used.
echo $Temp|gawk '{print $1/$2*100}'> /tmp/node-graph.txt
Percent=`cat /tmp/node-graph.txt`
echo $(printf %.0f $Percent) > /tmp/node-percent.txt

# Break up the values into their respective parts
Values=($Temp)
echo "Used: $(printf %.0f ${Values[0]})MB Quota: ${Values[1]}MB Period Ends: ${Values[2]}" > /tmp/node-text.txt

# Time to leave.
exit

Sure it's not the most secure script (It stores your username/password in plain text). For me, the script sits on my desktop machine... and is protected by file permissions. The password I use for my ISP I also don't consider highly sensative. (It's important to note that most people throw around their password in clear-text across the Internet when picking up their mail with POP3! ). It does however do the job.

The above shell script I run every 30 minutes from cron.

It is then up to your ~/.conkyrc file to display the results. Here is the snippet of the appropriate code for the ~/.conkyrc file that will do that for you:

${color orange}INTERNET USAGE ${hr 2}$color
${execi 900 cat /tmp/node-percent.txt}% ${execibar 900 cat /tmp/node-graph.txt}
${execi 900 cat /tmp/node-text.txt}

There you have it, a simple ISP usage meter sitting right on your desktop.
It's not the most elegant or complicated program, however it serves it's purpose extremely well. YMMV.

We timed our move into our new house well. We were in need of purchasing quite a number of items (some required, some just geeky fun toys). We had held out quite a bit over the past year, so it was time to do a bit of splurging. With the post-Christmas sales well under way (and most now continuing throughout all of January) we've managed to get some good prices on a number of items.

Over the weekend it was a 2nd couch, as well as a new office desk for me (a nice 2nd-hand desk that looks brand new!)

The couch will take 6 weeks to make (in the fabric/colours of our choosing -- so we'll see that come the end of February.

The desk is pretty neat, it's the equivalent of two desks side by side, so two people could work comfortably on it... however, it's also the perfect desk for a decent multi-monitor set-up, room for my work lappy, and a range of other gadgets to be within arms reach. The desk is 2100cm wide by 900cm deep. It even came with a matching 3-drawer mobile pedestal, which I'm sure I'll only fill with junk eventually It's the perfect height too to place (eventually) a nice networked laser printer on top of.

We already have a Lexmark c534dn, though it's in Pauline's office (up the other end of the house). I won't need anything near as flash, and a monochrome duplex networked laser printer will do fine (any tips on one that works well with Linux is welcome - none of those crazy MFPs please!)
Current thinking has me looking at a HP LaserJet (which model -- I don't know).

I will take some photos in the next few days so show the layout. It really is a fantastic desk and I'm really happy with the result. (It's amazing it's 2nd-hand, you would think it's new; no scratches, bumps/dents, or even chips out of it). It had a few stickers, but a quick wipe with some Jiff and it's as good as new.

Whilst setting up my new office, I took the liberty to purchase a decent wall mounted whiteboard (1200mmx900mm). Now that's up and in place, it's feeling like a work environment. I still have to hang pictures on the wall, but I'll get to that over the next week (I have to hang the majority of them around the house - to date I've only got the wall clocks up!). Pauline must be thankful now we both have our own offices (I'm sure I drove her made with my MP3s, and leg shaking antics!). Luckily we use Asterisk and Snom VOIP phones so she's only a call away (too far away to yell out to though in this damn house!)

---

That saw us through the weekend. Monday we decided to go purchase a GPS navigation system, (whilst the Nokia Maps on our N95 8GB phone is 'okay' -- the idea of the hefty subscription fees to keep the navigation voice active wasn't too appealing).

Strangely, we didn't get the navigation system (they didn't have it in stock, but at another store). However I did leave with a Surround Sound System (much to Pauline's shock!) The Logitech Z-5500 is a dream. It's the only words I can use to describe it. Hooked up to my MythTV machine, it's just flawless.

This morning I needed to head out and find an alternate broadband solution to ADSL (more on that tomorrow), and picked up our new GPS navigation unit. I settled on a Garmin nüvi 760. It's got a nice FM transmitter (so you can actually hear the directions over your car stereo system), bluetooth (look up address, and ring individual on your bluetooth phone), as well as a handy picture viewer and MP3 player (also able to be transmitted via FM radio). Map-wise it's got the latest maps (2009), and I can apparently get free map updates. (Woot!) One thing I like about the voice navigation, is that it actually tells you the street name not just 'right in 300 metres'. It also has all the school crossings listed (I don't want to skittle a school kid!), as well as informs you of the advertised speed limit (hopefully that saves me tickets!). The unit is much zippier than other makes I've seen on the market and actually quite responsive.

Those that don't know, many of Garmin's products actually run Linux. They have released much of the source code for those products, and are developer friendly. So a little hacking of the little beastie may be in order. They also provide an SDK to write your own apps. (That's neat!). One thing I do like, is I can import Google Maps locations/routes straight to my GPS unit.

So with all these new toys, don't expect me to surface any time soon.

I was appalled after reading the rather rash statements made by Jim Zemlin the Executive director of the Linux Foundation.

His rather bizarre statements against Sun (who is also a silver member of the Foundation) must have left many execs in Santa Clara scratching their heads and wanting some answers.
What's worse is the story originally ran in InfoWorld, then was picked up by the New York Times. Other notable online sites also ran with it, including Slashdot and LWN to mention just two.

Lets look at some of the statements the Exec Director of the Foundation made:

1. "The future is Linux and Microsoft Windows, it is not Unix or Solaris."


2. Solaris has almost no new deployments and is a legacy operating environment offered by a company with financial difficulties. Original equipment manufacturers also do not see a bright future for Solaris. This was paraphrased and not a direct quote.


3. Sun, he declared, should just move over to Linux.


4. "It's certainly true that Unix is on the decline." - Discussing IBM AIX and HP-UX


5. "The only people I hear talk about DTrace [Solaris's technology for assessing program and OS behaviours] and ZFS [the Zettabyte File System] as competitive features [are] Sun Microsystems sales representatives. It's not something I believe is impacting the market in any way."


6. "...With capabilities such as ZFS and DTrace, Sun is trying to compete based on minor features", Zemlin says. "That's literally like noticing the view from a third-story building as it burns to the ground."


7. Zemlin, on Sun's open-source Solaris as "too little, too late." He also goes on to claim that there is no real open source community around OpenSolaris, arguing that Sun still controls development


8. Open Solaris is no more than an attempt to expand the Solaris user base to drive customers to commercial Sun technology.

Seriously where does the guy get off?

Looking at his profile on the Linux Foundation it doesn't instil a level of confidence.
A former Exec at Free Standards Group (who with the OSDL merged to become the Linux Foundation). He was also VP of Marketing of Colavent Technologies (basically a crowd that sold commercial Apache support amongst other things). In 2000 he was a board member of Corio an ASP, that had an IPO then was sold off in chunks. IBM retains the http://www.corio.com/ URL.

So, from my reading he's got quite a bit of marketing/exec background for web-based application servers.... beyond that, I don't see any real technical prowless. He's a marketing suit that appears to shoot from the hip.

Let's review some of his "quick-draws":

• The future is Linux and Windows?
  
  WTF?! Did you take crack before taking the interview?
  
  Sure as the exec. director of The Linux Foundation we expect you to come out and say "Linux is the future" - but to throw Microsoft in the mix -- you have to be kidding me.
  
  Look at general stall that Microsoft has had with Vista. They have forced OEMs to install it, and even some of the larger ones now have kicked back and offer corporations and high-end consumer devices the option of Windows XP instead.



• No major deployments of Solaris... and disliked by the OEMS.
  
  That must be news to both IBM and Dell, who offer OpenSolaris on their x86 series servers.
  
  As for a company in 'financial trouble' this is an extract of the letter to shareholders attached to their latest Annual Report /10-K filing to the SEC (Read it online here).
  
  I've included a screenshot the opening paragraph of the letter:
  
  
  That doesn't sound like a company in 'financial trouble' to me.
  
  You can see this on their Consolidated Statements Of Operations



• The decline of Unix (Solaris, HP-UX, AIX).
  
  It's interesting to note that all of these make hardware as well as an operating system. These systems normally scale much larger than that of a traditional Linux server (excluding clusters). Take a look at Sun's M9000, IBM's p5 595 and HP's HP-9000 Superdome Server. These computers can replace dozens of Intel based servers and thus are not something companies run out and buy dozens of. (well normally!) Interestingly... both HP and IBM are also Platinum Members of the Linux Foundation. With a Platinum membership of $500,000USD each. How's that for biting the hand that feeds you (literally in Zemlin's case).
  
  The I/O throughput and disk-subsystems available for these machines normally far outstrip that of anything under Intel/Linux range.
  


• ZFS, Sun Zones/Containers and DTrace.
  
  Seriously you jest Mr Zemlin?
  
  Linux virtualization is still a mish-mash under heavy development. (take Xen, KVM, LVS and even Sun's VirtualBox)... I wouldn't class as enterprise ready. Hell, even VMWare that started in Linux roots, has moved over onto their own kernel. Zones and Containers under Solaris are much neater and better suited to an enterprise environment.
  
  As for ZFS -- Linux has no mainstream file-system that competes. The size of volumes and the ease of use leaves ext3 behind. Even the upcoming ext4 has no real claims over ZFS. For large scale filesystems, ZFS has it over native Linux filesystems.
  
  DTrace - ask any administrator of 100's of Linux servers if they think DTrace is a minor thing? Sure Systemtap is nice, but the comparison of Systemtap to DTrace still shows some deficiencies. Being able to trace safely on production systems is a requirement for something that can be used in the real world. Add to it the ability to trace user-space programs and DTrace does indeed have some features many SysAdmins discuss and would love to see under Linux.
  
  


• Sun's open source Solaris 'too little-too late'. No community, still controlled by Sun.
  
  Wow... I wonder if he would make the same statement if Microsoft released their OS as open-source? Open-Solaris is a community site, though Sun still controls it. There is nothing wrong with that. It's their baby, and they can do with it what they like.
  
  Sun is still a large OSS backer.... remember products like MySQL, Innotek/VirtualBox, and hey, they even OpenSourced Java.
  
  Sun have shareholders to consider, and they need to make a return on their investments / R&D. I don't really have anything bad to say about the CDDL. It makes sense for them... and hey something is better than nothing. What I find hilarious is that many Linux advocates will bag the CDDL, but love Mozilla. Wake up people... the CDDL is based on the MPL! The CDDL is also recognised as a license under the OSI.
  
  


• Open Solaris attempts to drive customers to commercial Sun technology
  
  Actually most of the people I've come across it are already using the commercial Solaris or wish to learn Solaris. OpenSolaris is a nice way they can install it at home and come familiar with the environment outside of work at their own pace. It makes sense that they can utilise the same operating system in their work-place and in the comforts of their own home.
  
  

For me, I'm a fan of Linux. I love the breadth of software available to me, the rich and colourful community around it. I have grown up watching Linux (I first compiled up an 0.54 kernel on a lowly 286). My servers and desktops/laptops all run Linux.

Having said that, I learnt *NIX on SunOS and later Solaris. It has it's place, even in today's world.
I agree, the low-end UNIX servers are often replaced by Linux servers, yet there is nothing really in the Linux space that competes with the high-end UNIX environments.

A lot of what we see in Linux has it's roots in commercial UNIX. (Hell, who has networked file systems in their environment that doesn't use Sun's NFS?)

So take some advice from a Linux admin at the coal face. Linux co-exists well in a heterogeneous environment, sharing the space with commercial UNIXes and even those annoying Windows servers.

If you need to beat up a 'Server OS' next time Zemlin, try attacking Microsoft (Hint: they are not a member of the Linux Foundation).

Linux servers have probably dented more Windows server sales then that of commercial UNIX. Samba has played a large role in that.

Exchange is probably the last bastion of Microsoft dominance. With the amount of Exchange 'replacements' now on the go that run under Linux (ie: PostPath, Zafara, OpenGroupWare, Scalix and Open-Xchange to name just a small fraction of those available. ) It's likely more inroads into the proprietary walls of Microsoft are now showing cracks in many corporations. Many IT managers are struggling to justify the outrageous price they get slugged for Microsoft Exchange, and these cheaper and feature-rich alternatives are often fractions of the cost if not free.

So next time you attempt to speak for the 'Linux Community' Jim Zemlin, try actually speaking to some Linux administrators that live in the Fortune 500 world. We aren't all hippies yelling 'free OS love'. In fact we happily co-exist with commercial *NIX and sometimes even Windows servers (much to our disgust).

Leave your "Us vs Them" mentality at your door, it's not a view held by a large proportion of the Linux community. Indeed many Linux administrators actually also administer other commercial *NIX machines in their day-to-day jobs. There are more similarities between the commercial *NIX flavours and Linux than not.

We do realise it's part of the Foundation's role to 'promote Linux', but keep the mud-slinging and crap out of it. Let Linux stand on it's own technical merits and not at the detriment of dragging another 'cousin' down in the process. We see enough of this style of 'marketing' from Microsoft that we don't need to stoop to the same levels.

---

_{Disclaimer:
• I work commercially as a Linux System Administrator at a Fortune-500 company.
• I have however administered a large range of *NIX based operating systems over the years... including Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Tru64, and IRIX just to mention a few of the more 'known' variants.
• My home desktop and all my servers run Linux. Many that know me think I'm a one-eyed Linux zealot!
• I have no affiliations with Sun Microsystems at all.
• The views and opinions expressed by some members of The Linux Foundation are not mine.}

Ask any small business owner in Australia what drives them craziest running their business.
More often then not the answer will be their accounting software.

Why? It's not because they are unable to understand the principles of double-entry accounting or even the tax system imposed on them.

No, its the lack of a decent, flexible and affordable solution.

The two most popular business accounting packages for the SME is either MYOB and QuickBooks. Both have huge hurdles, and it's not uncommon for users to find that they spend more time attempting to work the software than the software working for them.

I have previously blogged about the issue when talking about how Linux is difficult for many Aussie SMEs to take up. (Mainly due to their critical accounting software only available under Windows, though it is possible to run them under WINE if required). Though getting these Windows programs running under Linux doesn't actually solve the problem, it just migrates it. You are still stuck attempting to drive these frustrating accounting packages.

The Australian market is crying out for an alternative! It's something I've pondered over for some time.

An OSS based accounting and payroll system that put the source code directly in the hands of the users would be appealing to many.

I like the idea of a browser-based accounting system. It means end-users aren't restricted to one operating system platform, and in theory it doesn't need to be restricted to just a computer. (3G Accounting anyone?).

Accounting isn't fun, in fact it's dead-pan boring. It is however a required evil if you wish to be paid and be compliant with the taxation law. (Particularly GST, BAS reporting and PAYG).

I've looked at programs like SQL-Ledger and LedgerSMB, though both didn't 'fit right' for an Australian environment.

SYMBOL was promising. But unfortunately has been abandoned. fiveDASH, I played with for several hours, though I found it quite primitive and in it's infancy... it's one that at least has some promise, but it will need to progress quite some way to make it in any real production system for a business.

As such, I've decided to look at writing my own. This is purely selfish, as I would like to ditch MYOB come the 2009-2010 financial year. That gives me just under a year to get something up and running. I'll run a dummy book up til the time, by running MYOB in parallel to ensure all is working as required. The ATO also has some excellent test suites/scenarios to assist in testing an application.

The big choice now is from what components should I build it?

I think PostgreSQL is probably the most solid OSS database to use, though writing something that can also talk to MySQL (due to it's popularity) is probably also wise. End-users can then elect to run whichever they feel most comfortable for their backend.

I considered many languages, but I'm leaning towards PHP for a few reasons:

• Most SMB that have a Linux server for File and Print serving also have a LAMP environment already setup.
• Writing the system using say the Zend Framework ensures a lot of the ground work is already done. Working within their coding standards also ensures the code is reasonably clean and readable (and thus maintainable).
• Python was also considered, but it's more likely a SMB has a Apache/PHP environment over an Apache/Python setup
• I already have quite a number of generic PHP libraries that will mean I can get moving much faster. My Python libraries are no-where as extensive.
• A Java-based web app would be an overkill and likely to confuse many small business owners. (ie: Install a Java Application Server, etc.)
• SugarCRM is already popular in many SMBs. It would be quite easy to have an Accounting + Payroll package integrate into SugarCRM. Sugar is written in PHP, so it would make the job much easier if they both spoke the same language.

I haven't commenced any coding to date, and am still in the embryo stage of getting something up off the ground.

I'm interested to hear people's feedback with their thoughts. Do you think a PHP application (backended by your choice of MySQL or PostgreSQL) for your business accounts is feasible? (Obviously if 'approved' by the ATO as compliant).

Do SMB owners prefer the option of paid software with support packs? (like offered by MYOB and Quicken) they can fall back on? Would you not trust your business books to an OSS based accounting package? What other hurdles do you envisage if you used OSS accounting software?

I've been hearing ramblings on a few blogs about a little app called Terminator. (No it isn't Arnie hitting ya desktop), but in fact a terminal program that can do split screens and a bunch of other funky stuff.

Here's the blurb straight from the Terminator website:

Terminator is an attempt to maximise useful space on a given desktop for terminals. I’m a sysadmin by trade, so I live in ssh sessions and thus terminals. An extra line here and there over all those hours seems like it’s worth trying for.

Much of the behaviour of Terminator is based on GNOME Terminal, and we are adding more features from that as time goes by, but we also want to extend out in different directions with useful features for sysadmins and other users. If you have any suggestions, please file wishlist bugs!

It can be found in the Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) repositories, and the Debian Sid repositories.

If you're running those distros, you can just click here to install terminator

Those still stuck on Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy) can also install it. Just add the following lines your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnome-terminator/ubuntu gutsy main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/gnome-terminator/ubuntu gutsy main restricted universe multiverse

Once done run the following: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install terminator

NB: For Gutsy users, you will get a warning that there is no authentication on the package. As it's from the ppa area, that's quite normal.

The next version 0.9 is supposed to also have tabs and some other nice goodies like drag n drop... (take a peep over here)

One thing I've found is that I like the extra real-estate. No annoying menu to get in the way. I use a lot of keyboard short cuts (like Ctrl_+, Ctrl_- and Ctrl_0 to resize the font sizes). I've found most of the Gnome shortcuts work.

Even better, it seems to be less of a memory hog than what the default Gnome Terminal is.

The developer is breaking the bonds that hold it to Gnome, so in theory you should be able to use it on other Window Managers like KDE, Enlightenment, etc in the not too distant future.

And now, for the sample screen shot!

Well it appears I'm hooked. I'm looking forward to 0.90 but for mind, the current version does all I need. (Small, efficient and easier to view multiple screens in one window).

If you haven't used it, give it a try you'll be glad you did!

There are many reasons people are stuck on Windows.

For small businesses the main reason is their accounting software.
Like it or not, since the introduction of GST and BAS the days of the shoe-box accounting have disappeared. Every business that wants to keep accurate financial records requires an computerized accounting system.

In Australia, The introduction of GST and BAS has made it difficult for these same people to move over to Linux.
The two most popular Small Business Accounting packages are MYOB and QuickBooks. Both products support the Australian market and handle submissions to the ATO.

Many small businesses look for software that can handle base accounting (less then 25 invoices a week) and an integrated simple payroll module that can pay their employees (1-5 typically).

Both QuickBooks and MYOB operate as closed-source commercial software that runs on Windows (and on Mac - in the case of MYOB). They also integrate heavily into Microsoft Office.

Both business models expect customers to fork our between $500 - $800 for the initial purchase, and anywhere from $200- $500 annually to get 'updates'. For any small business this is a hefty investment just to keep up with the legal requirements of running their business. Calling for support can also attract additional fees on top of the yearly retainer.

As such, many are fearful to move on, but have a love-hate relationship with their accounting software provider. They feel cheated and ripped off (and rightly so). This duopoly has created a handsome cash-cow for both software makers.

The current extortion model used by MYOB and Quicken is best explained by Turbo Cash's explaination (a GPL Windows Accounting package). Unfortunately TurboCash is Windows software and contains no Australian payroll module.

Unfortunately, I am yet to see an OSS Linux accounting software that handles all the features required for an Australian business:

1. Handles Australian Taxation - including GST and BAS reporting/lodging
2. Handles Australian Payroll - including PAYG and Superannuation

The introduction of both these two options would see thousands migrate off Windows (it's often the only reason cited for not running Linux), and adopt a new accounting package.

There is both Ledger-SQL and LedgerSMB (a fork of the former) that handle accounting and can be customized to handle GST. Yet, they don't do anything to address BAS reporting/lodging or have a payroll module. As such, both are unsuitable for the Australian SMB market without further heavy lifting.

Their is commercial software like SAGE AccPac available, yet it's quite expensive and more geared towards a medium sized business and thus out of the price range for most small businesses.

One OSS project that did look indeed promising was SYMBOL (Surf Your Money Books On Line). It was written by an accountant from Western Australia and licensed under the BSD license.

I have been in Email discussion with the developer Edward Metcalfe, but it appears he has now moved on from the project and as such the project has stalled. Looking at the CVS repository the last update was unfortunately 13 months ago.

However, the software is indeed functional and delivers on the two items listed above (Australian Taxation/Payroll). Whilst you would need to update the PAYG tax tables (no real show-stopper), it should do the job admirably. ComputerWorld actually ran an article on SYMBOL in Februrary 2007.

Those interested in SYMBOL, will find it is a web-based application so accounting can be down via a regular browser (making it suitable on either Mac/Windows/Linux clients) It runs on a PostgreSQL backend and uses Perl/CGI for the front-end. It also is multi-user based. (One thing software like MYOB and Quicken charge an arm and a leg for!)

The fear of running SYMBOL though in it's current form is that it is unmaintained. It's likely the current government or subsequent ones will indeed look at overhauling the payroll and corporate tax systems (as opposed to just an implementation of the Goods and Services Tax). This would mean that any software a small business adopts would need to address these modification.

The ATO has worked to provide great documentation on the complex tax scheme we have in Australia for software developers. Their Software Developers Website gives test case scenarios and formulas to write compliant and competing software.

I'm in two minds:

1. Do I run SYMBOL and either start maintaining it or fork it?
2. Do I use a lot of the program logic, and spawn a completely new project?

Ideally I would love to see a AJAXed based web-version of the application with a modern interface using either the Yahoo UI or the Dojo Toolkit's Dijit and DojoX interfaces.
Either solution would provide an excellent interface and provide the user with an experience that matched a local fat client. Using a web framework like Django and a PostgreSQL database underneath, would make for a solid backend.

I think there is a market for an excellent OSS product to capture the market and knock off this duopoly. However I suspect it will take some committed individuals to pull it off. From the grumblings you hear frequently from small business owners there is a ready market to ditch their over-priced software once a viable and supported solution arises.

Here are some interesting facts about the Australian Small Business Market:

• There are about 1.2 million small businesses in Australia employing around 3.3 million people.
• During the past decade, small businesses have created an estimated 660,000 new jobs.
• 42% of all goods exporters are small businesses.
• 25% of the Australian GDP (estimated in 2006 at $1 trillion dollars) comes from small business.

That's a lot of potential users of an OSS product!

I suspect a lot of OSS developers do a fair amount of moon-lighting and as such require a way to invoice for their work. (Consulting may be your day time job also to pay for the bills, and OSS coding your passion and after hours work!).

So what are your thoughts?
Is there enough interest in getting up an OSS Accounting+Payroll solution for Australian small businesses?