Text 15240, 67 rader
Skriven 2007-01-09 15:39:04 av Rich Gauszka (1:379/45)
Ärende: Peachtree & Quickbooks block Linux server use
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From: "Rich Gauszka" <gauszka@dontspamhotmail.com>

MS conspiracy or idiotic accounting vendors? I vote for the latter

http://weblog.infoworld.com/gripeline/archives/2007/01/accounting_vend.html




 "I have two clients using multi-user network accounting packages," the
reader wrote. "One uses Quickbooks, the other uses Peachtree. In both cases
upgrades to newer versions of each accounting package required I set up either
a peer system or a dedicated server with Windows, and move away from the Linux
servers I'd set up for both. The reason? Both Intuit and Sage Software now use
.NET to develop these applications, and both are, according to their support
staff, complying with Microsoft standards for their backend database components
-- components which won't work on non-Microsoft network servers."



The reader first became aware of the problem when Intuit's sunset policies
forced one of his customers to upgrade their version of Quickbooks. "One client
had been using Quickbooks Pro 2003 for 5 users when they started having
problems with database corruption," the reader wrote. "When I called tech
support for them, I was told Intuit no longer supports QB Pro 2003. In order to
get the accounting database back up, my client would have to upgrade to QB Pro
2006. Initially I didn't see a problem with this. Their 2003 worked fine with
the data on the Linux server (SUSE 9.3). However, when I started installing
2006, I saw the new requirements on the side of the box stating the data now
had to reside on a Windows server, either a peer-to-peer arrangement, or a
dedicated Windows 2003 Server system. In this case, I had to install the
software on the newest system and reconfigure the network mappings
accordingly."



Another of the reader's customers was using Sage's Peachtree. "The client was
told by Peachtree that the new payroll software wouldn't work with Peachtree
Complete Accounting 2004," the reader wrote. " So, they purchased the upgrade
to 2007. Again, the previous version had no problems with the data on their
Linux server (SUSE 9.1), but now require a Windows server, either peer-to-peer
or a dedicated Windows server 2003. It also uses .NET technology and must
install server components on the machine where the data will reside. This
client had to purchase a new system -- it was less expensive to buy a new
system than to buy a copy of Windows XP Pro and have me install and configure
it on the Linux box. And since the Linux box's major purpose was to provide
file services for their accounting package and documents, there really isn't a
reason to maintain two servers."



The upshot is the reader's clients first had to upgrade their accounting
package and then had to spend extra money to continue using it. "In both cases
the software developers are forcing my clients to use server software we had
decided would be unnecessary and would add to their costs," the reader wrote.
"In both cases my clients had to pay additional billable hours to my company to
handle the additional time spent to setup and configure new servers and either
remove or re-task the perfectly good Linux servers. Both companies needed
little maintenance on the Linux server boxes. Further, the servers didn't need
the additional expenditures for security software for virus and spyware
attacks. So, in addition to needing these new systems, they need to acquire,
install, configure, and maintain security software, and maintenance will go up
as Windows requires more maintenance than does the Linux OS. This means more
billable hours for me, but unhappy clients."

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