This review raises the question of how long any software in the
commercial Linux space is going to last if it doesn’t come with a
GUI. Everyone agrees Linux could use some serious accounting
software, but how well is that software going to do when it comes
in a tarball and its sole dependency seems to be ncurses?
One longstanding type of application often described as
“The Thing Linux Needs” is the accounting system. Considerable
variation exists in what people would like to see included in an
accounting system. Most notably, they want something Gooey and
Friendly, intended for personal finance, reminiscent of Intuit’s
Quicken or Microsoft Money; or they want something Gooey and
Friendly, intended for business finance, reminiscent of Intuit’s
QuickBooks or PeachTree Accounting. From its advertising, you might
expect the Linux General Ledger (LGL) to be a program more like the
latter than the former.I ordered it and, a few days later, had the minor surprise of
finding a floppy disk in my mailbox. LGL doesn’t use warm’n’fuzzy
packaging tools; it’s basically a tarball, readily dropped into
place wherever you may want to put it.