<div dir="ltr">A group of hackerspace software engineers is a great idea! We could certainly use the help on Seltzer CRM (hackerspace management web app, including billing, but not double-entry bookkeeping).<div><br></div>
<div style>What we shoud do *first* though is get a list of people willing to evaluate existing applications and post screencast demos on the hackerspaces wiki.</div><div style><br></div><div style>-Ed</div></div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 12:35 PM, James Carlson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:james@schoolfactory.org" target="_blank">james@schoolfactory.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">The School Factory and Space Federation would gladly help sponsor this activity--it's such an important component! Access control, member management, and accounting are all the challenging things. </div>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:32 AM, Joshua Pritt <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ramgarden@gmail.com" target="_blank">ramgarden@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Would it work better if we create a hackerspaces group of software engineers (aka code monkeys, code poets, and source ninjas) to start up a sourceforge/github/google/SVN repo project and create our own non-profit accounting web app? Or should we all just put in a few hours here and there from our spaces and do work on this Conservancy project?<div>
I've always wanted to see how large of a software powerhouse we could make out of all the coders from all the hackerspaces spending just a few minutes or hours a week on a project.</div><div><br></div><div>
I imagine just creating a simple task list where each person takes a task for themselves and divide and conquers it that way.</div><div><br></div><div>I dunno, maybe it's not possible but I bet we could tackle almost any software project with ease, especially something like a non-profit accounting web app or even just plugins for GNUCash, etc.</div>
<div><br></div><div>DISCUSS!</div></div><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:11 AM, Kevin Conner <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kevin.r.conner@gmail.com" target="_blank">kevin.r.conner@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">OpenERP is an option I've been using. It's not focused specifically on non-profit entities, but being open source I'm sure modules are available or could be made without having to start from scratch.<div>
<br></div><div><br></div></div><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 8:32 AM, Pete Prodoehl <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:raster@gmail.com" target="_blank">raster@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<br>
We've got software we use for billing our members, as we as keeping
track of rentable storage space.<br>
<br>
<a href="https://code.google.com/u/jason.gessner/p/mkemakerspace-tools/" target="_blank">https://code.google.com/u/jason.gessner/p/mkemakerspace-tools/</a><br>
<br>
Right now I think Milwaukee Makerspace is the only one using it,
though I believe jason g. (lead developer) has talked with some
people at Pumping Station: One and Workshop 88 about it.<span><font color="#888888"><br>
<br>
<br>
Pete</font></span><div><div><br>
<br>
<br>
<div>On 5/2/13 10:07 AM, Edward L Platt
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">We used to use GNUCash at i3 Detroit, but wound up
switching to the proprietary software that shall not be named.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The major limitations of GNUCash were:</div>
<div>* Not a web app - prevented dividing tasks among
multiple pepole (receipt/payment entry, reconciliation,
billing, etc.).</div>
<div>* No way to track vendors/customers. We wound up
creating a sub-account for each member, which was really
unwieldy, especially since GNUCash didn't alphabetize them,
and wouldn't total them in our reports.</div>
<div>* Clunky interface.</div>
<div>* Learning curve too steep for volunteers.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Also here's a feature request that I've never been
able to find in *any* accounting software:</div>
<div>* See the statement date for which each
transaction was reconciled.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>If anyone starts an open source bookkeeping web
app, I'd love to get on the dev list.</div>
<div>
<br>
</div>
<div>-Ed</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 9:46 AM, Doug
Philips <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:doug@hackpittsburgh.org" target="_blank">doug@hackpittsburgh.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I wonder
if they have looked at ledger (<a href="http://www.ledger-cli.org/" target="_blank">http://www.ledger-cli.org/</a>).
They're on the cusp of releasing v3,<br>
but that'll be soon enough.<br>
-=Doug
<div><br>
<br>
<br>
On 5/2/13 9:20 AM, Tim Butram wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>
I don't think that GNUCash has all of the required
features that they need. From their list I don't think
that GNUCash can do:<br>
<br>
</div>
* Tracking and reporting of non-profit income types
(related business income, unrelated business taxable
income, donations, etc.)<br>
* Basic annual audit preparation reporting<br>
* Ability to easily handle all these features on a
project-by-project subset of the accounts, and to easily
export and excise that subset from the system. (i.e.,
support for temporarily restricted assets, earmarked for
fiscal-sponsored projects)
<div>
<br>
<br>
Unless these are just features are unknown to me. Either
way, they were not ruling out contributing to some
project, so it could end up being that GNUCash gets some
more features.<br>
<br>
Tim Butram<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>
On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 6:27 PM, Joshua Pritt <<a href="mailto:ramgarden@gmail.com" target="_blank">ramgarden@gmail.com</a>
<mailto:<a href="mailto:ramgarden@gmail.com" target="_blank">ramgarden@gmail.com</a>>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
I'll donate some of my free time to work on this
software! I have had to help with issues with
proprietary software such as Exceed! Basic.<br>
Is Conservancy trying to do the same thing as
GNUCash?<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>
<div>
On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 5:15 PM, Danny O'Brien <<a href="mailto:danny@spesh.com" target="_blank">danny@spesh.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:danny@spesh.com" target="_blank">danny@spesh.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
<br>
I thought this might be something that many
here would see as a<br>
worthwhile project to donate money toward:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/" target="_blank">http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/</a><br>
<br>
Conservancy has a plan to help all
non-profit organizations (NPOs)<br>
by creating an Open Source and Free
Software accounting system<br>
usable by non-technical bookkeepers,
accountants, and non-profit<br>
managers. You can help us do it by
donating now.<br>
<br>
To keep their books and produce annual
government filings, most NPOs<br>
rely on proprietary software, paying
exorbitant licensing fees. This<br>
is fundamentally at cross purposes with
their underlying missions of<br>
charity, equality, democracy, and
sharing.<br>
<br>
You can help Conservancy fix this problem
by donating now. We seek<br>
to raise $75,000 to employ a developer
for one year to make<br>
substantial progress on this project.<br>
<br>
Note that this first year will concentrate on
US non-profit<br>
requirements, "Conservancy seeks to lead an
international effort, and<br>
welcomes contributions and input from everyone
in the non-profit<br>
community from around the world. Conservancy
has created a mailing list<br>
for discussion of this project and encourages
interested parties from<br>
around the world to join the mailing list and
contribute to the<br>
project!"<br>
<br>
<a href="http://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/npo-accounting" target="_blank">http://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/npo-accounting</a><br>
<br>
Donation sidebar is on the main page:<br>
<a href="http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/" target="_blank">http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/</a><br>
<br>
d.<br>
<br>
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<div>
<br>
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<br>
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<div>
<br>
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<br>
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</blockquote>
<div>
<div>
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</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<div><br>
</div>
-- <br>
Edward L. Platt
<div><a href="http://elplatt.com" target="_blank">http://elplatt.com</a></div>
<div><a href="http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt" target="_blank">http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt</a></div>
<div><a href="http://i3detroit.com" target="_blank">http://i3detroit.com</a></div>
<div><a href="http://twitter.com/EdwardLPlatt" target="_blank">@EdwardLPlatt</a></div>
<div><br>
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</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
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</blockquote>
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<br></blockquote></div><br></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Edward L. Platt<div><a href="http://elplatt.com" target="_blank">http://elplatt.com</a></div><div><a href="http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt" target="_blank">http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt</a></div>
<div><a href="http://i3detroit.com" target="_blank">http://i3detroit.com</a></div><div><a href="http://twitter.com/EdwardLPlatt" target="_blank">@EdwardLPlatt</a></div><div><br></div>
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