Re: Draft 2 of Direction Statement

["Joshua D. Drake" <..hidden..>]

Hugh Esco wrote:
> Having met the needs of "all business, large and small"
> puts you in a place where 99% of  the work is already done
> to also meet the needs of the non-profit sector.  My work
> has been with electoral campaigns and non-profits.  I found
> SQL-Ledger looking for an open source accounting package for a
> political party about five years ago.  Since then, I've made
> it available to campaigns, non-profits and small businesses.
> I'd urge that this sector not be ignored in the formulation
> of such a document.

There is a subproject called LedgerNPO because of the SPI
(http://www.spi-inc.org). Don't worry, you will not be ignored :)

Sincerely,

Joshua D. Drake


> 
> -- Hugh Esco
> CampaignFoundations.com
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:21:02 -0700
> From: "Chris Travers" <..hidden..>
> Subject: [Ledger-smb-devel] Draft 2 of Direction Statement
> To: "Development discussion for LedgerSMB"
> 	<..hidden..>
> 
> Hi-- anybody have anything to add or points to bring up?
> 
> Best Wishes,
> Chris Tavers
> 
> Statement of Direction for LedgerSMB
> 
> Background:
> LedgerSMB began as a fork of the popular open source SQL-Ledger
> accounting software.  The initial aims of the project were to offer
> better security and data integrity controls.  However, very quickly
> the projects began to diverge.  This document spells out the basic
> long-range goals of LedgerSMB as a community project.
> 
> Goal 1:  LedgerSMB as Business Infrastructure
> In order to meet changing needs of a diverse market it is important
> that as LedgerSMB grows, that it becomes an easily extensible (and
> even in some cases invisible) part of the data infrastructure of a
> business.  In essence, it must eventually be possible to separate the
> web user interface from the software as a whole.  Important
> requirements we should strive towards are:
>    1)  Separation of mechanism from interface
>    2)  Generic, reusable components wherever possible
>    3)  Scriptability from local and remote programs
>    4)  Extensibility of the core logic in forward-compatible ways
>    5)  Security should be a top priority both in architecture and code
> 
> Goal 2:  LedgerSMB as Web Application
> The LedgerSMB web interface must be extremely easy to use, but more
> important, it must always do the right thing accounting-wise.  At the
> same time, the workflow should be as streamlined as possible.  If
> people want a mechanism to do something that is not generally accepted
> in accounting circles, then that button must map to an automation of
> the accepted way of doing it.  For example, a delete button might map
> to a function which posts a reversing transaction.  Important
> requirements we should strive for here include:
>   1)  User-friendly naming of things.
>   2)  When given a choice of two potentially problematic solutions,
> the solution taken must try to detect the problem and warn the user.
>   3)  The software should be sufficiently easy to use that it can
> compete with Quickbooks and similar software in their home markets.
>   4)  A strong user support structure including contextual help,
> mailing list support, and commercial support options available from a
> variety of sources.
>   5)  Support from the CPA community.
> 
> Goal 3:  Universal Adaptability
> LedgerSMB should strive to be able to meet the needs of all businesses
> whether large or small anywhere in the world.  While it is necessary
> that some markets will initially require more more attention than
> others, the general application should be designed so that it can be
> extended to other environments.  Requirements here but not mentioned
> above include:
>   1)  Using localization frameworks wherever appropriate.
>   2)  Providing hooks more advanced transformations (including
> writing in various directions).
>   3)  Providing the ability to plug in rules for local regulatory requirements.
>   4)  Support from consultants in a variety of locales.
> 
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