Much effort has gone into software designs that have not (yet?) gone anywhere.
I have written a document on Application Frameworks that discusses ideas about how one might build up a stable architecture to deploy applications, and I am implicitly assuming that they be financial, to some extent. It is still somewhat embryonic at this point...
OMG General Ledger Specification
This is an exceedingly important piece of "slightly-better-than-vaporware."
It contains the preliminary specifications including CORBA IDL definitions for a standardized "API" for accounting general ledgers. This API provides a quite nice minimum level of accounting functionality as a standard.
This allows accounting applications to thus have a common interface to talk to.
OMG TC Work in Progress - AR/AP
The equivalent for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.
Open Accounting Project...
Seeking to build a small business accounting package using Qt, KDE, PostgreSQL,
The OpenFlow Project aims to build a complete set of tools for the workflow and document flow management. OpenFlow will integrate with other open source projects like OpenCA and MUSCLE for digital signature and authentication.
Python and Finance Discussion List - discussing financial software in the context of the Python language.
Summersault: WebAccountant Software
Using Perl, PostgreSQL
This project is subsuming the efforts of OBE/Obelisk, and GNU GL. The architecture uses a free RDBMS (either PostgreSQL or MySQL ) for data storage, XML to represent the GUI, and Glade to manage GUI generation with GTk.
It's not evident that they have considered message/transaction management using either a TP monitor (not that there's a free one, outside of the pre-alpha GTS CORBA service) or a message queueing system like Isect. Something like this is likely necessary in order to allow the system to be scalable to many users...
To access the GNUE CVS server, try the following:
cvs -d :pserver:anoncvs@subversions.gnu.org:/home/cvs login
CVS password: Enter
To check out the data, run cvs -d :pserver:anoncvs@subversions.gnu.org:/home/cvs co gnue
Alternatively, one could set CVSROOT to :pserver:anoncvs@subversions.gnu.org:/home/cvs , and
thereby eliminate the need for the -d option.
GnuE at SourceForge
GnuPaghe wants to offer wages elaboration and book keeping facilities realized in a pure object oriented n-tier client server architecture. It implements electronic copies of real world "object": companies, employee, money fluxes.It also strives to maintain actual work done by employees of offices to minimize the impact of using a program and to improve productivity.
GnuPaghe offers a pure object oriented approach to the problem of corporate data manipulation; it emulates real world work done in offices with strong accent to easy of use and strict adherence to the actual way of working of people. First target is wage processing, (starting from italian one).
Uses TAO/ACE as the CORBA ORB, and PostgreSQL or UESQLC middleware for DB access.
GnuPaghe appears to be in the process of merging into the GnuE project.
LinuDent - Dental Software Project
Built using Tcl/Tk.
TkFamilyPractice - Medical Practice software for Linux and Win32
Midrange accounting package planned for Linux.
General Ledger running as a client/server application, mostly in Java , with a web-based GUI, and using SOAP as the protocol for diverse clients to communicate with the server.
Signature: Integrated accounting system - Web-based using PHP/ PostgreSQL , with timecard and invoicing
XIWA - web-based Perl / PostgreSQL Accounting Package
Compiere ERP and CRM Business Solution - Uses Gnome , Java , JavaScript , Oracle , provides POS
It is a featureful system under active commercial development. Unfortunately, it depends on Java components that are distinctly nonfree software, as well as Oracle as database, with the result that while Compiere may be free software , the system it runs on definitely isn't.
This is a fork of the Java-based Compiere system. Apparently there were people not entirely happy with the central management of Compiere...
L'anePOS Point-of-Sale System - Written in Perl , using PostgreSQL , runs atop Curses/X
Bills Manager - Web-based, written in Perl
SmallBiz- Java -based Accounting package; multi-user, multi-company, multi-UI (CUI, GUI, WEB)
A " cooperative" bank in India has released this set of software they use for managing parts of their operations. Major technical components include Glade (GUI builder for GTk ), data storage using PostgreSQL , and a reporting system based on some sort of XML-based scheme.
A web-based system using PHP and MySQL. Based on code from OpenAccounting and WebERP systems.
There is a sizable "wasteland" of projects that have come, and gone...
Clearly in the "vaporware" category, this "fabled" program is directed at accounting for mail order operations. It's been advertised at the not-too-painful price of $29.95 in Linux Journal on a number of occasions over the last few years.
Unfortunately, it has suffered from the "Windows 95 Syndrome" for longer than Windows 95 did. A recent read of the web page suggests a beta version will become freely available "in the month of April." I believe that April 1996 may have been the intended date, but they have neglected to indicate whether the year the April in question will occur falls within the second millennium or the third..
The plan is to use PostgreSQL as the underlying database, using Apache as an application server , and have a modular structure that makes it possible to gradually add in increasing accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, inventory, customer, and vendor support.