[ale] Open source accounting/inventory/pos?

[James P. Kinney III]

On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 13:26 -0500, John Wells wrote:
> Guys,
> 
> I have a friend who's looking to start a retail store. He's come to me
> for help in finding the right software, but my knowledge in this area
> is about 5 years old.
> 
> What would you recommend in terms of open source business information
> systems? He's looking for accounting, integrated with inventory,
> integrated with a POS system.
> 
> It doesn't necessarily have to be open source...he has some
> funds...but even with an off-the-shelf system he pays for he'd like it
> to be very flexible (and I believe open source brings this to the
> table).
> 
> I appreciate any help you can offer.

Sql-ledger (perl, web), the fork of Sql-ledger called SMB-ledger (perl,
web), TinyERP (not sure about the POS in that - may take some
training)(C), BananaPOS(C, gtk), Compiere(java), the fork called
Adampiere (no Oracle license!)(java), OsCommerce (PHP, web)

Comments on each:

Sql-ledger - I use for my accounting. It works but it requires a solid
accounting background to really "get it". The POS section is useable but
not complete. Author is a "challenge" to tolerate. Complaints of
non-working/broken/security issues on the mailing list will get the
offending user dropped.

SMB-ledger - I have this in testing. It is a fork due to the security
issues that were not addressed in the parent in a timely manner. Much
more friendly people and more than just one on the development.

TinyERP - just started tinkering with it. Ships with Fedora. Looks to be
a solid ERP tool.

BananaPOS - Site outdated but the tool is still under production. It is
quite feature complete. This would work well with Linux thin clients as
checkout systems. Check this one first.

Compiere - Very complete. Java based. Really requires a training session
to get a grasp of all it can do. Java based. Requires an Oracle license
to put into production. Java based. The manual is around $125 and very
well done. Java based. Uses a "web start" client. Java based.

Adampiere - Forked to ditch Oracle so the code is really free of license
restrictions. Still java based. I have not used this one as it's been a
few years since my testing of Compiere and and Adampier had not split
off yet.

OSCommerce - People either love or hate this one. Easy to use but a
challenge to tinker with. flexibility based on web application is always
a plus (no clients to compile and distribute)
> 
> Thanks!
> John
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> 
-- 
James P. Kinney III          
CEO & Director of Engineering 
Local Net Solutions,LLC        
770-493-8244                    
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
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