A group to bind them all
In March, during the time to gather ideas for the GSoC, Klaas Freitag came to us with an idea to integrate Kraft and KMyMoney. This had been discussed before, but no plans had been laid out. So, an idea was added to the KDE ideas list, and there were some talks about that between Thomas Baumgart, the lead developer of KMyMoney, Klaas, and me. From that, we came to the idea of creating a new KDE group for financial applications, with the purpose of coordinating our efforts, just like the PIM or Edu groups. So, we contacted developers from Skrooge and Assuma, to ask if they were interested, first on the GSoC idea, and then on working together on a further integration. I know we can benefit from a direct integration with Kraft and Assuma, and I would like our users to have a choice to switch between KMyMoney and Skrooge freely, if they like. The response was quite good, and I think the main showstopper for now is the need to port KMyMoney and Kraft to KDE4, so we can all work on the same ground. Plus, we will be very short on resources until we finish the port, demanding as it is.
Thomas and Klaas kept working on the technical side of the integration, creating a workflow draft, and analyzing the different possibilities. So far, it looks like, based on what we need, Akonadi could serve our purpose. Of course, we will have to add a bunch of resource and new classes definition to it. I don't think they have an "Invoice" defined in KMail. :))
Well, all of those new classes and workflows that could make the integration possible, we call it FinanceStack, and it is just a concept for now. But, just imagine what we could do if we brought together Kraft, LemonPOS, Skrooge, Assuma, and KMyMoney. That's a nice stack of financial applications to offer. What do you think?
Someone asked me today if KMyMoney would not belong to KOffice. Well, I think it belongs to a new category, along with a bunch of the new boys in the hood. :)
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Comments
Interesting
Thanks for the terrific article, it had a ton of great points and I'm really glad that I came across it. Thanks for taking the time to share it.
Its nice to have a dream
Sounds like a great idea. I like the vision - best of luck in fulfillment!
www.iisottawa.ca
you got me only with the
you got me only with the title, make feel like i where on the Lor of the Rings scene... but seriosly, its always a pleasure to know and try alternatives like this, im not a frecuently user of MsMoney, but if you have something better i will start to use it, i like to try free software, and makes me feel better, donate for a good job, that make a spend to make somebody more rich than before... Thank for give us choises.
Common file format?
It's definitely nice to have choices. I'd love to see a common file format for financial softwares. Just like ODF files can be opened by multiple office suites. ODF has also forced Microsoft to support it, even though only half-heartedly.
If this is too far-fetched, how about a common file-format that can be exported/imported without loss of any information? I have been struggling with QIF for too long and my major impediment to moving to KMM from MS Money.
I moved from MS Money too...
...and much of the difficulty lies in the fact that the MS Money Proprietary Format -> .qif transition is quite awful. There was some data loss when I first did the transition due to the way that MS handles its data internally, which KMyMoney really can't do anything about.
QIF is not a single file
QIF is not a single file format, but a moving target that changes every time. If you are having problems with your QIF, please send an email to the kmymoney developers list, and we will help you through the process.
We currently use a xml format that makes it easier to migrate if necessary. We also do have plans to work on interoperability with Skrooge, to make a migration between the two applications easy.
What is assuma ?
I've never heard of this, and google doesn't seem neither :
http://www.google.it/search?q=kde assuma&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
You speak of it as it was something quite known...... is it ?
Sorry, it is Association
Sorry, it is Association Subscribers Managers. Assuma, for short.
http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php/Association+Subscribers+Manager...
Stock &| Trading &| Finance
Hi,
i strongly approve and appreciate this idea. We all need this sort of things. (floss world wise too). It is only about benefits for everyone.
While you are at it: any plan to build a stock and/or trading and/or finance integration or application in "kdebiz"[1]?
I don't know how this could be possible or difficult but i know that a FLOSS project exist, you might want to let them join if interested. Here's the link: http://www.marketcetera.com/site/
my 0,256$
[1] "kdebiz" it's a catchy name but i'll go for something like "Kbucs" (kde business unit control system). This is just a thought, but it renders the idea of what kind of name should have. or stick with "KDE Money Suite" as a counterstrike to "M$ money". You get the idea.
--
cga
Yep, skrooge is willing to help :-)
I'm Guillaume, from the skrooge project.
Just to confirm everyone that the skrooge team is indeed willing to be part of that project =D. Choice is good, cooperation is even better ! So, Alvaro, how do we get involved ? You can keep in touch with me at gdebure at yahoo dot com, or I may try and visit you at #kmymoney.
Cheers !
Guillaume
Brilliant ideas
I think these are brilliant ideas! Strengthening the financial apps would attract a bunch of possible new users!
I can't say it enough: Thanks for the great work!
Thomas
Hello, I've used KMyMoney and
Hello,
I've used KMyMoney and Eqonomize back in KDE3 times and checking out Skrooge sits on my todo list since last week.
Any freenode channels, mailing lists where you guys usually hang out? I have some KDE4 experience and I'm interested in this initiative.
I'm usually in #kmymoney and
I'm usually in #kmymoney and #kde-devel. My nick is Hei_Ku.
Good idea
May I suggest the name kdebiz for the new module?
And I really hope that in the long run we can integrate tightly with kontact and koffice.
-Inge
It could work, though some of
It could work, though some of the apps are not strictly biz. Both KMyMoney and Skrooge are mostly oriented to users. But it sure is a sticky name. :))
Good idea
Really, the best thing to do is unify the efforts and do not re-invent the wheel !
Downloading of bank transactions directly
I tried using some of the open source Personal Finance Management softwares, but was offset by the fact that I have to manually enter the transactions everytime. Then I switched over to online service called Mint (www.mint.com). I really liked the service.
Is there any open source finance tool that achieves similar functionalities? I appreciate your help.
Actually, we have OFX import
Actually, we have OFX import and we also use AqBanking. They both import transactions or files, and we do our best to match. I don't use any of these myself (crappy banks here!) but from the comments I get, they seem to work ok.
How about KOffice-integrations (Flake etc.)
That sounds really interesting. Being a complete novice I wonder whether you could also use KOffice-technology by using existing or creating new flakes. As businesses-software such as KMyMoney involves e.g. illustrations of various kinds (think charts) as well as the input oder internal representation of data (think database etc.), this might perhaps be possible and useful.
Anyways, keep up your great work!
we do use kchart for reports,
we do use kchart for reports, but the storage is too complex and too demanding on performance to use koffice for that. We have our own engine classes that I have to say work quite well, even for files with over 10 years of data.
A flake could make sense perhaps, or even integrate with kformula for transaction parameters. But I don't see much of KMyMoney going the other way, save for exported reports.