Quicken on Linux

You assume correctly nor does Quicken run as it should in Wine or Crossover Office as per their websites. It will, I believe, run in a Windows emulator but then why bother with Linux?

The lack of Intuit software (Quicken/TurboTax) has stopped me from going to Linux for several years now and it appears that there is no Linux port of Intuit software in the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, for me Quicken/TurboTax are the only reasons I even own a computer.

That is correct. One replacement that I have implemented for a client using Ubuntu was GnuCash. It's usable but not the same thing.

Dual boot would be an option then why bother getting Linux.

Does GnuCash do the "connect" stuff? Being able easily and smoothly download my transactions is *very* important to me.

/B\

GnuCash does not import your Quicken files correctly, that might be even more important to you.

If you have a single checking account, GnuCash *might* get it right, if you have multiple accounts going back for many years, you'll need months to straighten out the mess GnuCash makes of it.

NOTE: In fairness to GnuCash, it's one of several that say they can import Quicken accounts but cannot do so.

So, it has a steep learning curve, and it sometimes works properly. That sounds very much like all Linux software I've seen. I'm a computer geek, but for the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would want to use Linux for home applications.

-- Jim

I had no trouble importing from my old Quicken 99 accounts, but I had only one checking account.

There is a fundamental difference between Quicken and GnuCash due to philosophy. Quicken makes personal accounting easy for the non-CPA user, while GnuCash follows accounting principles to fanaticism. Basically, in GnuCash a transaction means movement of money or things from one account to another, while in Quicken, transactions are categorized. The relationship between an account and a category is often close enough, but sometimes isn't.

I make no claim that GnuCash is user friendly. You have to learn it, and I still bobble sometimes with GnuCash splits. A friend of mine rates Quicken, at least the older versions, as A+ programs from the end user's point of view, and I don't disagree. On his scale I rate GnuCash C-.

I found that I was better off creating my own Chart of Accounts to guide setting up GnuCash. That's pretty formal. A CofA is to accounting what a flowchart is to programming, or an outline is to writing.

Still, it is usable.

I've been running Q2007 H&B on my Linux system for about 18 months (initially under Crossover Standard, more recently under Wine 1.2).

The basic accounting / checkbook / reporting functions all work fine for me. I've never used the transaction download functions in Quicken, so I can't say whether they work.

I keep hoping for a more capable native package. I've tried many of the current alternatives, have successfully imported my QIF files into most, but none of them provides the one Quicken feature I really depend on (i.e., ability to report with columns by class).

Regards, Rob L

I have to wonder how much of the problem importing Quicken files is due to problems in those Quicken files. For example, I recently moved from Quicken 2008 to 2010. While I was in Quicken 2008, super validate shows no errors in my quicken files at all. yet, after the migration, the super validate in Quicken 2010 found two pages worth of super validation errors.

I have read that the super validate in Quicken 2010 does a much better job of checking everything. Maybe GnuCash is also more sensitive to the problems in Quicken files.

None, all my files validate, none will import correctly, even the simple checking account is FUBAR.

I have no doubt that a file problem would make the file even more FUBAR so it can't hurt to check first.

How about using Quicken for existing transactions and "start Fresh" with GnuCash, importing only the latest/necessary transactions over?

"validate" or "super validate"?

And lose 10+ years of data? That doesn't seem like a practical idea to me.

"Use Quicken's Super Validate utility to check the copy of your file for damage only if evidence of corruption persists after performing Validate on the file copy. Super Validate will rebuild the Quicken file regardless of whether damage is detected in the file."

I'm not suggesting scrapping the old... Like transferring data to a new check register, save the old and copy the most recent data to the new register.

Yes, you are. The title of this thread is Quicken on Linux, if Quicken won't work properly on Linux (and WINE and Crossover Office say it will not) and you can't import files into GnuCash or MoneyDance you really are suggesting scrapping the old, aren't you?

Of course, you could easily keep a copy of Windows on a separate partition but then why fool with Linux?

Sorry.

Somewhere along the way, I got the impression you were running Windows.

I am and that's because Quicken won't work properly on Linux.