On 1 Oct, Josh Sled wrote: > On Mon, Oct 01, 2001 at 04:04:12PM -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: <snip> > | I want to know if, given the > | constraints that *I* have set, I can afford to buy a DVD player this > | month without adversely affecting my ability to pay rent, buy groceries, > | etc. > > What are the nature of the constraints? <snip>
and On 2 Oct, Robert Graham Merkel wrote: > On Tue, 02 Oct 2001 11:01:21 Phillip Shelton wrote: <snip> >> Defining your constraints so that the computer can read and deal with >> then >> is going to be one of the harder first steps. > > Sorry to come in a little late into the debate, but this argument needs > to be taken a little further. Those constraints need to be > specifiable in a way that's accessible to most gnucash users (and our > intended audience is not made up exclusively of engineers and > programmers). If you can't come up with a simple way to specify > constraints (and any other information you need to make the budget > do its thing), it's not going to get used. <snip> My take on this whole constraints discussion will be clearer when I finish the "bucket system" description. I don't claim that it's "the way", but I do think it makes sense for most casual users, and while it's somewhat complicated to explain, it's really quite simple to use. My wife understands it perfectly, and she was an English Literature/Sociology major in college, and a social worker/tech writer after. >) On 1 Oct, Josh Sled wrote: <snip> > Is that decision made with knowledge of [available] lines of credit? > Should the budgeting system [be able to] tell you: "if you charge it, > but you don't have enough savings ATM". > > If you plan to buy the DVD 6-months in advance, should the budgeting > system encourage/help you to save up that money for it? > What about Christmas gifts? > Or a vacation? Wait for my "bucket system" description. I don't consider either of those features to be functions of the budget subsystem itself, but rather the responsibility of the user defining the constraints. If I want to save for something, I need to set my budget appropriately. And if the "bucket system" is used properly, it discourages you from spending money you don't have, which I think is usually a reasonable decision. (Don't worry, impulse buyers - my conception of a budget subsystem merely tells you you've spent more than you have, it doesn't actually *prevent* you from doing so.) I'm swamped tonight. Hopefully the "bucket system" description will be finished tomorrow. I just need to finish the example and make sure it makes sense... Nato _______________________________________________ gnucash-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.gnumatic.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-devel
