Hello, Jim,
Thanks for your response, and thank you to the others who responded! I
appreciate it a lot!
Below in blue are my answers & comments.
Eric
On 12/18/22 15:53, Jim DeLaHunt wrote:
On 2022-12-18 12:20, Eric Chapman wrote:
Tell me, what gives you the impression that GnuCash "is for Intel Macs
only"? Maybe we can reword whatever is giving you that false
impression, to make it clearer.
The section on the "Supported Platforms" made me wonder if M1 Macs were
supported (from the README.TXT file in the Mac .dmg package):
BTW, I do not yet have a Mac with M1 or M2 processor. Just thinking it
may happen… If one has an M1 or M2 Mac, does he/she use the same .dmg
file to install GnuCash that I referenced? If so, then I think the file
name should be changed, and perhaps the info in the README.TXT file
could be edited. If I already had had an M1 or M2 Mac when I started
researching this, I might not have even looked any further and just
taken those two things to mean it would not work on my M_ machine.
If it is the fact that the installer is named
"Gnucash-Intel-4.12-1.dmg", that name does not indicate that Gnucash
works _only_ on Macs with intel processors. The word "intel" has
technical and historical meanings. It was compiled using the machine
code of intel processors, but the magic of macOS allows M1 and M2 Macs
to run the machine code of intel processors, in addition to the machine
code of M1 and M2 processors.
(2) I read much of the README.TXT file. With the .dmg file I
downloaded install everything I need or do the instructions under
"Dependencies" and "Building and Installing" mean that I have to
start with getting all that stuff on the Mac first?
The README.TXT comes from a history of software distributed as source
code, which recipients must build first before being able to run. But
when you download "GnuCash for Mac", you are getting "precompiled
binaries". That is, you get a Mac app which is all ready to go. The
README.TXT file does not really tell you how to install this.
GnuCash as distributed for Mac is a Mac app. Install it like you
install other Mac apps: open the .dmg file, see a window containing an
icon named something ".app", and drag that icon to your Applications
folder. Then double-click on that Gnucash.app icon within your
Applications folder.
(3) Is there a "New User Guide" somewhere on the web that can be
accessed? Tutorials?
Then consider how familiar you feel with the basics of double-entry
bookkeeping. GnuCash relies on double-entry, whereas other bookkeeping
packages try to hide it. If you feel underprepared, read up on basic
accounting a bit. Wikipedia's
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping#Accounting_entries>
is a good place to start. Maybe get an tutorial book on accounting.
Do you work with an accountant?
Yes, but I do not work with a programmer, and I'm not one. I have no
problem with the accounting, it's the programs that give me grief. I
learned accounting about the time personal computers were showing up :)
I never have learned programming.
Then run GnuCash, make a test book purely for experimentation, and
start entering some of your typical transactions. Try things. Fail.
Learn. Then start over again with a new book for your real bookkeeping.
I am quite familiar with double entry accounting, but I have been using
Quicken for Windows in a VMs for a long time. I've got some bookkeeping
to do for a new non-profit, and I may move our personal stuff from
Quicken over to whatever app I choose.
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