TurboCASH Accounting is now in the top 1% of global open source development site Sourceforge.net`s projects, as the Cape Town-based company celebrates its first year as an open source developer.
Sourceforge.net rates TurboCASH as one of its top projects, having gained a user base of 20 000 sites since it entered the open source market last July.
Philip Copeman, MD of TurboCASH Accounting, says his company still has a long way to go.
"Most of the big commercial players have user bases in excess of 100 000. We aim to get near that in our second year. We develop one program that works across all markets and allows us to get the benefit of volume use," he says.
Sourceforge says it is the largest repository of open source software, with 85 000 open source projects serving 900 000 registered users. The service is a free source of downloads for users interested in open source software. Projects are ranked according to their downloads and activity.
The open source concept is backed by a common version system that lets programmers, consultants and accountants from all over the world participate in the development of TurboCASH.
Sourceforge.net describes TurboCASH Accounting as an entry-level Delphi, Windows accounting package for single users, small networks and distributed networks. It says TurboCASH accommodates developer scripts, local plug-ins and multi-language translation.
"This democratic approach is the key factor in the rapid adoption of open source," says Copeman. "Programmers and resellers join discussion groups and online joint programming efforts. So rather than having a product which is developed by the marketing department of a commercail software house in another country, users get to have their say in how development is directed.
"It has taken us a year to find our feet in this market, and there were some really scary decisions to be taken along the way, but open source has opened up new markets for us. TurboCASH has already been released in Dutch and Spanish, also with versions for the UK and US. Versions are in production for Brazil, Canada and Denmark."
Copeman says there is a growing awareness of the use of open source software in SA.
"However, the real opportunity that is going begging is for young South African programmers and IT specialists to join or start open source projects. We predict that open source projects will lead all market categories in the near future. This gives SA the opportunity to get on top and control many of these projects," Copeman says.
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