TurboCASH now in 17 languages, 50 countries

Announcing the release of TurboCASH 3.75 with multiple language support, Philip Copeman, TurboCASH accounting project leader, says: "Traditionally, accounting systems have not travelled well across international borders and have been the last refuge of local developers.

"Commercial competitors have different versions for different countries. They even have different brands in different countries.

"In contrast, TurboCASH is designed from the ground up to be completely flexible. It can be translated on the fly and can be adjusted to handle different coding systems, tax systems, barcode systems, languages and accounting terminology."

It needs to be available in many languages, since the popular locally developed software has now been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of people in over 50 countries. Even English-speaking countries require different accounting terminology.

All of this is pretty impressive, considering the core team is made up of fewer than ten people.

Copeman`s software publishing history dates back to 1982, when Copeman developed StatsModeller, an add-on to MicroModeller, marketed by UK software publisher Intelligence UK. In subsequent years, he launched Fasset, a Fixed Asset Manager and the first version of TurboCASH Accounting software and TurboCAD, now a leading US CAD programme, which has since sold over a million copies.

Copeman recalls the company`s early days: "When core developer Sylvain Nzala came to SA from war-torn DRC, he had no idea that he would soon be heading the development of one of the fastest expanding communities on the Web. He couldn`t speak English but he could speak Pascal Programming. "I had to interview Sylvain through an interpreter, who told me he was the guy for the job. It was a leap of faith. Five years on, we have 40 000 registered users, over 300 000 people have downloaded TurboCASH and hundreds of thousands have received free CDs."

Once asked about the apparent paradox of TurboCASH being developed using Windows and Delphi, Copeman commented: "In an ideal world we would like to have an open Source operating system with an open Source development environment. However, we have to face the fact that right now Windows brings us 98% of the market and Delphi is simply the best way to connect a client side app to a database."

LOGISTICS

He notes that while over 400 developers and consultants work on and support the TurboCASH project, the core programming and development is still done in Cape Town. "Our project community consists of small development and consulting firms, who are the best people to assist SME businesses. Most of our project members work from home, and our network is the Internet.

"It`s a myth of open source that it is a completely distributed development," says Copeman. "Sure we get contributions from all over the world, but it still requires a core team to co-ordinate the code". Copeman says the project makes its money from pay-per-click ads on the download sites and on selling commercial plug-ins and documentation. "The consultants support themselves with installation fees and training. Rather than following the centralised approach used by commercial companies, we create a self-sustaining community in which users get supported and consultants make a living."

COMING SOON

Copeman is an avid open source fan. "The open source model is irresistible," he says. "It will become a player in every major software segment."

He points out that open source needs no expensive marketing or logistical budgets, nor is it limited to a country`s borders. "We can deploy releases many times faster than our commercial competitors, and on the Internet, delivery is instant. Wherever bandwidth is cheap, open source rules," he says.

"Open source has been slow to take off in SA. It`s ironic that in a country that is pursuing emerging business, we have found our best success in foreign markets. The future of open source in SA will depend on whether or not it can unshackle itself from the telco monopolies and embrace the Internet."

Copeman adds that SA needs more open source producers, and says: "Developers and project members need to look outwards. The Internet makes the world a very small place."