With all of these different systems that might fit you will probably find that most of them *will* fit. But you need to ensure that their problem is solved. Providing the working software is only part of the solution to their problem.
They need to have: - someone help them to input the historical data, - someone to teach them how to use the software - someone to ensure that the system continues to run - at least one person in their organisation who is prepared to use the software It's always easy to find a piece of software to do the job but unless there are people that can help with those bullet points then you are on a hiding to nothing. Software systems are about people as much as the technology. This means that a largish capital outlay pushes the management into making the staff use the system. So getting them to invest in a good quality OS system is going to get them a better system and give them that push. In my not so humble opinion ... :-/ On Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 7:01 PM, Steve Holdoway <st...@greengecko.co.nz>wrote: > Depending on their goals, then quite possibly buddypress, or just parts > of moodle ( if they're maybe looking at putting course stuff online / > storing results etc ) will do most of what is requested. Taking Nicks > model of getting the clients ( well probably parents ) to do the > tedious, time consuming data entry, then the cost should be far less > than suggested so far. > > My $0.02, > > > Steve > > > On Mon, 2012-11-05 at 18:36 +1300, Christopher Sawtell wrote: > > Quoting http://kexi-project.org/wiki/wikiview/index....@welcome.html > > > > > > Kexi is Free/Libre/Open-Source Software. As a real member of the KDE > > and Calligra Suite projects, Kexi integrates fluently into both. It is > > designed to be fully usable also without KDE on Linux/Unix, Mac OS X > > (with Fink) and MS Windows platforms. > > > > > > So I suspect, and fear, that it might well run on windows, on the > > other hand, knowing the nature of the beasts with which we are > > dealing, it might well not. > > > > > > But then taking your suggestion of using a browser to access the > > database: A browser is a browser you know. So why does it matter as > > far as the client is concerned what the underlaying o/s is? > > > > > > > > > > On 5 November 2012 18:13, Nick Rout <nick.r...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > On Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 3:28 PM, Christopher Sawtell > > <csawt...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Has anybody used KDE/Calligra's Kexi for this kind of > > thing? > > > > > > > > > > > > Does it run on windows? I am guessing these people will not > > want to also get used to a new OS. > > > > > > > > On 5 November 2012 14:53, Zane Gilmore > > <zaneli...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 3:52 PM, Nick Rout > > <nick.r...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 3:19 PM, Roy > > Britten <roy.brit...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > <snip> > > A spreadsheet is capable of > > producing reports, and if > > there are only a few changes > > for kid X then a cut and paste > > from last term's spreadsheet > > line to this term's is pretty > > damn simple, and not really > > time consuming at all. > > > > We all know spreadsheets are not > > databases, despite the fact many > > people use them as such, but is their > > existing solution just being badly > > managed? I cannot for the life of me > > imagine why anyone would not just > > print out a report from last term and > > say "change anything that needs > > updating and sign it" - then do a c&p > > and make any necessary changes > > > > > > These are really good points. Spreadsheets > > could probably do the job but they require a > > lot of discipline, a lot of patience and a lot > > of technical expertise to make them work for a > > job that could blow out in size and complexity > > at any time. > > > > > > They have a budget to > > implement a "proper" solution > > for tracking kids' > > details. They've been quoted > > five-figure sums for American > > off-the-shelf solutions which > > seems a bit much. > > > > > > "Off the shelf" (read proprietary) solutions > > aren't much better, they cost a huge sum just > > for an installation and the you *still* need > > to get it going for the business. If you pay > > for an outfit to develop it from OS technology > > stacks then you will save them money in the > > long run. > > > > I reckon this list is a good > > place to discuss suitable > > OS/Linux > > solutions. Go! I'll start > > with: can OpenOffice (or > > LibreOffice, or > > whatever) be customised up to > > support this sort of thing? > > > > > > Open/Libre have database hooks - there > > is a menu for LibreOffice Base in my > > Linux Mint system. However I would > > have thought a LAMP based system would > > be a possible answer. > > > > > > Using something like Rails,Django or Cake > > someone should be able to put something > > together reasonably quickly. > > > > > > There are libraries for producing pdf > > reports from databases or other data, > > reportlab for example. > > > > Whether the costs of setting something > > like that up and maintaining it is any > > less than 5 figures, I don't know. > > > > > > > > To get someone who actually knows what is > > required to do this will almost certainly cost > > into the 5 figures. even if it is low 5 > > figures. > > From your description (disclaimer: I am > > hazarding an educated guess from your > > description) to write this shouldn't be much > > more than a week or 2 of work but the main > > thing is the maintenance and ongoing tweaks. > > You will need to talk to an outfit who wants > > this kind of work. Try talking to the guys at > > Egressive ( http://egressive.com/ ) It's a > > local Open Source development company. If they > > don't want the job, they might be able to > > point you at someone who does. > > > > > > HTH, > > Zane > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > ------------------------------------------- > > Zane Gilmore > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Linux-users mailing list > > Linux-users@lists.canterbury.ac.nz > > > http://lists.canterbury.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/linux-users > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Sincerely, > > Christopher Sawtell > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Linux-users mailing list > > Linux-users@lists.canterbury.ac.nz > > > http://lists.canterbury.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/linux-users > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Linux-users mailing list > > Linux-users@lists.canterbury.ac.nz > > http://lists.canterbury.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/linux-users > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Sincerely, > > Christopher Sawtell > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Linux-users mailing list > > Linux-users@lists.canterbury.ac.nz > > http://lists.canterbury.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/linux-users > > -- > Steve Holdoway BSc(Hons) MIITP > http://www.greengecko.co.nz > MSN: st...@greengecko.co.nz > Skype: sholdowa > > _______________________________________________ > Linux-users mailing list > Linux-users@lists.canterbury.ac.nz > http://lists.canterbury.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/linux-users > > -- ------------------------------------------- Zane Gilmore
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