On Sunday 03 June 2001 07:13, you wrote:
You are exactly right. To be useful, it would be a complex, feature rich program. In fact, M$ Project is (IMHO) a very poor example of project management software.
Jim
wow almost missed this great discussion. I couldnt agree with you more wrt MS.P however it is more entrenched than Word (they still have secretaries) in senior managment circles. Given the above it not based on technical merrit rather ease of use and intergration with other MS products IMHO. The interesting thing from this keyboard pounder is that Linux based GPL'd software is almost there. KDE Office is maturing fast, Kompany has added Rekal and the db API as well as Kivio (well its a good start...iconography needs some seriouse work) If a C++/QT application were written it could easily make use of the existing feature set that is available from this application set (not suite..:)) Similarily intergration with Open Office would be a possibility if xml file formats were supported. This is not a new discussion however, see http://www.faqs.org/faqs/proj-plan-faq/ Here is a quick list of available software on that other platform. http://www.infogoal.com/pmc/pmcswr.htm I used to work for a very large consulting frim. We used MS and MSP religiousely when I started then saw an opportunity and wrote our own based on PMI value system/concepts (see http://www.pmi.org) , as they specialized in engineering project management support services. At last check they were bought out by a Brit Multinational and now use and offer Prima Vera (see http://www.primavera.com/ ) Whats the point here. Good software is available but not at reasonable costs, highly specialized and does not compete with MS Project. They currently do not even have muti-user support. (I think..I still us MSP95) (see http://www.artemispm.com/ and links to MSP there) never mind enterprise support. So why is this stuff so popular. Well it covers all the basics, is very easy to use, integrates well with all other MS applications, and it "looks good" Security and ease of use for sophisticated used is a differnt story but that is not the target market. Other similar apps are in some cases much more feature rich or complete but suck big time in appearance and integration/interoperability. (see above list) Also this can very easily become a very specialized area/discipline (see http://www.pmi.org) Final point. A linux based PM application of similar capabilites (with additions) to MSP and integrated with currently used linux based office applications, a db backend and web (python?) capabilities would rock in some select circles. While it would be a big project in terms of code if it were done and done right, in terms of a selected target markets it would do well. I would pay for this...:) Im not a coder, older managment lacki type in civil engineering arena so I cant code,...... but I can write...:) Would love to help out in suitable area if this got off the ground. -- Best Chris