Quicken on Linux by 2020 for Those Rejecting Windows 10 (15 Legacy & 2 Merged Votes)

13

Comments

  • bmciance
    bmciance SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    According  to stats found online Windows is 75% of the market, Mac is 16% and Linux is 2%. Doubtful it is going to happen.  
  • Get with it
    Get with it Member ✭✭
    Yeah, and crypto will never take off either. :o
  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Member ✭✭✭✭
    And in the 2% market share there is like 100 distributions.  So you can't even build a "Linux version".  You have to build a Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora, .... versions.

    It just isn't going to happen.  You can believe anything you like, cost to reward just isn't there.
    Signature:
    This is my website: http://www.quicknperlwiz.com/
  • Greg_the_Geek
    Greg_the_Geek SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    I've read all the excuses for why Quicken can't get its act together and make a version for Linux but with more and more people getting away from corrupt Microsoft and Apple, how about getting ahead of the curve and starting the development since it's likely inevitable that it will be needed to stay in touch with the market.
    You could try CrossOver from Code Weavers. Windows Software on Mac, Linux, and ChromeOS with CrossOver | CodeWeavers They have a free trial.
    Quicken Subscription HBRP - Windows 10
  • joec319
    joec319 Member
    Hello,

    I would like to make a suggestion for Quicken.

    Since Quicken doesn't have a version for Linux, one way that Quicken could get that started is modifying the Windows version so that it can run on Wine on Linux. I've tried running Quicken on Wine in Linux, and I've bumped into a number of issues that have led to me not getting it to run. Although I've found ways to work around some of the issues, there are still many other issues I'm trying to work around.

    For example, with the current Quicken for Windows version, if you run the installer, it automatically installs the PDF Printer Driver. That causes the installer to not install Quicken through Wine on Linux. If Quicken modified the Windows version to give the option whether to install the PDF Printer Driver, it would complete the installation process in Linux through Wine.

    So my main idea is if the developers can see what needs to be modified to run Quicken for Windows in Linux using Wine. If Quicken can develop a more "bare bones" version of Quicken for Windows that runs in Linux via Wine, that would be a great option.

    Thanks!

    Joe
  • garysmith87
    garysmith87 Member ✭✭✭✭
    Doesn't Crossover make a Windows emulator for Linux machines?  You could then run Quicken Windows on Linux machines.  
  • isonclubikin
    isonclubikin Member ✭✭✭✭
    joec319 said:
    ...For example, with the current Quicken for Windows version, if you run the installer, it automatically installs the PDF Printer Driver. That causes the installer to not install Quicken through Wine on Linux. If Quicken modified the Windows version to give the option whether to install the PDF Printer Driver, it would complete the installation process in Linux through Wine....
    And the kicker with that PDF Printer Driver is that it's not needed.  I'm almost positive Windows comes with its own PDF Printer driver.  But, even if it didn't, people can always install their own from various sources.

    Of course, the instructions I've found for the Quicken installation executable give commands to disable that bit.  But, all that does it allow me to finish the installation.  No matter what I try, I can't get the actual program to run.  I've been using Quicken for at least 24 years.  As of right now, it's the ONLY thing keeping me tied to Windows.
  • jtemplin
    jtemplin Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2022
    Chris_QPW said:
    And in the 2% market share there is like 100 distributions.  So you can't even build a "Linux version".  You have to build a Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora, .... versions.

    I'm an experienced software developer and laugh when folks say that "Quicken needs to get it's act together and make a Linux version". The Mac rewrite tells you everything you need to know as to why a Linux rewrite won't happen. Of that 2% that run Linux, how many Quicken licenses do you expect to sell to them? My bet is far, far less than even the 2%. How do you get your software development costs back on that? You don't. Especially when the Linux FOSS crowd will balk at paying what Quicken Inc would need charge to even try to break even.
  • jtemplin
    jtemplin Member ✭✭✭✭
    Yeah, and crypto will never take off either. :o
    Well, that aged well, didn't it?  ;)
  • Here's a direction that I think Quicken should seriously consider. I think the front-end display portion of the product and the back-end database portion of the product should be split out. They should be much less tied to the operating systems (like .net). Instead, more "open" tools should be utilized, such as MySQL or Postgres for the database. That way it would be mutli-platform capable. It would also give the more technical users of the product the ability to function in more of a client/server type environment. We could run the database portion on our backend linux servers. The front-end display portion could (for now) run on Windows/Mac The product would probably be Much more efficient and be the start of a nice way to work towards a completely platform independent product. Building the actual Quicken product on top of already open and platform independent underlying tools would open up a lot of doors that are not currently available to you by adding a completely new market. It would also inherently add mutli-user capabilities to the product which could potentially put you in the running to directly compete with your once parent company. I realize that a lot of your current user base is just looking for a one click install to run on a standalone PC, but your default installer could do just that and hide all of the separate pieces. Then just have the advanced instructions for the alternate installation methods which would give the more technical users exactly what they want. As you develop the front-end interfaces for the other platforms (mac, linux, etc), you could then offer the complete product on any platform. This will obviously take several years to complete, but your product would be much better and way more flexible giving us Linux users exactly what we're looking for.
  • Ps56k2
    Ps56k2 SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Niemand Wichtig said: Here's a direction that I think Quicken should seriously consider. I think the front-end display portion of the product and the back-end database portion of the product should be split out.
    Great ideas - how much more are you willing to invest in the cost of Quicken to handle this non-revenue development ?
    OR - are you expecting to have Quicken become "free" like most of the other involved software...


    QWin - R54.16 - Win10

  • jtemplin
    jtemplin Member ✭✭✭✭
    My crystal ball: desktop Quicken isn't going to get major development money to make the kind of front- back- end split described by @Niemand Wichtig. As Simplifi grows in functionality over time, that will become Quicken Inc's flagship product which people will want to use on their iPads and phones. The web is how you get multi-platform.

  • candyheart
    candyheart Member
    I run Ubuntu and have Windows running in VirtualBox VM. The only reason I run Windows is for Quicken. The VM slows my system down CONSIDERABLY. I would really like to run quick in Ubuntu, or using Wine under Ubuntu. At this point I am exploring other options for Quicken!!
  • Forrest1
    Forrest1 Member
    We've been using Ubuntu linux for 15 years or so, and using Quicken. Originally we used a dual-boot to run Quicken under Windows, then a VM for several years: both of these are somewhat tedious.
    We've used Crossover for several years with great success, both with the "old" Quicken and with the subscription version. Codeweavers has good customer support for Crossover, which is nice since both Ubuntu and Quicken get updates that can cause glitches. We use it for business, and the small cost is well worth the time saved.
  • Aelnyon
    Aelnyon Member
    I have been using quicken in Windows since 2000. But, over the years, my hatred with windows keeps growing, and I am not going to go beyond Windows 7. And, as a disabled stay-at-home mom, I do not have the funds available to buy a Mac. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE may Quicken able to be used on a Linux system!!!!!
  • I've been using Quicken for at least 20 years. I could not stomach microsofts "big brother" attitude any longer and switched to Linux. Since Quicken will not provide a version for Linux, I will be canceling my Quicken subscription and moving to something different. It may not be as easy to use but it's worth it to keep my minute to minute activity out of sight of big brother fascist bill and his minions.
  • Greg_the_Geek
    Greg_the_Geek SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    You could try CrossOver from Code Weavers. Windows Software on Mac, Linux, and ChromeOS with CrossOver | CodeWeavers They have a free trial.
    Quicken Subscription HBRP - Windows 10
  • David Nagy
    David Nagy Member

    I have been running Quicken on Linux using CrossOver for about 3 years (based on my memory of paying support to CodeWeavers, the makers of CrossOver) and found it to be responsive and stable. It would make updates, download from accounts I can connect to, and import from downloaded data as needed. Because it was running 'natively' in Linux (Ubuntu 20.04), I could start it when I needed it.

    WIth the most recent updates from Quicken (I can't tell you what version since it no longer starts), Quicken now requires installation of 'Microsoft Webview2'. I can download the setup file and run it in a CrossOver bottle (their term for a WIn10 instance) but Quicken does not recognize that any part(s) of Webview2 has been installed and tells me to download and install it. Trying to bypass this step causes Quicken to stop. I tried installing Webview2 into the bottles but this doesn't help either (and I'm warned that it is only partially compatible).

    So I'm screwed.

    This leaves me with three choices: 1) Start a VM of Win10 and run Quicken in it, 2) Buy a cheap PC to run Quicken only, or 3) Switch to another product.

    I'm going to try these in the order I described. I have had success using H&R Block Tax software in a VM but I only use it a couple months per year. And, VMs aren't immune to problems either, sometimes locking up my entire system when Windows tries to boot.

    Bottom line is that Quicken's choice to use Webview2 (for whatever reason) has rendered the product unusable on my Linux box running under Crossover (I run the latest release - 22.1).

  • Greg_the_Geek
    Greg_the_Geek SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    I would contact CodeWeavers first. Microsoft Edge Webview2 Runtime should be able to be accessible from the CrossOver bottle.

    If you are going to try a VM, I would suggest trying the free VirtualBox first.

    Quicken Subscription HBRP - Windows 10
  • Sabre38
    Sabre38 Member, Windows Beta, Mac Beta Beta

    Codeweaver knows about the problem and working on it. I do not know the timing. Hope they fitx it fast ! I received an email from them this AM.

  • jsarnese
    jsarnese Member

    I am having the same problem with webview2 runtime. Need it fixed fast.

  • cdennett
    cdennett Member ✭✭✭

    I recently switched Quicken from a Windows 10 machine to my Fedora 38 Linux server when the Windows system had a hardware failure. The latest version of Crossover correctly downloads and installs webview2. It works. I've purchased the license from Codeweavers. I have noticed a couple of very minor things.

    1. Quicken is asking me to log into my Quicken account the first time I try to update accounts after starting it. That may be a new Quicken bug as I've seem some others reporting this.
    2. When I exit Quicken it back steps quickly through all the screens I've used since starting it. Don't recall seeing that under Windows.
    3. I can use the preferences to adjust the fonts used in registers. However the other area, account list. popups, etc. as far as I can see not changeable. They're ok but I'd like to be able to modify them.

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Member ✭✭✭✭

    @cdennett

    On #2, this actually always happens, but probably happens so fast on your old machine that you didn't see it. Quicken doesn't destroy windows that it creates as you open them, it just hides them when you go to somewhere else in Quicken. It does this to speed up opening up the same window again. And when you close Quicken they get destroyed and you might see that.

    On #3 that is normal. Quicken doesn't allow you to change fonts everywhere.

    Signature:
    This is my website: http://www.quicknperlwiz.com/
  • Backu
    Backu Member

    For anyone interested in this still… I had successfully gotten Quicken to operate normally within WINE, trying to remember exactly what I did now to recreate it… let me know, and I'll post.

  • cdennett
    cdennett Member ✭✭✭

    I've been running Quicken on my Linux desktop (Fedora) under Crossover. It uses WINE under the hood and is supported. A license is $74/year. Works quite well.

  • wrlee
    wrlee Member

    I had my Quicken subscription running fine for several months until the WINE update a couple of days ago… now I cannot get it working again. :-( Back to WIndows on a VM)

  • Well, I've been a software developer for almost 40 years now. I've worked on real computers, tiny x86 stuff, even medical devices. When I'm not being a geek I also write an award winning technical book series. Check out theminimumyouneedtoknow dot com if you are curious.

    Had quicken developers used a C++ cross platform GUI like CopperSpice, wxWidgets, LVGL, even elements, etc. they could easily support Windows, MAC, and Linux from the same code base. I've done it many times over the years.

    My mother used Quicken from days of DOS for the farm and trucking company accounting. She has passed now, but it is all my brother knows as well, so I have to maintain a Windows machine for this. I have been using Linux for over a decade as my primary desktop. I always have at least 5 machines running in my office and I'm the only one who works there. Please allow me to dispel some myths.

    Myth 1: You have to create a package for every Linux distro, you cannot create just one.

    Roughly 20 years ago that was true. I still create .DEB and .RPM packages for my OpenSource work, but I also create AppImage and will soon create FlatPaks as well. Both AppImage and FlatPak bundle everything that is needed so you just drop them in. You can build one on Ubuntu and it will run on Fedora, OpenSuSE, and every YABU (Yet Another uBUntu). Most major Linux distros now integrate FlatHub for their package source so once your package is on FlatHub it is available to all users of modern Linux distros. (I'm new so I cannot paste links, you have to search.)

    Myth 2: Linux users don't pay for anything

    There will always be Freetards, they exist in the world of Windows too. Eventually someone comes out with something "free" that many consider good enough and the market goes away. I used to pay north of $300 for a text editor and another $400 for a compiler. On Linux and many other platforms there is now the free Gnu C++ compiler and hundreds of free text editors. I've even written the RedDiamond text editor which is available free as OpenSource (just not yet ported to Windows as I don't consider it complete.)

    There are lots of "free" word processors for Linux yet I pay for TextMaker. I really tried to be a fan of LibreOffice and wrote a few books with it, but it is the most unstable software I've ever used. I consider the original source files for the books I wrote with it lost because you can't open them with newer versions without them being mangled. You can do your own search for Softmaker's revenues. I just know they've ported TextMaker to just about everything, including your phone, so they probably used a cross platform GUI library.

    I pay for commercial backup software for all my machines. There are literally hundreds of "free" backup technologies and "scripts" in Linux-land, but and a whole lot of others pay for commercial grade.

    There are dozens of "accounting packages" available for Linux and they all suck. I even wrote xpns-it and OpenSourced it a decade or so ago. I've written that thing probably twenty times over the decades experimenting with different tools. One iteration was even in Lotus Approach. People **** about having to install PostgreSQL, I don't care. I wrote it for me and I wanted a production quality database. Had I wrote it for them I would have used SQLite.

    RedHat reported $879 million in fourth quarter revenue in 2019 (first result came up in search). They earn that much money because Linux users pay them for support contracts.

    Canonical (makers of Ubuntu) had $175 million in revenue in 2022 and plans an IPO in 2023. Again, this is Linux users paying for stuff.

    While there are certainly Linux distros put out by 12 year old boys trying to prove their programming chops, most of the ones you hear about are looking to pop past the $100 million per year in support revenue because Linux users pay for support.

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Member ✭✭✭✭

    40+ software developer here too. If we could all go back in time and tell people what they should have done to support the future, well… (Personally, if I knew that much about the future I would have just invested in the "right securities").

    The fact is that the Quicken developers didn't do that, and it doesn't matter whether the Linux users will pay or not. It just isn't practical for a company that has about 200 employees total, and a dying product market (Desktop personal finance) to do a total rewrite.

    The truth is this company at least for now depends on the Windows product that has been developed over all those years, because even they can't write a new version like it in any practical sense of time or money. There is a reason that all those Linux accounting programs stink, writing such a program at first seems "basic", but in truth is extremely hard to pull off.

    What has really surprised me is Quicken Simplifi, which is their newest Web/Mobile application. It is pretty clear they think that is the future, but what is surprising is that they don't seem to feel they need to go past the most basic of functionality. Of course, my surprise is probably due to the fact that I look at things as a programmer and not as business marketer. They probably have a much better handle on what the "new users" want and will pay for.

    Intuit started a rewrite of Quicken Mac in 2008 (which would have been a good time to do this, but again they didn't) and to this day it isn't "complete either compared to the features in Quicken Mac 2007 or to Quicken Windows Subscription Deluxe (but in some ways it is better than Quicken Windows because of the benefits of rewriting it and just generally I think they have more experienced programmers working on it).

    And note I believe that if it wasn't for the fact that at the time Quicken Mac made up just a few percent of the Quicken users and Quicken Windows didn't get a rewrite, I don't think Quicken would be here today. In other words, they took from 2008 to 2010 to put out Quicken Mac Essentials, and it was so "essential" that basically they couldn't sell it. It took until 2015 before they could get a fair amount of people to pay for Quicken Mac again. If they weren't making money on Quicken Windows Intuit would certainly have abandon it, as it was it wasn't too long after that they sold it off. Even to this day Quicken Windows has to be most of Quicken Inc's revenue (but that is changing) and any such rewrite would have to be in parallel to current development and for many, many years.

    Signature:
    This is my website: http://www.quicknperlwiz.com/
  • jtemplin
    jtemplin Member ✭✭✭✭

    "Had quicken developers used a C++ cross platform GUI like CopperSpice, wxWidgets, LVGL, even elements, etc. they could easily support Windows, MAC, and Linux from the same code base. I've done it many times over the years."

    Well, being curious, I looked up some of those toolsets (none of them immediately rang a bell). It seems very little was available or mature enough to have bet the company on them the early 1990's when the first Quicken for Windows was being developed. wxWidgets was only started in 1992. It would not surprise me at all if much of the early Windows code was straight Win32 which was probably the safest choice at the time when cross platform wasn't as important.

    Woulda, coulda, shoulda judgements here are easy but myopic.

    Side note: I do contract work on a very old Windows application that was originally published by the former Sierra but under new ownership now. Sierra also published a Mac version from the same code base but rolled all their own cross-platform code. The number of #defines and #ifdefs in the code to choose what to compile are staggering. Because Apple kept changing development tools and processes, they eventually dropped Mac support and Sierra eventually went out of business. But the Win32 code just keeps chugging along, working in Windows 10 and 11 to this day. Think what you will of Microsoft, but application backward compatibility has been amazing.