This blog started nine years ago. First there was a Kickstarter campaign, then progress reports on the 64-bit update for Goldenseal accounting software.
It’s embarrassing to read posts from the early days. I was so clueless. Back then, the best guess was six months to whip out an upgrade. That’s how long previous updates took for OSX and two chip changes (680×0 to PPC to Intel). Macs still had another 5 years of support for 32-bit apps, so it seemed like plenty of time to spare.
This banner sums up what really happened:
Updating the basic 32-bit code wasn’t bad: it only took a few months. Then our staff spent a year rewriting the basic database engine. Meanwhile, several subcontractors worked on the human interface. All gave up. Moving from an older GUI library (PowerPlant) to a 64-bit framework was just too hard.
Our staff took over, and wasted 3 years trying to build a GUI with Apple’s Cocoa framework. That also failed. The next plan was to go Windows-only. Sadly, Microsoft’s frameworks were even worse than Apple’s. At least we realized it sooner, and only wasted a year.
After a year of Covid obsession, our staff finally tried Qt. It was more successful. After 9 years of struggle, it’s looking good for a software release this winter.
Right now, the biggest snag is real estate.
To run software on current desktops, we need to register the app with Apple and Microsoft, and jump through some hoops. Ditto for a Qt license and trademark. All those things will work better with a new LLC.
Problem is, TurtleSoft has been in temporary quarters since May. When the office vacated and the house sold, there was an extreme drought of home listings. Excellent for sellers, not so good for buyers. The dream of having sale and purchase closings on the same day evaporated. Instead, we scrambled up a month-to-month rental.
Since then, much time has been spent on Zillow and Realtor.com. We visited many fixer-uppers in both New York and Pennsylvania. Hard to incorporate without knowing the final state. Hence the snag for software progress.
Fortunately, more housing has gradually come onto the market. There are fewer snap sales and bidding wars. We compromised a bit, and made an offer on a house near Binghamton NY. It was accepted yesterday.
Closing is in September. We probably can focus more on programming until then. No more hourly checks on Zillow. There will be spells of moving chaos, but those should subside by October. Then it’s time to pick a name, build a beta version, and let folks try it.
Dennis Kolva
Programming Director
TurtleSoft.com
