FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How can I get your software?
      • The cohousing software is available at http://code.google.com/p/pinax-cohousing/
      • The food distribution software is demoed at http://foodnetworksoftware.org/ and available at https://github.com/bhaugen/foodnetwork
      • The timber software needs to be redeveloped using Django. It originally ran on JotSpot software, which is now defunct. If you are interested, send us an email.
      • We are now working on a new project for loosely-coupled economic networks of any kind, at http://valnet.webfactional.com/
      • If you have a different kind of local economic group that needs software, send us an email.
  • How much does it cost?
      • Our open-source software is free. If you can install it yourself, you don't need us beyond the initial software download, although we would like you to let us know what you are doing with it, and contribute any improvements you make back to the main project.
      • We do not charge the initial local economic groups of a type for our services. By "initial economic groups of a type", we mean those groups that help us design a system for an economic domain, such as cooperative food distribution, cohousing, etc.
      • Once we think the system for a domain is ready for general use, the software will still be free and open source, but we may charge for our future services. But we will also set up discussion groups where users of the software can help each other.
      • If you want us to do any work for your group (new development, customization, installation, etc.), we do require that you communicate with us on a regular basis and help us to promote the software by letting us use your group's name, photos, testimonials, and introducing the software to other groups of your type.
      • We do not provide hosting or computers for running the software, so you will need to provide or pay for that. We recommend and use http://www.webfaction.com/ . They have several hosting plans for less than $10 per month (starting at $5.50).
      • We may in the future start hosting systems ourselves. Hosting is an expensive business to operate, and we will need to charge enough to make it self-suporting.
  • I don't have a local economic group, but I do have a business (joint venture, franchise, customer or supplier service, etc.) that could use group accounting or social network software. What can I do?
      • We are starting with local economic groups, because we think they are important to future survival. But we think the software we are developing is useful for many other kinds of businesses, too.
      • We believe that loosely-organized groups will be one of the most important business forms of the future. We see them popping up all over the world. Bernard Lunn calls them "Emergent Business Networks".
        • They take many forms: Joint ventures, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships, Cooperatives, organizations that have no name (yet). For example, thanks to a new Vermont law, we now have Virtual Corporations.
        • Unfortunately, the usual accounting system does not account for any of these groups. Our software does.
      • We'd love to work with you, and you can use our open-source software for free, but we would charge for our services (new development, customization, installation, support, etc.).