Parsley is a project to develop a free, open-source accounting system for small and very small businesses, community groups and individuals.
It will be a multi-user web application to make it easy to employ book-keepers working remotely, and will enable - but not enforce - open-book accounting
We are currently looking for partners, contributors and sponsors.
Platosys Technology is Edward Barrow, a self-taught programmer and systems designer with a background in intellectual property.
Edward Barrow has been involved with the intellectual property aspects of the Internet for over 18 years, since it first escaped the academic realm.
He is an articulate communicator with a clear technical and business mind, a competent systems developer, a specialist in intellectual property (specifically copyright licensing) and is available for any technical and commercial consultancy work requiring broad and flexible technical, commercial and communication skills.
Edward Barrow has been using the Java Programming Language extensively for five years and has designed and released (under the GPL) a number of APIs and packages in several different fields.
XML and XSLT are extensively used in systems designed by Edward Barrow, following any requirement for hierarchical data structures, data mappings and structured data exchange. HTML/xhtml and CSS are used for final rendering of data in web-pages.
A clear understanding of public/private key cryptography, including digital signatures, particularly OpenPGP. Produced the Enigma API which is a simplified wrapper for the BouncyCastle OpenPGP library
PHP and SQL (Postgresql and MySQL) can also be supported
Edward Barrow is a long-time user of the GNU-Linux Operating System, and is familiar with most of the currently used package-management systems
Edward Barrow working as Platosys produces and maintains a number of packages and APIs. These packages are developed for release under an appropriate licence (usually the GPL). They are often simple mid-level front-ends to existing open-source low-level packages, developed to give clearer abstractions on which to build high-level systems.
Most Platosys work is completed using the Java Programming Language; however, I am also happy to work in other languages such as PHP where the application requires.
Platosys will develop bespoke systems (principally Java web-applications) using our own and third-party components. Mostly the systems we develop are custom implementations of the peersite packages.
We are also very happy with these TLAs: SQL, XML, XSL, MVC and CSS. All our inhouse systems (from laptops to servers) run Debian-GNU/Linux (or variations thereof) and we use the NetBeans IDE with Sun's Java 6 JDK. Our servers run Apache Tomcat 6, and our database of choice is Postgresql
Platosys uses Subversion and Mercurial for version control.
The first part of building a system is to have a clear vision of what the user experience should be. This requires imagination and clear thinking. From this vision, the object model is developed, kept as simple as possible. Objects hold and process data, and interact with each other through clearly-defined interfaces; the system is then built from the Java classes that implement the object model and should then create for real the user experience first imagined.
Platosys tries to build functional demos that actually work - although this takes longer and is harder.
Platosys tries to develop to the latest open standards. Broken web-browsers such as Internet Explorer 5/6 or Netscape Navigator; Opera, Firefox, Safari and IE7 all now fully and correctly support the xhtml1.1 and css2 standards. Our software is developed and tested only on POSIX-compliant servers; however, all the usual dependencies (java, Tomcat, Postgresql, Subversion) will run on Microsoft servers so our software should require a minimum of tweaking. However support cannot be offered without access to Microsoft machines.
Edward Barrow has always been excited thinking about the potential of the network. It is likely to be as transformative as the invention of the printing press or writing.
The Internet opens office doors, filing cabinets and boardrooms. Organisations must learn to work under much greater potential public scrutiny. In the new era, transparency is a business asset and confidentiality a conflict of interest.
Traditional approaches to building consumer trust, such as the careful cultivation of brand loyalty, are easily subverted by imitation and forgery, and have been undermined by years of valuing brand over substance.
Technology now offers a new approach: trust through transparency. Organisations confident enough to open up their inner workings to customers and to the public will earn and deserve trust built on foundations far more secure than shallow branding.
Free and Open-Source Software, liberated but not necessarily gratis, is leading the Open Revolution and epitomises the motto "trust through transparency".
Platosys develops, uses, champions and supports free software in business and at home, on the laptop as well as on the server, and promotes Free Software in the local community.