thelinuxlink.net

There is suppose to be an open source software package that is an alternative to "Banner" software that a lot of colleges use. I could not find it on the web. I must be holding my tongue the wrong way. Does anyone know of a similar package?
thanx,
davi

????

Banner software like colleges use? what on earth are you talking about? link?

http://www.wcjc.edu/admin_offices_n/SCT ... efault.asp

Is that what you're talking about?

Vogateer wrote:http://www.wcjc.edu/admin_offices_n/SCT ... efault.asp

Is that what you're talking about?

ROFL! I didn't even RTFA, but those stock "computer stuff" jpegs are priceless, especially when there are no screenies of what the software looks like, and no pictures of what it produces

I always love the "people huddled around a computer while one ubergeek points at something earnestly with a pen" pics.

Yep, that is the beast. Interesting you picked that institution, my oldest daughter and ex live over in that area.

Vogateer wrote:http://www.wcjc.edu/admin_offices_n/SCT ... efault.asp

Is that what you're talking about?

Trust me, there's NOTHING like Banner or Datatel's Colleague in the Open Source environment. Why? Well, higher ed software has many many different regulations that have to be satisfied. For example, financial aid has very specific requirements. Payroll has the same thing (IRS) and more. The only thing you CAN do (and according to some clueless consultants, it's not a good thing to do) is write it in house. SCT Banner, Datatel's Colleague and Oracle's ERP for Higher Ed are the only games in town other then in house development. Even then, I wouldn't choose MySQL as the transaction backend necessarily. Remember, Oracle scales amazingly well on to larger and larger hardware. Usually, my advice for others are unless there's a significant reason to migrate from one ERP to another, you want to stay there. Users have time invested and so do the staff. if you are not on a ERP system currently, it may be better to invent your own ERP. The only thing that I know of out there that addresses higher ed at all and it's not even going to do what you want is Moodle. Moddle is more competitive with Blackboard.

I agree that banner is powerful and traditionally not so user friendly. Sct Banner/Oracle was used at the college where I used to work. Thanx for the info on scaling. There is an open source(with source) scaled down version.. I just need to find it again for something to start with before I plan to reinvent the wheel. Blackboard leaves a lot to be desired, but I have not really played with moodle extensively yet., If the oracle, datatel, and banner are the only game in town, then that sounds like an opportunity aka linux vs ms. I have plenty of time.....

gorkon wrote:Trust me, there's NOTHING like Banner or Datatel's Colleague in the Open Source environment. Why? Well, higher ed software has many many different regulations that have to be satisfied. For example, financial aid has very specific requirements. Payroll has the same thing (IRS) and more. The only thing you CAN do (and according to some clueless consultants, it's not a good thing to do) is write it in house. SCT Banner, Datatel's Colleague and Oracle's ERP for Higher Ed are the only games in town other then in house development. Even then, I wouldn't choose MySQL as the transaction backend necessarily. Remember, Oracle scales amazingly well on to larger and larger hardware. Usually, my advice for others are unless there's a significant reason to migrate from one ERP to another, you want to stay there. Users have time invested and so do the staff. if you are not on a ERP system currently, it may be better to invent your own ERP. The only thing that I know of out there that addresses higher ed at all and it's not even going to do what you want is Moodle. Moddle is more competitive with Blackboard.

Thanx for all who responded. I found something better than what I had originally found. It is in use by several major colleges.

Care to let us know what you selected?

I did not mean to leave anyone in suspense. I just wanted to be sure first. Changing my google search words have lead me to some new options. The temporary choice was Kuali.
I am negotiating with my current option, so I do not want to say yet.

Vogateer wrote:Care to let us know what you selected?