
Tree.io – Open Source Business Management Software - X4
http://tree.io/
======
borplk
Every time I come across these projects I think an easy to use web fronted for
Docker would be amazingly useful.

Anyone could install it once and from then you just switch Docker containers
in and out to try different projects, etc... and don't have to do the bulk of
the server preparation that 99% of people don't know how to do properly or
just can't bother with.

It will bring this amazing wealth of self-hosted projects to the every day
user.

If it becomes popular projects will start providing Docker containers.

A registry can also be made so that you can search and install them without
hassle right from the UI.

Or the command line, "docker-get install tree.io"

Take my idea and run with it! Run!

~~~
shykes
Docker already includes a registry :)

"docker pull borplk/tres.io"?

You can search at [http://index.docker.io](http://index.docker.io)

~~~
shykes
And web UIs for docker:

[https://github.com/crosbymichael/dockerui](https://github.com/crosbymichael/dockerui)

[https://github.com/ehazlett/shipyard](https://github.com/ehazlett/shipyard)

------
hardwaresofton
I think the model might be a little bit misguided (having everything in one
place is not necessarily a good thing, specialization and all) -- but open
source and awesome? I'm down with that

~~~
drone
Agreed, although there are more capable ERP systems out there of varying
degrees of openness, I've found many of them suffer from one serious core flaw
(for my needs):

Failure to integrate effectively with Quickbooks or QBO (the latter being more
likely for most ERP-like systems these days). I understand that some
businesses need fewer advanced financial features, but every promise of
"integrated one-stop back-end" has left me with having to have multiple
processes for the same task.

I wish more of these projects would integrate with common, effective, players
in specialized areas rather than trying to "be everything to everyone" \- a
good ERP system these days would really be glue between the powerhouses moreso
than replacements.

Alas, this project looks to be struggling - no blog posts since 2011, and
minimal activity over 2013 in github.

~~~
X4
I wouldn't say the other software are more capable, but rather more
featureful. The problem with OpenBravo and SugarCRM is that it's really really
difficult to use. Every procedure depends on another procedure and you need a
Book to get going. As a company that is a massive backshot when you have to
teach existing employees.

I argue that simplicity in the UI and clear workflows going through the entire
application are essential for success, well and marketing. And tree.io had no
good marketing, I hope it gets some fresh wind thanks to HN on Github.

------
Killah911
This is really awesome. The only thing that keeps me from using it right away
is that it doesn't seem to have much activity. Anyone have the DL on the
creators of the project and if they're maybe monetizing by doing support etc?

Would love to use this, just worried about getting stuck up the creek without
a paddle. Many forum questions appear to have been lingering there for months
without a response.

------
exceptione
It looks to be a feature-rich tool. Does anyone know why development has
stopped 9 months ago? At least, I conclude so from the github commit history.

~~~
glibgil
Always use the graph to see what is happening across all branches and tags.
[https://github.com/treeio/treeio/network](https://github.com/treeio/treeio/network)

~~~
hatsix
0 commits on master and 0 bugs fixed in 9 months, a handful of commits by a
user who branched off of master a couple months ago (and no PRs)... I think
it's safe to say that that the 'public' version has been dormant for 9 months.

~~~
glibgil
It is safe to say that a pull request could happen at any time, which it did.
This project has now been dormant for 22 minutes.
[https://github.com/treeio/treeio/commit/32319c82ca45ff653ca2...](https://github.com/treeio/treeio/commit/32319c82ca45ff653ca23b111dbc783cdef0ad05)

------
zdw
I'm stunned that nobody has made one of these that's CLI based and
scriptable...

~~~
drmr
Org mode?

[http://orgmode.org/](http://orgmode.org/)

------
clarkm
Did this used to be called Giteso? Did it just get renamed to Tree.io or it a
completely different product?

I'm only asking because the bottom of
[http://tree.io/en/jobs](http://tree.io/en/jobs) mentions it. :)

~~~
radicalbyte
[http://wayback.archive.org/web/20110228035141/http://tree.io...](http://wayback.archive.org/web/20110228035141/http://tree.io/)

> © 2011 Giteso Ltd. All rights reserved. > Registered in England. Company No.
> 07416236

------
ziggamon
Name seemed familiar, and in deed their blog has posts from 2011 when they
were a SaaS. Anyone know what happened, did it simply fail and they open
sourced it or is there something else in play here?

Cool project either way though :)

~~~
JohnLBevan
My guess is enterprises were scared of going the SaaS route; partly as this
model is still relatively new, but mainly because companies like to keep their
data in house (or at least need the option to easily get hold of a regular
backup / with some way to quickly restore it should the vendor go under).

~~~
treeio
Infrastructure costs. We had too many users on the free tier (5 users for
free) and our server costs went through the roof. We didn't know how to find
investment and my business partner needed cash so took a contract job.

------
eranation
Any idea how they plan to make money? (it's MIT licensed) support? / hosting?
or is it not for profit?

~~~
siddboots
I think consulting.

~~~
X4
yes, exactly. Their current business-model is support and consulting afaik.

------
JesseObrien
Can anyone get the install process to actually work? I got to 'python
manage.py installdb' and it failed because that command doesn't exist in
manage.py. I tried a bunch of the other commands from manage.py help as well
and still nothing.

~~~
mjhagen
I had to install MySQL-python, but now I'm stuck on a foreign key conflict
when importing the initial data.json file.

    
    
        IntegrityError: (1452, 'Cannot add or update a child row: a foreign key constraint fails (`treeiodb`.`core_user`, CONSTRAINT `user_id_refs_id_4bf8d20` FOREIGN KEY (`user_id`) REFERENCES `auth_user` (`id`))')

~~~
X4
[https://github.com/treeio/treeio/issues/39](https://github.com/treeio/treeio/issues/39)

~~~
treeio
I've updated the README to include this.

------
X4
Here's a video introducing it:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKhxzwO43k&list=UUBWJQIUhDQz...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKhxzwO43k&list=UUBWJQIUhDQzrPn0Yi-6pgDw)

------
etchalon
That's a.) incredible that it's open source (thanks!) but b.) truly a terrible
UI.

~~~
sleepyhead
Like all open source applications. I use OSS exclusively for development. I
think the only OSS GUI app I use is Sequel Pro (which is actually quite good).

------
obituary_latte
Am I reading it wrong or do the website and repo licenses not match?

~~~
rbanffy
The site says "free open source" and the repo has a BSD-ish license in it.
Where did you find the conflicting info?

~~~
obituary_latte
[http://tree.io/en/download](http://tree.io/en/download) says Creative Commons
but in the repo .README it says MIT.

~~~
tracker1
CC may only apply to the artwork/creatives, where MIT may refer to the code..
this is only speculation.

~~~
treeio
The code is MIT licensed, the website has not been updated.

------
Bjoern
This reminds me of TeamBox (version 3 is also opensource).

------
pbreit
I'm not sure "ambitious" is even the right word to describe such a project. A
demo would be nice. I'm guessing the project has 0 real users (download <>
user).

~~~
X4
I measured that +53 Stars have appeared on Github right after posting the
link. It received 38 points until now, that means more people have interest in
the software than people are upvoing on HN. That's really good to know, I feel
sympathy with people who opensource their efforts to help the people of the
world. (328 Stars pre HN)

~~~
treeio
Thanks X4, I put over a year of hard work and a lot of my own money into
Tree.io. I'm happy that it's used around the world by companies and
universities even though I don't get any money from it.

~~~
X4
How about adding a viable business model that brings you some constant money
in? I mean you are a really good startup, why don't you ask for VC funding or
Enterprise Sponsors?

Maybe a solid and good marketed Kickstarter Campaign that will realize
something that people would love to have (I don't know what that is though).

Or adding an integrated Marketplace like
[http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/](http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/)
that seamlessly integrates into everyones Tree.io so that devs can sell their
addons to end-users directly within their own install + you get 11% for every
sold license. End-users can point, click and pay.

~~~
treeio
Thanks X4 I like the marketplace idea a lot.

