ERP5 Handbook/Introduction

Preface

This book tells about a leading Open Source ERP system. It is of French origin, but multilingual and deployed in many countries. It is versatile, powerful, complex, abstract and free. We (authors) think it is great, and we want it to be used by more people so that there is a community of users supporting each other in a true Open Source spirit. This is why we are writing this handbook.

Audience

This book is written for people, who are interested in developing, implementing ERP5 - ERP Open Source system. You will learn basics of ERP5 - usage, development - and ways of searching for more help. If you are a technician, consultant or hacker - this book is for you. If you are a businessman without time for hacking through big systems with many connections this book is not for you. Take a look at erp5.org and hand this page over to your IT guy.

Keep in mind that ERP systems are quite complex - you will need time to deploy its test installation.

What you should know before proceeding

An ERP5 system uses the following technologies (programming language, server side technology, relational database...). Your set-up should be similar, and familiarity with them will help.

• Python programming language
• Zope, version 2, application server
• XML
• MySQL relational database
• Subversion - version control system

Of course experience in business and modelling business processes is quite helpful.