This thread pulls out, for a separate discussion, the remarks I made about rental systems here:
http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php? ... 676#p14193
And Sudane's helpful response here:
http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php? ... 193#p14198
Her basic points as I see it:
. * The old CDS system (built for SLNE, I think) is one-box-per-person, and one-payment-per-month.
. * The HIPPO system, which Rose uses on Al Andalus, and Sonja uses on her Arosa territory (a newer project, roughly modeled on Neufreistadt), is one-box-per-parcel, and can so more, but requires more programming in notecards.
. * One difficulty with our current situation is that the CDS law definitions of citizen, and land owner, are messy ... so it's not always easy pairing land parcels with owners, or owners with paying persons.
I agree with everything that Sudane wrote there.
The citizen and owner definitions = a great issue for the next RA. This last one did not take up that issue.
The rent system choice = As discussed with the RA this term, we kept the AA HIPPO boxes, after the CDS-AA merger, as our own experiment with that system. I think HIPPO passed the test. As Sonja points out, they are common and widely used. I think they passed the test. But for now, it is a real bother for Sudane as our Treasurer to have two streams of data from two different systems.
Choosing and merging the systems will be a significant issue for our next Chancellor.
Sonja also asked (http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php? ... 193#p14199) about payment for the software. Sudane kindly permitted CDS (really, herself) to use her system without cost. When she upgraded it for SLNE, we talked about this, because I think we should pay for what we get. My suggestion was that, if CDS chose to keep the original software, we should reimburse Sudane for a portion of its development cost, maybe in proportion to the SLNE/CDS parcel counts; but not if we switch over to HIPPO. I think that was satisfactory to her at the time, though she can speak for herself. That's the approach I recommend to the next government.
Regards JP