Best of the ISP-Lists

The Challenges of a Linux-Based Billing System

While some members of the ISP-Linux list dream of building their own Linux-based billing system, others suggest buying the off-the-shelf system their ISP is using.

[July 26, 2001]

On the ISP-Linux list in July, TJ inquired,

"What is going on in the Linux ISP space? It seems that a lot of the ISP billing guys are leaving the business—I see only BillMax, Evolutionware, and Regulus as the remaining commercial Linux billing packages. Is the market really getting that bad?"

There was some disagreement about adding another offering to TJ's list:

[RP offered] "Don't forget about Optigold."

[TJ countered] "Optigold doesn't run under Linux, unless they released a new version. It still requires either NT or a Mac server."

[PF noted] "Optigold uses Filemaker, which will support Linux when 5.5 comes out near the end of the summer."

A number of respondents claimed the best solution is one you make—or at least modify—yourself:

[SS advised] "Why don't you make one of your own? It's not that difficult."

[PK agreed] "Almost all of the ISPs I've dealt with have had to make extensive modifications to any billing software they use or buy, and lots of times they end up using an in-house system when they grow to a size that permits it. Making an ISP package that will appeal to a large number of ISPs is not an easy thing, since people have different setups. Maybe it's just too hard."

[JM added] "When a certain level of customization is necessary, you're better off starting over and building from the ground up, rather than reworking existing code. I know that's certainly been my experience when designing even moderately complex software systems."

DH suggested that a pre-packaged Linux solution would be better:

"It would be nice to have a true Linux-based package, not some HTML-based package that's unwieldy and hard to use."

PP noted that it's really inevitable that most pre-packaged solutions are Windows-based:

"In 1999, when we first decided to move away from a virtual ISP package, I spent several months checking out billing or account management programs. The lack of a real Linux billing package was one of the reasons we started our ISP with Windows NT: I am not a programmer in any sense, and I wanted commercially supported packages.

However, most of the ISPs who buy account management packages also have some familiarity with Windows: most of the better Windows billing packages allow for the configuration of Linux or Unix systems. I don't think it is a question of support for Linux ISPs—it's really more of a developer's platform choice."

— End