This document has been moved to the OFBiz website:

http://ofbiz.apache.org/apache-ofbiz-getting-started.html

You will also find useful links to documentation here:

http://ofbiz.apache.org/documentation.html

And a Chinese version of the document is here:

https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Chinese+-+Apache+OFBiz+Getting+Started

Apache OFBiz Getting Started

This document and it's related documents contain information about getting started with OFBiz.

After reading this document you might find these helpful as well as you get started on your journey into the wonderful world of Apache OFBiz:

• Mailing Lists
• Demo and Test Setup Guide
• Technical Production Setup Guide
• Business Setup Guide
• OFBiz Source Repository and Access
• Framework Introduction Videos and Diagrams
• OFBiz Beginners Development Guide Using Practice Application
• OFBiz Contributors Best Practices

The What, Why and How of Apache OFBiz

The basic structure and driving force behind OFBiz has a lot to do with the goals and actualization of the release process.

OFBiz is and always has been a community-driven open source project. There is no central commercial organization that drives the development of OFBiz or derives a project from the intellectual property of the software or other project assets. This is formalized now that OFBiz is a project in the Apache Software Foundation.

Because of this OFBiz always has been and always will be just what users who contribute to the project want it to be. There are many different individuals and groups involved with many different needs and our goal is to define and follow development and release policies that serve the needs of these parties.

So, let's start with that...

How Do I Decide What to Use?

From a project user perspective there is one main question that can help determine which way they will want to get OFBiz: Do I want to contribute to the open source project?

For this question there are 3 main answers:

1. Yes, definitely: I want to contribute to design, coding, and testing efforts and thereby collaborate with others to more effectively and efficiently satisfy the long-term requirements from me, my clients, or my employer
2. Kind of: I want to stay on the cutting edge and participate with testing and feedback, but I'm not in a position to participate in development and/or in the near future I will need something more reliable and supported and that won't change very much
3. Not really: I'm happy to offer feedback, but I really need something that will work well now and well into the future so we can get things going in our organization

For each answer there is a recommended way to get OFBiz:

...