Arctus Blog

We would like to (quietly) announce that we have just released the first beta of our new document management system. This system is currently called DocBox.

What is DocBox?

DocBox is a tag-based document management system, written in Ruby on Rails. It’s like del.icio.us, but for your documents. Because your documents are private, you run DocBox on your own server or workstation, not on our website.

We’ve started using it internally alongside our existing folders-based .NET solution (WebShare). We’ll still continue to develop and sell WebShare, but we’re really enjoying the speed and agility of DocBox.

It features a clean, modern interface, and a java-based bridge between the web site and your desktop.

While many features are yet to be added, and many bugs need to be ironed out, we’ve decided that it is time to let you see how it’s shaping up.

To download a copy, please visit the DocBox product page

Cost

We are going to release DocBox under the terms of the GPL, version 3. This effectively makes it free, but commercial customers will be asked to pay for downloading the software. For this they will receive support and service agreements. If they do not wish to pay, they may still use the software but will receive no quality assurance or support.

Initially, we anticpate charging no more than £500 for a workgroup license, and £80 for a small-office/home-office version. Non-profit orginsations, schools and personal use will be free.

One-click Installer

One of the exciting things about DocBox is that it installs everything from a single executable, and runs as a stand-alone service on your Microsoft Windows server or workstation. Many companies who have evaluated Rails for their own products will be keen to know that a zero configuration installer for Rails is possible, and with DocBox we prove it is so. Get in touch if you’d like us to help you package your Rails application!

The Future

We are currently working on: Templates, Security & Permissions, Improved Tag Browsing for release sometime towards the middle of November.

Beyond that, we plan to add a full web-service api for automation and integration, workflow and advanced notifications.