It is a free software based on micro transactions and electronic payments, created within the GNU project by the developers, Christian Grothoff and Florian Dold.
The project is led by Florian Dold and Christian Grothoff of Taler Systems SA. Taler is short for “Anonymous Taxable Free Economic Reserves” and refers to Taler coins in Germany during the early modern period. He has the vocal support of the founder of the GNU Project, Richard Stallman. Stallman has described the program as “designed to be anonymous to the payer, but the beneficiaries are always identified.” In an article published in Security Engineering, Privacy and Applied Cryptography, it is described that GNU Taler complies with ethical considerations: the customer’s payment is anonymous while the merchant is identified and subject to tax. Taler Systems SA provides a 100% Audited implementation, and adapted to the legal regulations that govern this type of computer software.
Recently released version 0.8. * From Taler
This version, which was recently released by taking advantage of the platform offered by the GNU project, was released as the new version 0.8. * Which includes a series of improvements which can be listed below:
- The WebExtension wallet now works with GNU IceCat
- Wallet (-core) now supports backup and restore
- Optional inventory management by the backend merchant
- Product image previews in contracts
- Cashier and point of sale applications for F-droid
- Better isolation of private keys online
- Better isolation of sensitive swap configuration options
- and much more
Some of the main changes are based on the security audit performed by Code Blau in 2020
Addressing these recommendations was made as part of the NLnet Grant 2019-06-28 funded by the European Commission great Next Generation Internet Initiative under grant agreement number 825310. In particular, Code Blau had recommended strengthening the isolation of the private keys, which are now implemented using the taler-exchange-secmod- * binaries that can be run under a different user ID than the network taler-exchange-httpd process.
More detailed information can be read at:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2021-08/msg00008.html
License
This excellent software solution was released under the GPLv3 license as is customary for all software solutions or tools that are created within the GNU project.
Get GNU Taler
It can be downloaded from FTP or via GIT (git is recommended for the most up-to-date versions) from the following url:
ftp://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/taler/
Documentation
Like any application or software solution in the world of free software, Taler has a very detailed documentation in this regard and in multiple languages, allowing the language not to be a barrier to learning how to use Taler or documenting about it with it, the documentation It can be consulted at the following internet urls.
Can I try Taler before downloading it?
The answer is yes, the developers of this web-based software tool or solution have been deployed in a demo environment which is available at the following internet url:
https://demo.taler.net/
Although perhaps the best way to test it is to install this tool to a local environment and test it carefully.
Is it possible to use Taler by small businesses or companies anywhere in the world?
The answer is yes, in fact in Taler it implements standards that many countries are based on for the business world, inventory control and electronic payments and even being audited by international institutions specialized in economic issues, one of them the most critical which is that of electronic transactions and micropayment systems.
In countries where their economy is very depressed due to their social and political situation, this tool is the answer for those businesses and low-income people who want to venture into the world of electronic business but do not have large sums of money to deploy proprietary platforms. which must pay a restrictive license to be able to use it.
Advantages of the use of Taler in business and electronic payments by users
- The main advantage of Taler is to be able to know the operation of this technology and to be able to audit it correctly thanks to the fact that the source code through which it was developed can be accessed.
- The power to have a totally free software tool for users and businesses that everyone can use without legal and economic restrictions.
Taler against cryptocurrencies
Richard Stallman in one of his public opinions expressed “That cryptocurrencies have a dubious way of protecting the privacy of their users, in addition to lending themselves to electronic scams in these situations, he recommends the use of GNU Taler as a solution for electronic payments, control of business inventories, and electronic transactions ”in this way made known the distrust that arises on the part of Mr Stallman towards crypto assets.
Taler and a possible use of blockhain technology as an internal engine in the near future
This is believed not to be possible at the moment because the developers and those involved in this project do not have planned the implementation of any blockchain technology in the near future, It is also believed that Stallman would be in total disagreement if this were to be done on GNU Taler, at the moment Taler continues to demonstrate an excellent free software solution for electronic payments and micro transactions.
