[Linux4christians] Christian Distro Needs

[Don Parris]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:53:14 +0000
Davy Mitchell <daftspaniel at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Don,
> 
> Sorry for taking so long to reply to this.
> 
> Well seen as FTP to my website is not working I may as well post this
> here...
> 
> I'm going to have to mothball the live CD project :-( 
> 
> A couple of reasons
> 1) Time - Making an OS needs long chunks of continuos time. With a
> young family I do have time but it is just fragmented!
> 2) Not sure it was meeting the needs of my local church whilst they
> have some other IT needs.
> 
> On the bright side, the audio project will get us into OSS - possibly
> even using a custom Live CD! Also my pastor is keen on (his term)
> 'Powerpoint'. I have been working on a Python Slideshow which could be
> built up to something like OPENLP but be cross-platform. I've found
> working on an application just fits my current time and skills so that
> is the plan.
> 
> Something like? 
> http://www.openlp.com/english/screens.php
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Davy Mitchell
> _______________________________________________

I think this would be a good time to suggest that all of us take a moment to
evaluate our roles in the community.  Pastorally speaking, we need to know
where want the community to go.  Not just L4C, but the whole Christian FOSS
community.

I have participated in all of what I consider to be the core groups in the
Christian FOSS comunity.  I have seen a number of people register on various
sites, only to not really participate much at all, or to disappear from
sight after a while.  I praise God for the folks who are actively doing
anything.  I have also been somewhat disappointed to discover that the
developer community (Sword, InfoCentral, etc) have not seen fit 

It is important that we take our time constraints into consideration as we
offer our involvement in a given project.  It is also important to ask
ourselves if it is best to start a new project, or to join a project in
progress.  As I was developing the website for the Freely CD, I was
introduced to another group that had already created a CD based on the GNU
Win CD.  Well, this is a no-brainer.  I gave them the list of software we
know of for Christians, and they will add it to the CD, and then let us have
access to it.

In other words, let's ask ourselves if we're using our talents in the best
way.  I write.  I can write fairly well.  I will focus on writing.  Building
CDs, developing applications, and similar tasks are not where my real gifts
are.  I need to let those who have those gifts do those tasks.  If you write
well, join OS Ministry's news portal team.  If you're good with advocacy,
join Freely - look for opportunities in your local area.  Freely still needs
a logo.

Consider whether it's best to start new or join in.  This is where CODN
needs to be a starting point.  I have tried to encourage folks to start with
CODN, only to hear that it's "not quite there yet".  Well it won't get
"there" if we don't get it there.  They are changing the website, which may
make it easier to participate, and hopefully will help tremendously.  

CODN had a needs assessment section on the wiki which was intended to help
the whole community understand what's really needed and how to go about
developing the applications.  If we don't take advantage of it, it won't
happen that way.  This is an under-utilized resource, IMO.

I want to see our community grow.  I want everyone to enjoy building up the
community.  Work within your gifts.  Contribute what you can where you can.
Just understand that any commitment you make to the Christian FOSS community
is like any other commitment you make - it's yours to keep or break.  What 
we do here and now will largely determine whether other churches begin to
accept FOSS.  I pray we'll all give a little thought to using our gifts
wisely.

Yours in Christ,
Don
-- 
evangelinux    GNU Evangelist
http://matheteuo.org/                   http://chaddb.sourceforge.net/
"Free software is like God's love - you can share it with anyone anytime
anywhere."