Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Tech Stuff

Keeping It Legal

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Saturday, 07 July 2007
Filed under: LaRosa, Ministry, Tech Stuff

As I've been convicted by a lot of different things lately, my life and priorities have really shifted more towards the ways of holiness and being more Christlike. The way I watch television has changed, as well as the movies I have a desire to see. The music I listen to has changed too (knocking out some of the R&B I had). I say that to say that my computer use has changed too, especially now that I have a brand new computer to work with.

In the past, I would constantly tell myself that I would keep my computer "holy" and use it for the service of the Lord. I would do that, to a point, but I would normally end up installing software that was pirated and use it to do things "for the Lord." I would download Macromedia Dreamweaver and Adobe Photoshop and find key generators for them so that I could use them to build my website. I would get a bootleg copy of the latest edition of Microsoft Office from "a friend" and use it as if I had paid for it, without even giving it a second thought. I'd even do the same thing for programs like Winzip, Nero, MP3 tagging software, etc. You could pretty much say that 85-90% of the software on my computer was pirated. The bad part of it all is that I would use these pieces of software for ministry. Now that I think about it, I think to myself, how can I use something stolen for the service of the Lord? Seems hypocritical doesn't it? I'd say so.

Now that I have a new computer, I really want to change the way I do things, and do it the right way. Instead of installing my pirated software on this new computer, I have tossed out those CDs and have only installed those that I have purchased legitimately, or freeware/shareware that I have found online. Instead of using Adobe Photoshop, I am using the GIMP; instead of Office 2003 or 2007, I am using Open Office; instead of Dreamweaver, I am using Textpad and Notepad++; instead of Winzip, I am using 7-Zip. You get the picture; instead of using the software that I had stolen in the past, I am using comparable open source software to get the job done, at least until I can afford to purchase the full fledged programs with my own dime.

You see, if I'm going to change the way I'm living to sin less and be more holy, then that needs to be carried over to the way I use my computer, especially if I'm using it for the Lord. I will say that the greatest thing is that I have a full copy of WORDsearch 7, courtesy of my job, and that is definitely the greatest piece of software that I own and that is the most beneficial to me on a daily basis.

That's it... and, as always, it's "HOLINESS FIRST 'TIL WE UNDER THE EARTH!"