Trailblazin Ministries Blog: The Ultimate Bible Software Application: Phase 2

Tech Stuff

The Ultimate Bible Software Application: Phase 2

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 04 March 2008
Filed under: Bible, Tech Stuff

This entry is dedicated to Jon and a direct result of the comments that he left on my last blog entry concerning the Ultimate Bible Software Application. So, thank you brother, your wisdom is appreciated!

So, where is Phase 2 of this thought process taking me? Simply put, open source. I had heard of the Sword Project before, but it was one that I never paid much attention to because I was never a Linux guy per se and the Windows version was sorely lacking when compared to what I currently had available in WORDsearch. But, now that I've given the project and website a (somewhat) thorough look through, along with all of the derivative projects created from the base engine, I'm beginning to think that open source is the route that a project like this needs to take. Actually, it makes perfect sense to go the open source route.

As most of you know, I power this website and blog with Movable Type, which is based upon CGI/Perl. I have been using it since the version 2.6 days, and just recently with the release of version 4.1, they have now decided to take their code open source. Now, they still have a corporate business model (which is now basically add-ons and support), but they now have the open source model alongside that. Will they lose business? Certainly not! If anything, they'll generate more business for their product because more people and developers will begin to take notice and start recommending it to clients. Or, look at the RedHat Linux model, which is basically the same thing.

So, why go open source to make this project happen? For starters, a company could very easily take the Sword engine to build their application from and give it away as (free) open source software under the GPL license, much like Bible Explorer is given away free now by WORDsearch as a lighter and less feature rich version. With that as a base, you could take time to develop the application to suit your needs/wants (i.e. my last post), and then you fairly easily have a package that is cross platform compatible (Win/Mac/Unix) and a standard code base for books & files that will work across any platform. By having it become open source, you also allow for community development that keeps the program growing and moving towards the future without the company incurring as much cost in development of new features (i.e. plugins or modules built by the community).

The one thing that I see sorely lacking in open source Bible software right now though is lack of publisher support. About the only works that you can get right now are in the public domain that were written ages ago. It is very difficult to get newer Bible translations (NKJV, NASB, HCSB, etc.) and newer works (commentaries, books, etc.) because of publisher rights & so forth. Because these open source projects are so small, the likelihood of it happening are slim or fairly expensive. This is where an already reputable software company can come in (say WORDsearch) who already has contracts with publishers to produce these books in an electronic format. If they put some interest into a project such as this, it would bode well for them, as well as the open source community. Of course, it would mean moving to a new format in terms of publishing books (and the man hours taken to do such a thing), but the benefit for them would be extremely beneficial as well, considering they would have a new customer base to sell their products to.

The one thing I have found out since working at WORDsearch is that the money is in the books. And a platform like Sword project would allow for that to continue, since it provides for the ability to sell locked/encrypted books that require unlock codes & such for use on a machine. The software itself is somewhat negligible, as the company makes very little from that (i.e. you can buy a base package of WORDsearch for as little as $50 that comes with several books, or you can download Bible Explorer for free). Therefore, a move to open source would provide them the added benefit of a community of developers while still publishing high quality books in a way that allows them to continue making a profit and stay in business (and allows me to still have a job LOL).

I truly think open source is the way to go, especially when you consider the nature of what it is we're talking about. We're dealing with the Word of God, which should (at least in my opinion) be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. That means allowing people to study the Word of God adequately (and with newer works) regardless of the platform they choose to work with. For example, I'd personally love to move to Linux, but Bible software is the primary thing keeping me from doing so. I could see this happening, even in its current state with developers working to build a better cross platform Bible application that will suit the needs of the vast majority of users. Even if it didn't have all the bells & whistles up front, a simple UI, moderate features, and a wealth of library material would go a long way in getting this going and moving into the future.

In the meantime, I'll do what I can to continue voicing my opinion and praying that something like this can come into being in the not too distant future.

Comments (10)

Antoine of MMM wrote:
on March 4, 2008 1:12 PM

Very slick; and right up my alley - if mobile friendly in UI and UX. But like you said bro, leveraging open source, especially in this facility, seems like a good deal all around.

nathany.myopenid.com wrote:
on March 4, 2008 4:09 PM

Sword is a good framework to build a Bible app, though I know MacSword hasn't got any love in a while (well, at least Intel support). I can't speak for the other platforms.

Open source is a good idea, open formats (like OSIS) would be good too. Licensing, well... I don't know a thing about that. Open source projects sometimes are fluid, with no real entity... perhaps that is the issue with licensing texts (well, and $). As you say, a company can adopt both models.

I still like your idea of AIR (plus Flex) on the desktop for a uniform interface for Mac/Win/Linux. That would mean essentially porting Sword from C++ to ActionScript (or starting fresh). If you don't mind my asking, what is your role at WORDsearch?

LaRosa Johnson wrote:
on March 4, 2008 9:38 PM

I currently work as an e-book developer for WORDsearch :-)

lj.

Jon wrote:
on March 5, 2008 8:04 AM

Actually, the beauty of Sword, is that you can build your front-end in AIR. So, you can use the modules from Sword with the Sword libraries, or based upon them. It would be interesting to see an AIR app made with the Sword modules. BTW, I like how I can use one sword folder, and have my apps in X-Windows, Linux and my Mac all share the same files. Since I tend to bounce around among all three environments on my Mac, it's rather convenient. I guess this is one reason I've taken to "evangelizing" the Sword project. ;-)

Thanks for the followup, based on my comments. I didn't think I said much, so it's quite a pleasant surprise. :-)

nathany.myopenid.com wrote:
on March 5, 2008 10:24 AM

@Jon: You could write an AIR app compatible with Sword modules, but for the moment I don't think you could use the C++ libraries that the Sword APIs provide. Perhaps eventually:
http://www.onflex.org/ted/2008/02/extending-adobe-flash-player-and-adobe.php

Jon wrote:
on March 6, 2008 4:36 AM

@nathany-

Thanks for that. I didn't realize how sandboxed AIR is. hm.... well, Sword _does_ have the capability of a web interface, I believe. I wonder how well AIR can reach the command line, however? Well.... In any case, I wonder how viable AIR will be? I've got it installed, but all the apps I've tried are horribly slow on my ancient Mac, and don't have any functionality worth mentioning--and they don't work too reliably, either. I think that genuine programs are going to be where Sword shines--and probably AJAX on the web. That would be interesting to see--something like eBible, but that can go off-line--or use offline modules together with collaboration modules online.

In any case, the potential is there, and I agree that open source ought to be a contender. :-)

-Jon

P.S. This has been a great discussion, and an eye-opener to me!

DM Smith wrote:
on March 17, 2008 9:54 AM

Currently BibleDesktop is a cross-platform Sword solution using JSword (the Java API to the Sword library). It runs on the Mac, Windows and Unix. (See: www.crosswire.org/bibledesktop) [Full disclosure: I am the lead developer for BibleDesktop]

It is also highly portable, being able to run on a small USB drive (see: www.crosswire.org/~dmsmith/bd) To me the great advantage of this is that as I visit people, I can use their computer to run the program. And I can copy it to their machine if they like, as it is completely self-contained.

As to recent Bible translations, the ESV - English Standard Version, from Crossway and the NET - New English Translation, from bible.org are excellent and both are more "modern" than the NIV. The ESV is more of a word-for-word translation of the Hebrew and Greek, while the NET is more of a thought-by-thought translation. The NET can be obtained as a free version or for a small fee, with full translators notes.

As to MacSword, it is actively under development on SourceForge. 1.3.1 was just released as a universal bundle and contains a module downloader called Eloquent. However, the MacSword website is currently unmaintained. The old 1.2.1 version is not compatible with Leopard.

Another interesting possibility of cross-platform is found in CrossWire's BibleTool at www.crosswire.org/study. This is a web based interface running against the Sword library on that server. It also has a few resources that are otherwise unavailable.

Jon Morgan wrote:
on March 23, 2008 12:50 AM

BPBible is relatively new to the Sword world (0.2 was only released on Friday), but it is a pretty mature piece of Bible study software. Thanks to Python and wxWidgets it is reasonably cross-platform (though only tested on Windows and Linux). It has had a fairly strong emphasis on usability and includes a few interesting features that no other free software that I'm aware of includes. Thanks to Sword it should support any module that any other Sword application supports.

If you wish to try it, you will find it at http://code.google.com/p/bpbible/. We would like comments and suggestions for improvement, and they can be easily made through the project issue tracker.

David Farlow wrote:
on April 9, 2008 7:31 AM

Excellent article, helpful to me as I am considering purchasing a bible software which suits archiving personal notes/sermons in the best way.(Any suggestions welcome!)

I love the BPBible mentioned in the comments here - the speed and simplicity of the Search and verse lookup via keyboard shortcuts.

In terms of the commercial versions, I am glad to see the ESV being offered for free through many freeware and opensource bible programs.

I think you all may be interested to note that the NKJV has followed suit authorizing Berbible to distribute the NKJV for FREE.

http://www.berbible.org/news.php

Berbible is a useful software for bible reading/searching only.

I hope to see the NKJV and others offered more widely soon.

On a personal note, I fear greatly for those who make profit for themselves on the back of God's Holy word and claim any rights over it at all. The Word of God is Just that - God's. It belongs to no man or organization.

ofoneblood wrote:
on April 23, 2008 5:21 PM

Greetings-
I've stumbled upon your discussion here while searching for a piece of bible software. A friend of mine has enlisted me in the search, and I would like to ask your help. I don't know the exact name of the software, but i thought with the knowledge of bible software here, someone may have heard of it. I believe the author of the piece to be Ed Staggs, and the name to be "Bible Eye" or "I Believe Bible."
If anyone can help me get a name ID for the software, shoot me an email at ofoneblood@hotmail.com.

regards,
Josh