major future plans for theWord (request for info)

[willbmi]

deleted by wbmi

[csterg]

Well, i suppose the author can give any inside info required

There are many planned features for sure, many. At this moment the reading plans are almost finished. Since march there have been numerous updates in the beta section, but not an official version. The program is actively being developed if you check the forums. There are already proposals for the next months/years to do if required.

Now, i am not sure what differentiates a 'library like program' from a non-library one. theWord does much more already, but your questions says that it's not enough. So, instead of discussions on the line 'what would be enough', it is more constructive to discuss new ideas/features.

Concerning add-ons: pls, give me an example. Up to now, experience has shown that there are not people that can devote time to create quality code (with maybe a few exception that will verify the rule). The problem is that quality software requires a lot of time. Patching and small things from many different people tend to create bloat-ware that ends up being non-maintainable. I could be wrong, but that is my experience up to now. It is also one of the reasons that i don't think that open-sourcing is a good idea.

I do hesitate to reveal future plans to avoid pressure and make sure that it goes towards what is mostly used. But i will answer on whatever direct question there is of course,
Costas

[Teleios]

First - Costas - Thank you for all of your hard work and for producing an excellent program!
You mentioned open source. That can be a very successful way to develop and maintain software. I've been part of several open source projects. But, it is not easy. And you need a core of like-minded people to do the work. Someone has to manage the whole process, too. That's how you avoid the bloated code you mentioned.

I am very happy with theWord and I think you have done a great job. I am quite happy to wait for you to provide updates.

- Dave

[csterg]

Welcome Dave,
thank you for your note. I am afraid that 'open source' is not in the agenda,
Costas

[Teleios]

Costas -

I'm completely understand why you would not desire to go the open source route.

Thanks again for your excellent program!

- Dave

[csterg]

Thanks Dave.
Believe me, if i thought that people would have interest, i would have no problem to open source major parts of it to help people get involved (e.g. with the importer, tools, conversions, etc)
Costas

[l_d_allan]

Costas -
Thanks again for your excellent program!

+1

[willbmi]

deleted by wbmi

[csterg]

specifically what I dont mean: you see software which does "the number of verses in the bible" etc. these are not very useful really. you can get a huge list of useless things like that, (ie the bAnalyzer software has alot of built in useless tools). But when a skilled programmer who is also a skilled bible reasearcher (knows what are useful questons) applies a his generic set of analysis questions, the bible software comes to life. this is the only thing that makes using bible software become something more than a library with so called handy x-refs. (not knocking theWord when i say that either.)

This sounds interesting. The catch phrase here is 'skilled Bible researcher' and what that translates to in terms of functions.

2. after reading the few posts below regarding Osource. yes I see the problems on that part. Are you saying that you would be interested in integrating stuff if it is demonstrated to be useful and not buggy before hand (or by a vote of theWord users)?

It has proved that developing something is not easy. To be honest i would expect that there would be some more utilities to help the un-itiated with building modules a bit more easily (e.g. something like the importer), but there aren't. Truth is that it's not that easy.

secondly, in regards to improving the software and allowing programmers to feel they can contribute:
ways that can be done are:
1. I just posted a post regarding if you'd contribute to a .txt file repository of bible modues (please see details for its purpose)

I answered briefly there, but see also here below.

2. have a contribution of queries section in the forum: ie where people can post their most helpful generic Regx searches (or specific ones). (i wouldn't expect it to grow that quickly, but it is more specific than a 'tips and tricks' section,) - that being said hmmmm...

The 'tips' section of the forum is for this. There are some useful tips, but i have no better idea on how to organize this.

3. have a competition for the best question someone wants out of a search. and vote on it. this person gets a free module. , then have a competition on the best answer (with a prize too). if the answer uses more than the Regx facility, then still allow it - so long as it can generate output which can be verified.

Well, i am afraid of those question that cannot be answered by a regex

4. i'd definitly ask if you'd consider suggestion one - i think that would show a big willingness to contribute to the Christain research community as it shows a willingness to help outside of the software that you have created.

I think the way i have been handling the resources speaks of itself.
Probably theWord is the one of the (very) few applications where the non-copyrighted resources are open to anyone (and where locking down a resource is done so easily from within the software itself by the way). Moreover, the module structures are documented. All efforts that are being put to compile a module are practically shared with everyone so people from other software communities can get these module and use their converters to use them directly. You will not find this attitude in many other places, and this is no accident.

So, my quick answer on this is: i think this is what i have been doing from the beginning, but if i can do more in my powers, pls say so.
Costas

[William]

willbmi
4. i'd definitly ask if you'd consider suggestion one - i think that would show a big willingness to contribute to the Christain research community as it shows a willingness to help outside of the software that you have created.

willbmi, I don't know what your agenda is,
but to boldly suggest that Costas does not currently have a "big willingness to contribute to the 'Christain' <sic> research community" demonstrates a lack of understanding on your part.

[willbmi]

hi Costas, William,

yer I did not write point 4 well. I was not accusing, it was intended to hightlight goodness. I know about the open text licence page, and this softwares stance on public domain texts. what I said was in the same spirit as Paul saying to a church to 'prove their love'. it s not saying they dont have it! .

in regards to points 2 ect, i mean to allow people to add analysis type reporting addons rather than text modules.
in regards to regx.. well yeah, but well ... yeah you know! ----> (ie: answers and what to do with answers makes regx limiting)

thanks for your time. William.

[csterg]

hi Costas, William,

yer I did not write point 4 well. I was not accusing, it was intended to hightlight goodness. I know about the open text licence page, and this softwares stance on public domain texts. what I said was in the same spirit as Paul saying to a church to 'prove their love'. it s not saying they dont have it! .

in regards to points 2 ect, i mean to allow people to add analysis type reporting addons rather than text modules.
in regards to regx.. well yeah, but well ... yeah you know! ----> (ie: answers and what to do with answers makes regx limiting)

thanks for your time. William.

No need for apologies or anything, case closed.

Back to the issue: concerning addons: enabling theword to accept such plugins is a major undertaking! I am not sure how this could be handled to be honest. I have already thought of creating an API to use some of the features, but there are some issue with how to handle copyrighted resources to be honest.

Experience has shown that some times idea require a lot of work to be put in practice; even simple things are not very easy when the time comes to implement; I don't mean to sound negative, just realistic,
Costas

[impartialendurance]

thanks to the author for the work so far - the Word seems like the best alternative to Logos that doesn't create an immoral barrier to entry for the gospel based upon $700+, even if English is its own shibboleth sometimes . Open source is nice, but losing control can lose some of the vision that helped bring the project to where it is today. I really appreciate the software that allows for free usage of a library of good resources freely added to without any upselling or advertisements, along with a clean interface. It being the reason for using Wine on Linux has some difficulties in scaling for high dpi and using windows resizing including keyboard shortcuts (mine is stuck in the corner), but maybe that's a difficulty in using Wine for the first time. I program a little and would be interested in seeing what's going on behind the app as i've thought to develop one similar, especially for very low resource devices requiring little battery life to make pastors have an offline study for free that might be solar powered happen, especially in poorer countries. I'm guessing from the .NET installer that it's C Sharp or something that i've no experience in though. One suggestion that i would maybe be able to pitch in on as i'm trying to transition to Javascript is going online, maybe not as much for voting on what is the best search result (i've gone through some hellish search engine results before with library and search engine portal 'code cooking' - sticking to straightforward logic can keep things honest (like with regex) in a good way, but so that people who are trying to keep a Bible study plan or have multiple devices that they regularly work from can have a cloud-connected backup and sync of their current layout, Bible personal notes, reading location/bookmarks, modules, language preferences, etc

[impartialendurance]

I've begun testing Logos on the desktop recently as I went through a bit of a process after procuring it last year and then being subjected to a flood of upselling and complicated instructional videos, but I will say that they managed to pretty up their web interface with SVG & RIA neatly and there seems to be somewhat more of a sound signal to noise ratio on their welcome page than before. The economic moats sometimes necessarily built around ministry to enable the stand within personal property rights where useful for the gospel (disciples being armed with swords to make a point about the weapons of spiritual warfare to the Roman cohort making the arrest) and the importance of being able to share information between shepherds is a real concern that they seem to meet on some level within a rich developed nation, but questioning the ethics of siloing wisdom & insight mixes together with addressing the need remaining for equipping and encouraging those w/o such privilege is real and essential to the gospel mission