Dave Lin’s and Jeff’s recent posts about the work/spirtual life balance reminded me I never wrote about some interesting connections I’ve found in that for myself. So here it is, with an emphasis on one particular thing I’ve been kicking around in my brain the last week or so:
I’ve thought a lot over the past few months about what a Tech Guy’s place in the Church is. It is an odd thing being very interested in things not mentioned directly in the Bible, and things that can actually lead to materialistic obsessions with junk, and I find that a hard road to walk.
But I am unable to seperate myself from these gifts / hobbies, so I started asking God what he wanted me to do about it, whether that be forget about it and do something else, or some sort of connection that can enable me to draw from my technological pool of information to do something for the Kingdom. I didn’t feel like he told me to forget about it, but I did feel like I could if he asked me to for the first time ever, and I felt like he gave me some connections, and I used those ideas as goals and worked backwards to form a tech plan, which you can see here if you want to.
If you start at the bottom, the long term stuff, and look at the goals, one of them was to give churches (especially small churches) a way to use technology to improve aspects of doing church.
A week or so ago I made a statement that if we got a new computer for the church it should run Linux. Specifically I was talking about the projector computer. This met with much disapproval, but I got to wondering if it would even be possible seeing as how I didn’t know of any software for projecting lyrics (if you were wondering there is, it is called Lyricue).
This led me to thinking that there should be a free distribution of Linux that is made just for churches. And, it should be a single CD, easy to install, and work for a variety of situations. And when I say work for a variety of situations, I don’t mean have a shit-ton of weird-named programs come with it so that the user has a “Choice.”, which is what Linux nerds everywhere champion as their advantage over MS, but ignore the consistancy and the “just work” aspect of it.
By variety of situations I mean this;
When the user installs the thing, the installer should ask some questions like:
Will this computer be used for: A) Worship / Music B) Accounting / Finance C) Office / Advertising work D) Pastors Study
If A is selected, then:
Will this computer have A) 1 Monitor B) 2 Monitors C) 1 Monitor + 1 Projector
etc, etc.
Then, based on some non-nerd understandable questions it installs the right stuff and sets up some pre-set default options (dual monitors being a big one on my mind because that is not always simple to set up in Linux).
I would like to work on something like this because I could see it being very very useful for small churches like the ones I grew up in. Linux can be so trimmed down to run on older hardware and that could give a poor old church office new life. The problem is that I see so many distributions with so much stuff that people don’t need, all crammed on 87 CDs or 12 DVDs (*cough*FEDORA*cough*).
That is why I’ve liked the Ubuntu philosophy of only giving you the basics to start out, and not a lot of choice during install, but then give you the package manager that taps into a HUGE repository of software in case you want to add things later. I think that is how most churches would user computers.
I want a solution that old people can just put the CD in and answer questions and have it bring up a working computer that does what they want, and has easy labels / icons for things like “Song Lyrics”, “Accounting”, and “Internet”. Simple, for basic things, and free so old churches with small budgets can manage to get it rolling.
Yeah, that would be cool. Now I just need to see if someone is already doing something like that, or maybe make another project under the ubuntu banner that is similar to Edbuntu.
Curtis says
My problem with the Linux solution is that most small churches would have to have someone learn Linux to support this scenario. Sure, we’ve got you. But if you leave, the pool of people to support Linux is a lot smaller than the pool of people that are capable of supporting Microsoft. I’m not saying Linux is harder… I wouldn’t know. I honestly have never touched it. I’m just saying Microsoft users and semi-experts are ubiquitous, Linux not so much. As experienced in our own situation, it’s hard enough to find people to do the technical support, heaven forbid we put additional hurdles in their way.
BigCat says
I totally see what you are saying, but here is why that is bunk.
1) When I wrote this mobile computing was crap – now it isn’t, it is the next big thing. Linux and OSX are the kings of mobile – people have had no problem adapting to that.
2) Furthermore, more computers should be treated like appliances in most cases. Single, or limited in function for the most part. Secretaries don’t need to install a bunch of software to do what they do. Projector PC’s are pretty much just for that. Linux makes managing a lot of that kind of stuff actually a lot easier.
3) People switch to Mac all the time. Churches are switching to mac. MVC and Duluth run only macs. The fact that there are less places you can take a computer to have it worked on with Linux is a down-side. The mac store is at the mall, so that is easy. But to have dell worked on you mostly have to have it sent back – and they sell computers now with Linux pre-installed. So all we are basically talking about is a learning curve. The transition to windows 7 or Vista or office 2k7 or 2010 presents most of the same challenges.
4) Linux has a lot more people who work with it than most people think. I have noticed that for most people who haven’t jumped into linux with both feet they aren’t aware of how much support is available. There are a lot more professional people out there now who have dabbled in linux because it is easier than ever.
The case against Linux is the lack of professionally developed software for niche applications. Bible study software in linux is adequate, but sucks in comparison to Windows/Mac. There is less device support in some cases.
The upside, is that by churches adopting it for free and putting the saved money on software costs into developer bounties and the like we could actually contribute to a decrease in the lack of niche software for churches – and it would be open source. Leaving a legacy of software that allows church plants, and small churches to do a better job at what they do for cheaper.
I’ve heard this argument a ton, from Pete, from other MS or apple people, but all I hear is FUD. When people use linux, particularly ubuntu (which is a pretty friendly, and actually much easier to install than windows XP), they find a much friendlier environment than they could imagine before, because all they have heard about linux is negative stories.
But most of those same people acknowledge that linux runs the vast majority of the internet, and that servers really benefit from linux. So, as infrastructure grows, there is no way most churches can afford the MS licenses they need as staff grows (windows server costs lots of $$$$ for just 5 seats of connection licenses), so linux is the only realistic option for decent management, so we are still at the place where we have to have some experts available (either in the church or for hire). And the good news is that they are now days. Lots more are out there now than even when I wrote this, because of android adoption/development and chrome OS, and because Linux has lots of realized advantages and it’s ease of use is much better than it was in 2006.
I would challenge you that if you want to take your computer knowledge to the next level, is to try ubuntu linux as your exclusive OS on some computer (even if you keep windows as a dual-boot, make linux your default). You will most likely have no problems installing it and getting it working. But if you do have issues you will find that there is a great online community, with lots of resources, and if you have to, you can dig into the source code and see how your computer actually works. Even after my 4 year degree in electrical and computer engineering I still learned TONS from switching full-time to a linux machine just because I had to re-think how I do stuff (also when things broke I learned more because fixing it is different than it was on windows, so I picked up new tricks). Also, all the best server software all works on linux, and is sometimes exclusive to linux (except exchange).
Curtis says
Your reply makes my argument for me: “if you want to take your computer knowledge to the next level… try ubuntu linux”
and: “Even after my 4 year degree in electrical and computer engineering I still learned TONS from switching full-time to a linux machine just because I had to re-think how I do stuff (also when things broke I learned more because fixing it is different than it was on windows, so I picked up new tricks).”
I’m not saying Windows is easier to use because I wouldn’t know. I’m a case in point. I’ve worked with computers all my life and done so as a profession for over a dozen years. And I’ve never delved into Linux. I’m sure it would be fun, interesting, and informative… but I haven’t taken the time to do it. Linux may or may not be easier and/or cheaper, but it is a higher bar to get people over when you’re trying to find someone to support your systems.
“People Switch to Mac all the time.”
Perhaps, but I don’t hear about people switching to Linux all the time.
I’m not saying people shouldn’t be switching to Linux, I’m just saying not enough of them have yet to make this a good solution.
BigCat says
Actually I think you missed my point. I’m saying you can take your computer skills to the next level, not that you have to any more. I’m saying that by switching you will learn stuff, and the same is true for switching to macs. It opens your horizons. Yes there is a bar, but is it much higher than switching to a mac?
If I had two points to make that sum up my thoughts they would be this:
1) If there exists such a thing as a technology or opperating system that is more socially just than the others would it be windows, OSX, or Linux. Now that IE9 is announced as not being windows XP compatible, we are looking at for a person with an aging computer, and little to no money, what is the best OS choice for them that still supports the modern internet? Or how could we re-purpose older hardware to benefit the disenfranchised.
2) There is a cost to switching, I’ll give you that, but the critical mass point you make is in my opinion a matter of perspective – but at what point does the benefit outweigh the cost to switch? Until someone makes that choice, no one will, the cycle will continue. We will have to continue to pay $100’s of dollars for windows or OSX licenses. And if we have the opportunity as the church to ‘sacrafice’ by making ourselves the test-pilots, and give up no functionality to do it, then why wouldn’t we. The verse about leaving the wheat on the ground instead of threshing a second time (Deuteronomy 24:17-21), and I ask; if I’m going to effect systems of oppression, particularly in order to close the digital divide, what technologies to I have to adopt or create, sometimes at my own sacrifice in order to bring more people up to a livable standard of justice?
And a couple final thoughts/encouragements: if you did try it, you would see that there are a lot more people/professionals available than you think who have switched, or could easily switch. My experience was that when I tried it, a lot of people came out of the woodwork (partially because of the linux stigma of being a nerdy thing, meant that people avoided talking about it so they didn’t sound like a nerd until they knew it was safe) Also there are more than you expect in the church who could and would be willing to take the time to learn to repair linux problems when they happen if they were encouraged and given vision for a larger picture. It could be a community building activity as well as a chance to give others a learning experience and an opportunity to serve.
Secondly, linux can be more easily re-purposed and access controlled, so it makes for a superior ‘appliance’ computer. By that I mean single, or limited-function devices. The projector or recording PCs always seem this way to me. They serve one or two functions, and need to do that well, and perform flawlessly – never crashing. Linux is actually a great choice for this in my experience. And that was one of my main points in the article at the time I wrote it, even if it didn’t come across well.
Curtis says
Why is there German on your website?
BigCat says
Probably the theme I installed. It has been a while since I posted a comment from somewhere other than the admin panel.
Hmmm….I wonder how I can fix that.