[jsword-devel] Pls make plugins easy Re: Bible Desktop Vision and Strategy (Jonathan > Morgan)

[avolunteer DrStovallFoundation]

>    1. Re: Bible Desktop Vision and Strategy (Jonathan
> Morgan)
> 
...
> I'll just start by saying that I don't necessarily
> see the goals as
> wrong, just that they may have minor problems or be over
> idealistic.

I started to write the same thing myself.  I agree 100%.

> 
> On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 3:17 AM, DM Smith
> <dmsmith at crosswire.org> wrote:
> > Here is a starting point for a new statement. Your
> feedback/input is very
> > welcomed.
> >
> > Vision:
> > ? Users of Bible Desktop grow closer to God as they
> explore and study God's
> > Word since can be tailored to be their favorite Bible
> application.

Vision:  Users of Bible Desktop grow closer to God and 
each other because the can understand what God meant 
by examining all evidence in any way they want by 
choosing plugins.

The vision of Jesus and the Father is clear in John 17.  
They want us to all be one so that the world might know....
I see Sword tools as the best possible way to accomplish 
this.  It is good to encourage plugins such as Vine's 
dictionary and commentaries.  But after you have always 
used the Greek for decades and can feel the difference 
between what Jesus and the apostles used as opposed to 
translations, dictionaries, and commentaries.  It makes 
you want to weep.  More constructively, it makes you 
want to develop tools so that others can have the 
same feeling without the steep initial learning curve 
which "scholars" throw in your way.  

For me C++ is a learning curve which is almost as steep 
and full of potholes as the Greek dictionaries.  JSword 
makes it easier.  I believe JSword could still be 
simplified to make it even easier.  With my "disabilities", 
I am not good enough to make this happen by myself.  But 
I will work with any or all of you to help you understand 
what a successful computer designer, software project 
leader, quality assurance consultant, and most importantly 
a stupid user thinks is important.  And in my mind the 
most important thing is plugins.  I would like to see the 
smallest possible program in Java that just says, "I have 
located all of the Sword modules in the location you 
specified.  Click List or type Alt L to see a list of 
all of the plugins you can load in order to accomplish 
various things."  The user can then plugins to search 
texts,  plugins to search dictionaries, plugins to search 
for sequence of grammatical constructs in text, plugins to  
just display a chapter, a verse, or all verses concorded 
to a certain song or place,  and on and on for whatever 
the user wants.
  
> 
> Bear in mind that most users don't want to have to
> tailor an
> application, and often won't at all.  Being
> configurable is nice, but
> the default layout has to be good because that's what a
> lot of people
> will judge and evaluate the software on.

As a designer, I always design for what users will be 
like after I have completed my design rather than the 
way they are today.  Computer users are becoming more 
sophisticated.  This progress is postively accelerating 
not linear.  I believe the most efficient way for 
the system resources and for the user is to load plugins.
Remember China is already giving free laptops to poor 
farm children because they want more computer scientists 
who pay big taxes and less poor farmers who ask for 
government subsidies.  India says they are going to 
build $10 (ten dollar) computers and give them to all 
children.

If we do what is best, poor children and others 
around the world will be writing plugins.