[jsword-devel] New repository - Implications for frontends

[Peter von Kaehne]

Some of you will have seen the discussions on sword-devel.

In the next couple of days we will add the new eBible repository run by
Kahunapule to our master repo list.

All users of frontends which use the master repo list will receive the
new repo information with the next master repo list refresh. 

The main immediate implications are 

1) if your frontend has for a given repository a hard coded limit to
the number of languages (as Xiphos had) it will likely blow up badly.
eBible adds about 700 languages.

2) if your frontend uses a unified top level language list as And Bible
does, it will likely cause some level of usability problems - eBible
adds as said above around 700 languages, currently not represented in
CrossWire. Many of these languages are minority languages often with
only a few hundred/thousand speakers - but, as judging from previous
experiences with such small languages, the modules will be very much
appreciated

3) The modules in the new repo are produced in a highly automatic
fashion. It is likely that users will report quality issues. Please
pass them back on to Kahunapule. He will from time to time update his
import process and re-run it.

The more long term happy implication is that the CrossWire (Wycliffe)
repository has become probably redundant. We will need to assess the
"damage" eBible has done to it, by providing the same but newer modules
and then take it possibly offline. 

Please report back to me directly - not on your mailing list which I am
likely not going to be able to monitor - if you encounter any show
-stoppers. If I do not receive any feedback I assume all is ok. 

Thanks and blessings

Peter