[sword-devel] some more new Bible modules

[Harry Plantinga]

> > ...
> > It would also be highly political.  It probably mean electing
> > an editorial board, and fending off constant challenges to their
> > decisions.  It may not have happened much yet, but the difficulties
> > will grow as the user base grows. It might split the developer base.
> > ...
> 
> How have you handled this issue at CCEL?  Do you have a doctrinal 
> statement, an
> editorial board, and a document ratification process?

I don't have a problem in this respect because I make all the decisions. 
I don't have to coordinate among many diverse project leaders. (I have
angry users, but that's not as serious.)

On the other hand, I am trying to get more systematic about forming a 
bibliography. There is now a CCEL board of directors, and together
we've put together a draft "acquisition policy" 
(www.ccel.org/info/classics_acq_policy.pdf). We're going to put
together an ecumenical bibliography committee to help develop the
bibliography, but in the end the board will be responsible for 
making final decisions. There's a software system for on-line
bibliogrpahy development -- www.ccel.org/php/bib-disp.php.

The unique aspect of your project is that the software development
is open source, and the developer pool is large and probably 
diverse.  When an issue as deeply felt and important as "orthodoxy"
arises and is discussed in depth, and the discussion takes place
across an impersonal medium such as email, it's likely that 
individuals will be hurt.

I'd suggest that you work by consensus as long as possible -- 
publishing non-controversial orthodox Christian material, without 
looking too hard into these questions -- with a disclaimer of the 
sort that has been proposed. If anything is too controversial, leave
it out and let a separate project publish it. If this approach fails, 
you can fall back on separating the software development and 
publishing aspects.

-Harry