[sword-devel] Re: CrossWire

Troy A. Griffitts sword-devel@crosswire.org
Wed, 08 Jan 2003 22:44:26 -0700


Alicia,
	Thank you for taking the time to consider our offer.  Your texts have 
been removed from public circulation from our site.

	We still list them in our module section but the user will be 
redirected to contact you if they are interested in obtaining your texts.

	Again, please let me know if there is any way we might serve you.

	As a last request, your three Indonesian translations were our only 
means to reach Indonesian speaking people groups.  I'm sure your 
organization would know if there is a good, freely distributable Bible 
translation available to the Indonesian people.  If you do know of one, 
may I ask for you to point us in that direction so we might again extend 
the Gospel to these people.

	Thank you for your service for our Lord,
		-Troy A. Griffitts.



Alicia Ch. wrote:
> Greetings from Indonesia.
> 
> I am sorry for a very late response due to activities during the end of 
> year 2002.
> 
> After a discussion within LAI staff, it was decided that we still do not 
> want our Bible texts to be put as free domain at the internet. That is 
> why we want you to remove all the three Bible texts copyrighted by 
> the Indonesian Bible Society as free texts, ASAP, before the end of 
> January 2003. People who need Indonesian Bible texts could 
> download the texts through a request with charges.
> 
> In the meantime, we thank you for your offer to have a free use of the  
> SWORD software. Our distribution department will consider this.
> 
> In His service,
> Alicia Ch.
> 
>  
> On 16 Oct 2002 at 13:42, Troy A. Griffitts wrote:
> 
> 
>>Alicia,
>>	Just wanted to give you a little background as to what CrossWire Bible 
>>Society exactly does.  Our goal is to technically support other Bible 
>>societies with computer software and services.  We have a Bible text 
>>research engine that runs on most all platforms, including Windows, 
>>Linux, Solaris, MacOSX, and others.  And also works on a variety of 
>>platforms, including desktops, corporate servers, web servers, and 
>>handhelds.  You will find more detailed information on these tools at 
>>our website: http://www.crosswire.org
>>
>>	The same engine undergirds all of these tools.  The engine is called 
>>The SWORD Project.  Any SWORD module (Bible, commentary, dictionary, 
>>etc.) should work in any implementations.  For example, a linux web 
>>server running our web interface that lets user search texts online can 
>>use all the same modules as a windows desktop running our end user 
>>windows study tools.  Making your texts available as a sword module 
>>opens so many venues for presentation of your texts.
>>
>>	CrossWire's policy regarding use of our software is governed by the GNU 
>>General Public License, which basically states that anyone may use our 
>>tools royalty free, as long as they make the tools available for free. 
>>Oddly, this means that you may even charge your users for our tools, as 
>>long as they know they may obtain them for free, online.
>>
>>	This DOES NOT mean that your texts would be governed by this license-- 
>>only our software.  We want to make sure our tools remain free for 
>>organization and ministries.  We leave the regulation of the use of your 
>>texts to your organization.  For example, you could produce a CD that 
>>includes our software, and sell that CD.  Officially, the price paid 
>>would be for your texts, and not our software.  The only stipulation is 
>>that the user must be made aware that the _software_ (not your texts) 
>>may be freely obtained over the internet.
>>
>>	All source code for our tools is offered to allow you to change our 
>>tools to suite your needs.  We have a committed staff of professional 
>>software engineers that donate their time to develop these tools and 
>>support organizations that wish to utilize them in their ministry. 
>>These services are also offered to you freely.
>>
>>	You may read our purpose statement at a link from our main site, if you 
>>wish to have more detailed information about what we do.
>>
>>	My hope is that we may cooperate in service together for our Lord in 
>>furthering His Kingdom.  As a member of a body, we provide our technical 
>>expertise; we desperately need your expertise of the Indonesian people 
>>groups.
>>
>>	Thank you for your consideration.
>>
>>	In Him,
>>
>>		-Troy A. Griffitts
>>		Director
>>		CrossWire Bible Society
>>		http://www.crosswire.org
>>
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> Translation Department of
> The Indonesian Bible Society (LAI)