Christians in Open Source Community

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Raoul Snyman

Update: I’ve started the site and the mailing list. You can find them by going to http://christianoss.org/.

I have been toying with the idea of starting a mailing list for Christian developers, users, and enthusiasts of Open Source Software. This mailing list would be dedicated to promoting Linux and Open Source Software in the Christian context (i.e. Church, family, and other Christian places and organisations).

This is mostly out of my own frustration of not having anywhere to discuss these sorts of matters. I want to be able to ask people questions like:

  • How do we promote OSS in churches?
  • What Church Management Software is out there?
  • How do I set up a web site for my Church?
  • What software can my ministry use to display songs using a data projector?
  • How do I leverage Facebook and Twitter to be a tool for Christ?
  • How do we present the Gospel in a Web 2.0 world?

I know of one mailing list that currently says that it is concentrated on open source software, but unfortunately it tends to become a place for people to debate doctrinal differences and politics, instead of discussing ways of improving our ministries with open source software.

So, what do you think? If I were to start a mailing list, would you join?

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11 Responses

  1. Wesley, on July 14th, 2009 at 6:57 pm Said:

    Bring on the mailing list, good idea.

    Reply
  2. Jonathan, on July 14th, 2009 at 7:27 pm Said:

    i would join

    Reply
  3. Eric, on July 14th, 2009 at 7:35 pm Said:

    Sure I would join. Not sure what I would be able to offer at this point but you never know.

    Reply
  4. jotik, on July 14th, 2009 at 9:39 pm Said:

    I second that.

    Reply
  5. Cameron, on July 15th, 2009 at 12:35 am Said:

    I would probably join.

    However, I’d want some sort of guarantee it wouldn’t turn out like the ‘Linux4Christians’ mailing list, which turned into a American-style fundamentalist love-in with the odd technical discussion.

    Off topic conversation was encouraged, but anyone with views other than extreme right wing evangelical need to wear extra thick flame proof undies. You wouldn’t believe the grief I wore because I dared to admit that I send my children to public school. And the saddest thing is that anyone who didn’t like the tone of the list was told that it was for their benefit.

    I speak in the past tense because my staying on the list bore no benefits for anyone.

    Reply
    • Raoul Snyman, on July 15th, 2009 at 3:35 pm Said:

      Cameron, that’s exactly what I want to avoid. I’m going to put together a list of fairly strict guidelines and most probably a Code of Conduct (similar to Ubuntu’s CoC), and while I will most probably be somewhat lenient, if someone breaks the rules more than, let’s say 3 times, then I would remove them from the list.

      Reply
  6. Gerv, on July 15th, 2009 at 2:50 am Said:

    I might join; but perhaps a wiki might be a better tool for gathering some of the data items you list?

    Gerv

    Reply
  8. Martin Zibricky, on July 15th, 2009 at 3:29 pm Said:

    I would join

    Reply
  9. Julius, on September 7th, 2009 at 4:01 pm Said:

    I would join

    Reply
  10. Tom, on November 7th, 2009 at 8:59 pm Said:

    Raoul, I’d b interested in joining as well.
    Currently I’m attempting to resurrect the Freely Project http://freelyproject.wordpress.com/ that died out a couple of years ago, but the focus was similar, encouraging the use Linux and Open Source in the Christian community.

    Reply

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