Hey guys, I’m writing this to ask for help. My church is looking into buying a new computer setup to primarily run power point out to a projector (hung from the ceiling) and record sermons and classes on. I’m compiling a analysis/report in order to convince my dad and the elders of our church that Linux is the best way to go for what they’re doing. I want to ask you (and I realize that everything I ask takes a lot more time than you have, but perhaps you could write it in intervals and send it to me when you get done?) for your setup profile (what projector, computer manufacturer you bought from), your congregation membership (100, 200, 250, etc), where your located, what distro you use, what you use your computers for, how Linux has helped you, how Linux has hindered you (if at all of course), why you use Linux, and any problems you encountered with any hardware you use (having to search for and compile drivers and any other pain in the butt things), and any qualifications you have and how long you’ve used Linux. Any help you can give me, if you chose to write me at all will be greatly appreciated. I’m looking to take your reply’s, various articles, and my personal opinions and experiences and compile them into an article somewhere along the way to post on the internet and submit it to various Linux publications for others who are looking at using Linux in their church or non-profit organization. If I can get our church using Linux, it’ll get a foot in, in our area where Linux in nothing to everyone I met but a word they’ve heard somewhere that they can’t remember that only real computer geeky people use that would be impossible for them to use. I’m hoping I can show my area otherwise with you help. ANY help at all you can give, would be greatly appreciated.

-Philip

I wish you the best of luck, mate, but all the churches in our
vicinity that I've visited/attended were exclusively using M$
products, specifically the embedding of flash and other little
animations in MS Office seems to be a major criteria which OO
(or other products that would be suitable for presentations)
don't have (or are hard to achieve). In this case it's not the
OS but the apps that are the killer.

Anyway, God bless :}


Cheers,
Tink

What motivates these people? Money? Convenience? Conformity--ie not questioning the established order?
To sell, you have to get inside people's head to see what they are looking for. Then you may need to do some demonstrations, cost analysis, whatever. Not easy for use to help by remote control...

I don't have any particular experience running presentations and the like but, one thing you might watch out for is screensavers. It may cause a stir if webcollage, demon or xflame comes up on the big screen.
They are easy enough to delete from /usr/libexec/xscreensaver and /usr/share/applnk/System/ScreenSavers on FC4. Slightly different location on FC3.

Tell them that they can donate the money they save from not buying Windows to some kind of organization. Even better, if you seriously need to convince them, make one of your Linux boxes look like XP and make someone do some work on it. If they dont even realise theyre working on Linux (perfectly possible with distros like Mandriva and Ubuntu) then youve made your case--even if they realise it isnt Windows, theyre bound to see that Linux isnt too tough to understand. (at that level).

Quite a few resources available that cover what you are looking for..

http://www.thefreelyproject.org/

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7653

http://searchopensource.techtarget.c...969111,00.html

http://webempoweredchurch.com/

http://matheteuo.org/compchurch.php

http://www.infocentral.org/faq.php

A nice demo can go a long way to demonstrating the possibilites. then after the demo explain the bottom line. Yes you can do all this on windows, but on Linux you can do it all for free legally..

by saving money on software licensing we can use those funds for our: outreach program, feed the homeless program, meals on wheels program, missionary program, etc.. etc..

My recommendation would be to tell the church that THEY SHOULD USE WINDOWS.

This coming from myself, a Linux/Unix person. Do not expect that you will be the only one ever using or maintaining their system. And don't expect your eventual replacement to necessarily be a knowledgeable computer guru. My guess is that a group of non-technicals could gather 'round a broken Windows box and eventually figure out how to fix it, or find somebody to fix it for them (even Best Buy's "Geek Squad" if necessary). Not necessarily so for a broken Linux box. I haven't run into any churches that have a dedicated and competent IT department recently.

I beg to differ :}

I've been to one church lately (in the holidays up north) where the
dual-screen solution decided to crap out just before a service, there
was a pack of windows-geeks around and they had no clue what to do or
where to look, or even how to assess what the problem might be ;}

If something technical goes wrong with windows Joe Bloggs won't be
able to solve it easily, either. He may be able to find someone who
can fix it more easily (or for a cheaper rate), though.


Cheers,
Tink

I don't agree with that at all. There may be more Linux users in the shadows than one knows about and more who are willing to learn.
Just running the programs doesn't take any higher level of geakness for Linux than it does to run Windows programs.

Agreed. But administering the system (well) does. I also think a call for volunteers at the end of a service would draw more response with "We need helpers who know Microsoft PowerPoint" rather than "We need helpers who know OpenOffice Impress."

Just my opinion. Stated as such. Personally, I prefer Linux myself.



[edit]
p.s. - I'm not trying to stir up a can of worms. I'm not a Windows shrill by any means. I don't go near it unless I have to! If there are Linux people, or people willing to learn, in your church environment - right on! Go for it. My point being: don't set up something, no matter how inherantly superior, that you and only you will be able to maintain.
[/edit]

The people (note: more than one person) who use and 'administer' the computer should make the technical decision of what to run on it. This is to avoid a single point of failure with the system. If the majority of the group is comfortable with Windows and one person prefers Linux, I would have to say that Windows belongs on the machine. If the situation was reversed I would recommend Linux but the odds of the sound/tech crew at a church being populated with Linux geeks isn't very high. Even if there was a couple, I still have to assume the majority of people using this machine over time will be Windows people. In my experience, two or three people use the machine 99% of the time but more like 6-7 are involved with it over the lifetime. All those people need to be considered.

And it's not so much a matter of being able to use it. Anyone could use the machine... but when it breaks finding people who have access and the ability to fix it is a more complicated matter. I really hate to recommend windows but it is what makes sense.

If you want a linux machine in church... you could always start your own religion.

I have to agree with the above comments that a semi-public computer that could go through several admins. Will have greater success in finding people who know or can find help with a Windows machine. Also if the group of people using the pc are more likely to just run out and buy software that they can plug in and use. The simplicity factor comes in again. After all, these decisions should be based on what is best for the end user.

Having said all that I have to put a plug in for Linux. As this is a church they might understand that sometimes the right thing isn’t always the easy thing to do. Plus they’re likely to appreciate the savings with Linux. You could also throw in that linux isn’t in league with Lucifer

Yes, that was a cheap shot

You bring up an interesting mentality that people have. All of our lives from birth, we are taught to acel. More success is better and the more the better ... Until you do succeed, then all of a sudden, every joe on the street hates you and says things about you they shouldn't. Even if they have never met or even came close to you they say things which are rumored by others because you have the nerve to succeed.
Me on the other hand, being of the un-employed with lots of experience, certifications and bumping into age discrimination, don't have to worry about anyone other than my wife hating me.

quote
If I can get our church using Linux, it’ll get a foot in, in our area where Linux in nothing to everyone I met but a word they’ve heard somewhere that they can’t remember that only real computer geeky people use that would be impossible for them to use.


Q1
So you're saying that there would be no support for a Linux system even from the local community i.e. computer shops etc ?????

Q2
and why do you need a computer to record sermons and classes ?? whats wrong with a decent tape recorder ? I ask that because in years gone by I have operated sound systems ( multi-channel mixing desks etc etc )and in my experience the fancier and complicated the system becomes the fewer people able to maintain it properly. ( and the more armed guards and alsatians you have to use to protect it from the button-pushers and knob-twiddlers )

And to Homey
have you considered becoming self-employed ?
what sort of qualifications do you have ?

cheers
floppy

I have thought about it some. I've been in the office machine business since the great blizzard when I lived up near Jeremy.
Started out with manual typewriters and adding machines up to electronic typewriters and word processors and finally up to computers. That also mixed with printers, copiers and faxes.

We had to make our own printer cables at first as there was no standard yet.

I have an AD in computer science, MCSE , CCNA , CNA and A+ and was real happy as a network engineer until some mean and nasty terrorists hurt alot of people and put the skids on the local economy.