[odf-discuss] Three steps to Open Source in the Church

[Lars Noodén]

M. Fioretti wrote:
> ...
> The point that religious organizations have even more reasons than
> others to use Free as in Freedom digital standards and software
> has been already raised...

A few years ago I thought about writing something along those lines
using the intersection of several religions.  Basically, the goals and
methods of open source, especially Free Software, seem to dovetail
nicely with the tenets of the major world religions.  But it's been too
many years since my degree to dust off all that and get moving.

Certainly, some vendors are to be avoided if one takes into account any
level of ethics or morals.

Another approach, which we can plan ahead for 2008, is how family
volunteer is spent during the holidays.  If it were not for the millions
upon millions of unbilled tech support put into keeping cruft on various
home desktops, we'd have seen FOSS as the dominant licensing at home by
now.  Those people breaking their backs during the holidays, are
ensuring that the inferior products are not removed by market forces.

Even  with all things being otherwise equal (which they are not) time
invested in FOSS is actually an investment.  Further, the returns on
that investment are gained by a population, not just an individual.

-Lars