Answers to Religious Agenda questions.
Last updated: 10-28-01
What is the Religious Agenda?
What is the Agenda VR3?
What is Linux?
What is Open Source/GPL?
What is X or FLTK?
Just who do you think you are?
Why are you doing this?
Is what you are doing legal?
Are the translations you are distributing copyrighted?
Isn't your logo in violation of trademark law?
Will the Religious Agenda run on platform X?
Why can't I figure out how to get this app on my Agenda?
Are you the only game in town?
What is the Religious Agenda?
The Religious Agenda is a somewhat bold name for a Bible study tool for the Agenda VR3 PDA. The name is a derivative of the PDA's product name and the software author's arrogance. The Religious Agenda is meant to be a multiple translation Bible reader. The Religious Agenda is licensed under the GPL and is thus ensured to be free through eternity.
What is the Agenda VR3?
The Agenda VR3 is a PDA or Personal Data Assistant produced and marketed by
Agenda Computing
. The Agenda runs a Linux OS complete with an X server and a FLTK development library. The Agenda VR3 was chosen as the target platform for this project because of it's 16M of FLASH memory and familiar programming interface.
What is Linux?
Linux is an Open Source Unix like operating system. It runs on nearly every type of computer from PDA's like the Agenda VR3 to IBM's Z-Series mainframes. You name it and someone probably has ported Linux to it at some time or another. In all actuality Linux is a little too big of a subject to cover in such a simple FAQ. Have a look at
Linux.com
if you are a newbie to Linux. Also feel free to use any of the search engines on the word Linux. You'll probably find a million links all bustling with information about this exciting OS.
What is Open Source/GPL?
Open Source is a concept of making the source code available for a distributed program available to the public. A program is not truly free unless you have the freedom to change or in some cases fix it. The
GPL
or GNU General Public License is a special type of Open Source license which ensures that the software and all derivatives of it will remain free to public eyes for ever. The source code for the Religious Agenda is distributed under the GPL while the Bible text remains under the Public Domain.
What is X or FLTK?
X is the traditional GUI server/tool kit for Linux and Unix.
FLTK
or the Fast Light Tool Kit is a set of C++ API's for developing GUI applications on top of X, Windows, or Mac's. Instead of using pure X, FLTK was used to provide simpler code. FLTK is the De-facto development GUI toolkit for the Agenda VR3.
Just who do you think you are?
I'm
Cory Jon Hollingsworth
, a programmer by profession and choice. I like writing software and if at all possible I enjoy sharing software as well.
Why are you doing this?
I initially wrote the Religious Agenda because I wanted to extend the life of my King James Bible. It didn't take me long to realize the value added by having multiple translations instantly available, thus my desires switched from wanting to preserve my old Methodist Bible to wanting to produce a useful Bible study tool. The creation of the tool is really a result of greedy self interest. Making it available to all who want it is a result of the philosophy I live by. Besides I've found writing software to be an excellent form of entertainment.
Is what you are doing legal?
Well. See below.
Are the distributions of the Bible you are distributing copyrighted?
All translations distributed for the Religious Agenda are Public Domain. You will find no NIV or NASB translations available for the Religious Agenda since their copyrights are held by Zondervan Corporation and Lockman Foundation respectfully. ASCII versions of the Bible are available from
Project Gutenberg
and the
The Bible Foundation
.
Isn't your logo in violation of trademark law?
The present project logo is a combination of the
United Methodist logo
and the Linux logo, Tux. The Linux logo can be freely used as an indicator of the presence of Linux and is used far and wide. I use the Methodist logo because it looks cool. The Methodist trademark is often used by members of the Methodist church without permission from the United Methodist church. Although it's use can be technically argued as a trademark violation, I don't expect to ever hear from the Methodist church. There are no direct ties between the decision making body of the United Methodist church and the author of the Religious Agenda. It is not the author's intention to create this misconception.
Will the Religious Agenda run on platform X?
The target platform is the Agenda VR3. However I have been developing the program on a Linux box with FLTK and X. Although the Religious Agenda is coded for the screen dimensions of the Agenda VR3, it should be fairly strait forward to get it running on any POSIX platform with FLTK. It is my hope that there will be more PDA's that will be able to run the Religious Agenda in the future.
Why can't I figure out how to get this app on my Agenda?
Unfortunately the Religious Agenda is probably the largest app available for the Agenda VR3. In order to get this app loaded onto your Agenda VR3 you will need to create a custom disk image. Instructions on how to create your own Agenda disk image are available
here
. After you have a working disk image, you will have to start removing programs you don't need in order to fit the Religious Agenda onto the disk image. This can be very tough and is not a task to be tackled by a beginner.
Are you the only game in town?
Is this the only Bible reader available for the Agenda VR3? Until recently the answer was yes. I'm happy to say that is no longer the case. You can also check out the Sword/PDA project at
http://www.coconut-palm-software.com/~sword-pda
. Dave created a Bible reader based off of the Sword projects source code. If you have trouble getting the Religious Agenda to work for you or don't like the user interface you might want to give his app a try. Good luck and God bless. Have more questions? You know the drill.
cory@users.SourceForge.net
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