Hello Mitch,
I think that BibleSupport is already a valuable treasure and a raging success by any measure. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Josh Bond, the moderators, the module makers, the utility makers, and all the other people who have made BibleSupport such a success. Distributing materials for God's work is one of the main goals. Take a look at the download stats, and you'll see that goal is being met far beyond expectations.
Total Downloads: 3,943,034
When it comes to this site, and what is done on here, I have to agree with you that its quite amazing.
Just yesterday I had a look at a couple of other Bible software sites on their forum pages, and what free stuff they had to offer, and I can honestly say that they are so far behind the 8 ball that it makes me wonder if they have lost the plot or something else.
That said, what makes this to be amazing is in many ways an enigma. The reason for this, when you just have a look at the e-Sword UI, in all sincerity, it just doesn't look much at all. It just looks plain and dull by any comparison. For example, just look that theWord, and that program makes users want to drool over it in comparison to e-Sword. And yet theWord, in number of users lags way behind e-Sword. Why is that? Moreover, theWord has bells and whistles that e-Sword doesn't have at all, and still the e-Sword has a huge user base that just trumps theWord.
Its not just theWord that is like that. You can see many other Bible programs that are far more powerful than e-Sword, that doesn't have the user base that e-Sword has. And when I look at that, and also see the lack of resources they have in comparison to e-Sword, the enigma really, really increases.
I've often stated what makes e-Sword really great to use, which was/are:
- Ease of Use
- Simplicity of Design
- Quick access to the resources.
The one thing about e-Sword is you don't have to muck around in trying to find the Bible version, the kind of Dictionary and commentary you want. They are all just one click away; they are all on tabs which are right in front of you. I reckon you can't get any better and any faster than that.
So, when you see that kind of thing, and then you can see why people really like this program, and then from there to want to create resources for it.
With all that said, I am aware that free is great, and I'm a huge fan of that. However, its goes a bit more beyond just the free. If one looks that the EULA, whoever thought that permission has been given, now get this, to make as many copies you want, and then just give them away. Unreal! (And I'm not talking about the Unreal game engine.)
Now, when it comes to such flexibility and openness of this program, it then lends itself to where 3rd party resource creation is encouraged. And with that, you can talk about liberty like there is nothing like it. So, when you see Josh Bond doing something like this website, with a bit of help from DDT, then, hey, you have a storm on your hand that you will never be able to control. And this is what happened.
And with that, only this needs to be said, May this ministry, along with e-Sword, continue to grow and prosper in the Holy Spirit, and that everyone who uses this site and e-Sword be blessed beyond all measure.
Blessings,
Edited by APsit190, 25 February 2016 - 05:11 PM.
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