Computer Resources for Churches on Tight Budgets
Introduction
A discussion on the RMCUMC Dialogue e-mail list
led to this list of suggestions for churches and church leaders
on tight
budgets.
First, don't be tempted to respond to those many e-mails offering
super low prices for Microsoft software; they are almost never legitimate
outlets for legal Microsoft programs. Just delete them.
TechShop
The best way to get software at discounted prices for UM Churches
and organzations is to visit UMCom's TechShop.
However, if you are seeking low-cost software for your personal
use or for a non-UM organization, UMCom doesn't work.
Free Readers for Common File Formats:
Free and Open Source Software Options
There is a world-wide movement of programmers called Open
Source Software (OSS). You can read about this on the Open
Source Initiative web site. This
page has a general discussion of what
OSS is along with a good FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document. "Open
Source Software" is
a source for much low-cost and free software that is often high-quality.
Where Can I Get It?
Try the OpenCD collection of
open-source software for Windows. Sometimes this site is overloaded
and slow enough in responding that the browser times out. For a source
to buy
cds
with this software
on it for very little ($2 or so per cd) because you have a slow
modem, don't have a CD burner, or just don't want the hassle, visit
this
site.
If you want to download over your fast cable or DSL connection
and you have a CD burner (writeable CD drive), you can get
it here.
Here are some of the programs on this CD:
Other Alternatives
Here's a site about alternatives to Microsoft software (it is,
after all, not the only useful software), not from an anti-MS or
anti-Gates
point of view but from an information point of view: http://www.livingwithoutmicrosoft.org/
A source of CDs of all kinds, legally: http://cheapbytes.com/. They
appear not to have the OpenCD, however.
Why Open Source Software?
Besides price (probably the main reason churches may want to use
open source software), there are other reasons. Here
is a large paper, with tons of good information in it, giving some of the
reasons to use open source software.
(The author identifies himself as Christian, by the way.) The
paper covers these topics: market share, reliability, performance,
scalability,
security, and total cost of ownership.
Paper on Open Source and business
How to evaluate Open Source Software
Another
good introduction to OSS
Introduction
to Open Source Software, from a library point of view
(2001)
Paper on open
source and the Department of Defense, with good overview
of historical developments and reasons why this concept would be
good for the DoD. Many of the arguments fit just as well with the
Church!
(Annoying popups!)
Financial/Accounting programs
Every once in awhile we get a question about accocunting programs. Wikipedia has
a chart comparing various accounting software programs. Again, there
are free and open source programs which function well.
Gnucash is an example of such
software, a stable, double-entry system which I (Ben) have used successfully).
Database-type programs
There is an free, open source database that is highly
praised, but you will want to have someone who is very comfortable
with
computers
and databases to use it: PostgreSQL.
It has been developed largely for the Linux platform, but it
can be installed on Windows and
Windows NT/XP. There is a Windows-based "front-end" for
it. . Note the "Docs" link
at the top and the FAQs on the Docs page. This
page has a huge collection of links related
to this database. SQL is "Structured
Query Language" and is the most powerful database language
around, but that also means it takes some learning and some time
to get it going. It is may be overkill for many church purposes.
Here is the recommended Windows frontend to it.
For tracking donations/pledges, Fundraiser
Basic is reasonably inexpensive
($90).
This site has Church Membership
Keeper (basic) for $40.
This page has church database software (shareware, $25).
An Open Source Computer Operating System
I (Ben Roe) have been using the Open Source operating system called "GNU/Linux" (or
just "Linux") for several years and have found it to
be quite capable for what I need. I find I can do almost everything
on Linux that I can do on Windows XP, the other operating system
I use frequently. Often I can do things on Linux that I can't do
easily or inexpensively on XP. Even when I'm using XP, I
have
free/open source software tools which I use.
Xandros has a link to a story about
the $200 Wal-mart Linux-based computer. In addition to those links,
I see that Linux of several flavors can be found at Amazon.com
for much less than $100. One of the best distributions of Linux/GNU
is Ubuntu.
It gets rave
reviews
as being one of the best for those new to Linux. Visit
their web site for complete information. Amazon has
Ubuntu 8.04 for $13!
Beginner's Guides:
New England Survey of Church Software
The New England Conference's survey of church software. The results
are posted at this
web site. Highlights: Membership Plus
and Church Windows were most used, but even Microsoft (MS) Works database is
being used for membership tracking. Church Windows, Quicken, Quick Books, Excel,
and MS Word are used for financial records. As you might guess, MS Word, WordPerfect,
and MS Publisher are used for publishing.
Brian's Guide to Free Software
Brian Tiede of Trinity UMC in Ralston, Nebraska, has a great web
site on freeware software. Visit http://freeware.trinityralston.org/index.htm for
his take on things, lots of good thoughts and links.
What If I Just Want To Build a Church Web Site?
We recommend you look at the free program, KompoZer. It is a near-clone
of some popular web-building programs, and the price is right. Visit
this web address for complete information.
And don't forget to visit the links on our Links
page.
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