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Ultimately, anything you can see on screen can be copied and converted
to other useful formats, technically, if not legally. Ease of doing so
may vary greatly with the application. Any Bible study program that is
any good supports text export and copy & paste functions, but you
may have to do it a chapter at a time and add markup manually. (That is
much easier than doing screen captures and running the resulting images
through OCR software.) In the case of Libronix modules, it is probably
a violation of the DMCA to convert whole books. Direct conversion of
the Libronix modules is a possibility, too, but the format of those
modules are protected by trade secret law as well as copyright. (Making
a trade secret known doesn't cancel the effect of the law.) If the text
of a Libronix module happens to be public domain, it is probably also
available in an unencumbered format elsewhere.<br>
<br>
If I were convinced of the legality of a text conversion project
starting with Libronix and going to OSIS, I would probably do so
indirectly, going from exported text to a simpler markup like USFM or
GBF that has a free converter to OSIS, then, if appropriate, adjust the
OSIS to support any features that were not easy to support in the
intermediate format, if any. If. That would save a lot of tedium.<br>
<br>
I LIKE open Bible text formats (like OSIS, USFM, USFX, GBF, ThML, SWORD
modules, eSword modules, etc.) for their openness, just like I like
open source software and freely-copyable Bibles like the WEB.<br>
<br>
I mentioned STEP because it was a noble effort at a common,
long-lasting Bible text standard, like XSEM and OSIS... one that seems
to be fading away, just like XSEM is now and OSIS will. The main
difference is that OSIS has some people who are at least attempting to
keep it updated by fixing part of its defects and adding features.<br>
<br>
Patrick Durusau just finished making some edits to the OSIS User's
Manual that substantially improved it OSIS. I think that will be
available for download within a week or so from the official OSIS web
site. If you are using OSIS, I recommend getting it and reading it when
it is available. It still has some problems, with examples not matching
the text very well, but it finally becomes what I would call usable
when properly used.<br>
<br>
I'm not as strongly opposed to OSIS as I was before the
about-to-be-published OSIS User's Manual revision. I still think that
it is unfortunate that Chris Little would like to make OSIS the only
supported format for The Sword Project, as this will most likely slow
development and cause problems. But-- it is an open source project, and
he is free to support OSIS as much as he wants, and others are free to
continue supporting existing alternatives or add support for other
formats-- even if it means branching the project to a new home and a
new name. The GPL is wonderful in granting freedom that way. :-) That
said, if you think OSIS is a good thing for you to use, go for it. Let
OSIS and its alternatives stand or fall on their own merits. My main
concern is that the Word of God be published widely and accurately.<br>
<br>
Michael<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://kahunapule.org">http://kahunapule.org</a><br>
<br>
Greg Hellings wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid75a952c00603060752k53d850d7lb7ba72967277d178@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div>If Libronix supports it, you could use a copy-and-paste method
into another file and then import that to SWORD - costly in time but
eventually effective. Altermatively, it <em>is</em> possible to
convert from Libronix's format into the SWORD format. I don't know
what the copyright permissions are for Logos/Libronix files/modules.
You would definitely want to check on that - see if you are allowed to
change from one format to another for your personal use. Good luck!
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>--Greg<br>
<br>
</div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 3/5/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">David
J. Ring, Jr.</b> <<a href="mailto:n1ea@arrl.net">n1ea@arrl.net</a>>
wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Speaking
of STEP and other formats such as those used by Libronix (Logos<br>
Bible) - with programs vanishing, it is costly for all who have
invested in
<br>
electronic books rather than paper books.<br>
<br>
I wish there was something that "if you could see it on the screen" you<br>
could convert it to a SWORD module.<br>
<br>
I have lots of Logos books that I can get no where else (or not all
with the
<br>
same reader), and would like to get rid of the clunky and slow Libronix<br>
interface.<br>
<br>
I'm using the old Logos interface which is much faster - but it was<br>
developed and worked fine under Windows 3.0 system.<br>
<br>
Best<br>
<br>
David Ring<br>
Green Harbor, MA<br>
<br>
----- Original Message -----<br>
From: "Chris Little" <<a href="mailto:chrislit@crosswire.org">chrislit@crosswire.org</a>><br>
To: "SWORD Developers' Collaboration Forum" <
<a href="mailto:sword-devel@crosswire.org">sword-devel@crosswire.org</a>><br>
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 8:03 PM<br>
Subject: Re: [sword-devel] OSIS:What is the future? Who is using it now?<br>
<br>
<br>
As for STEP (I'm not sure why this was brought up), it has a decreasing
<br>
number of supporting applications. Some of its supporters have ceased<br>
using STEP; others have simply gone out of business. And as Michael<br>
mentions, it has no steering committee at the moment, which makes its<br>
future rather bleak. But STEP really has a different objective from<br>
OSIS. They serve fairly different needs.<br>
<br>
--Chris<br>
<br>
<br>
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