What’s Your Greatest Pain?
December 11th, 2006
In terms of church information management and communication, what is your greatest pain?
The life and times of Church Radius church management software (ChMS)
In terms of church information management and communication, what is your greatest pain?
The life and times of Church Radius church management software (ChMS)
Feed yourself
4 comments on “What’s Your Greatest Pain?”
01
I’ve been trying to come up with “just one” answer to this for weeks. My first thought was along the lines of “software is too confusing.” But, that’s not really true, at least not all the time. Then I considered saying that some users just aren’t intended to have computers. But that’s not right either — some very non-techie people can do great things with just the right computer. Finally it hit me. The problem is that people aren’t all exactly the same! We have to provide different answers for different people. So…yes…that’s the greatest pain and a big challenge. But, wouldn’t it be boring if everyone were the same?
- Tony
02
Hey, I posted this over on Derek’s personal blog as well, but then realized there was a site blog and figured this would actually be the more appropriate place to comment…So here it is here as well.
I have been looking for an ASP.NET church management system, but I am always concerned about locking myself in with proprietary systems - especially when they are web-based. It means that my data could potentially be lost forever should the business close, etc. What are the chances you guys are/would consider some form of limited open source license - e.g. CC non-commercial?
03
Definitely proprietary software is the common nightmare! And, ASP is the wrong answer too. An SSL secured web server running MySQL & PHP on an open source OS like Linux or BSD. This can easily be distributed on a single, bootable CD-ROM. Look at MEPIS, PCLinuxOS, Knoppix or any of the other single CD Live boot systems.
The ideal system would be: Pop in the CD, hit reset. The system would boot from the CD, then format & install the server on the hard drive. Reboot from the hard drive & you’re done!
04
Re: Pop in a CD
I thought this for a bit too. It’s a great solution for those who can add a server when they add an app. I think that Tony’s observation gives us the greatest trouble but is also the greatest blessing — Our Creator made each of us different so that we all have different ways in which we serve (pun intended).
I think the largest obstacle in the ChIM realm is having those in administration (and technical
) roles understand that software doesn’t make things better on its own - only when everyone who administrates it understands how the underlying information flows (who enters it, what purposes and products does it support) is it going to work. It’s a system and the organization/individuals need to commit to it.
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