Author Topic: Bible time software (Read 5178 times)

lareya · « **on:** August 01, 2004, 04:55:35 pm »

Has anyone gotten this to work? I have been using the sword, but I am looking for more of a bible study software? any suggestions, or is everyone using Qsword?

Here is the link for Bible time: http://www.bibletime.info/index.html
TIA,

Lareya

rjohnson1969 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 04, 2005, 05:20:33 pm »

I personally found the QPSword interface irritating. Also it lacked a translation that I wanted to read -- the WEB I referred you to before was horribly out of date (being a work-in-progress), so I went looking for alternatives.

I now use Palm Study from AcroDesign AcroDesign Linux Products
He's fixed up the website with lots of screenshots -- take a look.

It is not offered in a free version, so you'd have to pay to try it. It is almost as good as the old PalmBible+ that I used on a Palm handheld before. I found a bug and the author fixed it quickly, so he does still support it.

tumnus · « **Reply #2 on:** May 04, 2005, 06:16:03 pm »

Quote

Here is the link for Bible time: http://www.bibletime.info/index.html
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=37319\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

That looks really nice... for the desktop, but as it appears to depend on KDE it might take some effort to port, if it can be ported (would probably have to use the KDEPIM/PI team's microKDE libraries).

As rjohnson1969 points out, Palm Study looks pretty good for a proper study application.

It's a real shame (maybe even really wrong) that the popular translations that have been out for years if not decades are still not in the public domain. I tend to use RSV myself as it has a nice balance between accuracy and ease of reading, plus its free

I heard that QPSword was going to get a rewrite some time soon. What specifically do you not like about the application as a Bible reader? Some things I find lacking/frustrating:

Can be slow, especially scrolling through a chapter
Cannot get to menu without holding down stylus, which is awkward in itself.
Not so easy to install new modules
Crashes if no results are returned from a search
Cannot close the app with the Cancel key

2 and 5 could probably be fixed quite easily actually. Can't complain too much though since it is free.

davidmcnaught16 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 04, 2005, 07:17:00 pm »

The problems I've found with QPsword:
- Selecting book/chapter/verse requires keyboard/handwriting input (A pain, could be all stylus)
- Not many versions available (I'd like NIV/ESV/NASB)
- Cannot change size of text

Apart from these issues, it's great, and for free it's not bad, it's just a shame there is no more functional alternative (Similar to oliveTree biblereader for Palm/pocket PC).

chal · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2005, 10:18:35 am »

Quote

Quote
Here is the link for Bible time: http://www.bibletime.info/index.html
[div align=\"right\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
That looks really nice... for the desktop, but as it appears to depend on KDE it might take some effort to port, if it can be ported (would probably have to use the KDEPIM/PI team's microKDE libraries).

As rjohnson1969 points out, Palm Study looks pretty good for a proper study application.

It's a real shame (maybe even really wrong) that the popular translations that have been out for years if not decades are still not in the public domain. I tend to use RSV myself as it has a nice balance between accuracy and ease of reading, plus its free

I heard that QPSword was going to get a rewrite some time soon. What specifically do you not like about the application as a Bible reader? Some things I find lacking/frustrating:
Can be slow, especially scrolling through a chapter
Cannot get to menu without holding down stylus, which is awkward in itself.
Not so easy to install new modules
Crashes if no results are returned from a search
Cannot close the app with the Cancel key
2 and 5 could probably be fixed quite easily actually. Can't complain too much though since it is free.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78289\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

I use Palmstudy and qpsword.

I also use The NET Bible's HTML version (not the windows HTML help version, but the other HTML version). I run it in Opera 7.30 and it works fine.

Personally, if number 2 in your qpsword list was fixed, it would be perfect for me.

Doc posted some good advice in this link, for anyone having trouble installing packages. It's easier and allows you to install modules to a card. I have so many modules running in it, there is only room for one or two more before any additional modules will not be visible in the menu anymore (I had this happen in OPIE, where I ran the whole prog from SD, but I'm using tKc rom now, with the main prog on internal).

[a href=\"https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4878&st=0]https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4878&st=0[/url]

I'm not sure if that is relevant for everyone's setup or not, but I had to modify those instructions a bit like this;

Quote

BTW, I had to reverse the order of
"ln -s /mnt/card/usr/share/sword /usr/share/sword,"
so that it was "ln -s /usr/share/sword /mnt/card/usr/share/sword

sl5500 tKc rom
1GB Lexar 40x CF formatted as fat
512MB sandisk SD formatted as ext2 (like FM, no static at all)

ZDevil · « **Reply #5 on:** May 06, 2005, 08:01:55 am »

Thanks for the info about The NET Bible! It displays great on my C860!

Just curious to know: how about the reliability of this translation, apart from the many praises in the website? Sorry for my ignorance.

Also: how to enable Z to display Hebrew and Greek fonts in the notes window? Thanks again.

Howard Roark · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2005, 10:45:45 am »

What translation is it?

chal · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2005, 06:34:00 pm »

Quote

Thanks for the info about The NET Bible! It displays great on my C860!

Just curious to know: how about the reliability of this translation, apart from the many praises in the website? Sorry for my ignorance.

Also: how to enable Z to display Hebrew and Greek fonts in the notes window? Thanks again.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=78524\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Well, I know someone who is very knowledgeable in Greek and somewhat in Hebrew, who seems to like it. What I like is that the footnotes often explain in detail why a verse is translated a certain way. I bought a leatherbound copy a while back and even on that it was titled, "First Beta Version." It is intended to be updated as new knowledge is gained. It's not my main study Bible, but a good tool for tough verses that don't translate well into English. IMO, you can't beat the KJV accompanied by Strongs, JFB Commentary and ISBE. That's why I like QPSword, although as someone pointed out, the interface could use some improvement (like a more conventional menu).

revdjenk · « **Reply #8 on:** August 03, 2005, 08:19:18 pm »

I agree with all the interface issues with Qpsword...

I would add this one:
Ability to change font color...the green is almost unreadable in some lighting situations.

polito · « **Reply #9 on:** August 03, 2005, 11:34:44 pm »

Hmm... I couldn't really get QpSword to run well on my Z6K. I had loaded a truckload of book modules to my CF card for it and had to tinker with pointing things to the right place. It would look beautiful when I first opened it. After that if I tried to actually navigate or do something, the display would go crazy and I would be missing parts of the lines of text and other odd things.

It was a shame really as I thought it'd be great to have all the various modules available on the Z. Hmm... mebbe I need to set up a Z development system somewheres and actually figure out how to fix QpSword... the source is available after all.

Hmm... hmm... agh.. just have to do my taxes first (yipes!)

chal · « **Reply #10 on:** August 06, 2005, 01:29:42 pm »

Quote

I agree with all the interface issues with Qpsword...

I would add this one:
Ability to change font color...the green is almost unreadable in some lighting situations.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=90664\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Yeah, that is pretty ugly (oxymoronic remark intended). I usually just go to a verse before the one I actually want. The only problem with that is when you are at the beginning of a chapter. I usualy use something other than white (biege or light blue) for a background and that helps to make the green type a little more viewable.

wmadan · « **Reply #11 on:** August 17, 2005, 11:11:15 am »

On the clamshell Zaurii the font size is way too small to read, so that needs fixing. Besides that, it isn't possible in qpsword to use a personal commentary to record notes like you can in the PC versions. That would be a nice feature upgrade.

I also have PalmStudy, but it is tailored to the older Zaurii and doesn't display in VGA.

In the past, I have successfully installed both BibleTime and GnomeSword under Debian XQt. My recollection is that GnomeSword ran faster than BibleTime, but wasn't as stable.

chal · « **Reply #12 on:** August 17, 2005, 05:40:58 pm »

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, it isn't possible in qpsword to use a personal commentary to record notes like you can in the PC versions. That would be a nice feature upgrade.

[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=92176\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

I have a module for personal commentary (5500), which installs and loads into the prog, but never could get it to actually do anything. Kinda looks like a zen mimimalist commentary.

mars · « **Reply #13 on:** August 18, 2005, 01:30:39 pm »

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font size is way too small to read, so that needs fixing.

See the following fix found in this thread:

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To change font size, there's a workaround:
Make a symbolic link to the font you like, let say, helvetica_260_50_t10.qpf.
(If you already have unifont_160_50_t10.qpf, pls rename it so it won't be overwritten.)
ln -s helvetica_260_50_t10.qpf unifont_160_50_t10.qpf

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Author Topic: Bible time software (Read 5178 times)