Is this for real?

Story: Ubuntu Christian Edition 1.0 Screenshot TourTotal Replies: 22
Author Content
SFN

Aug 04, 2006
6:06 AM EDT
The screenshots are of Ubuntu. Plain ol' Ubuntu.

justme

Aug 04, 2006
6:10 AM EDT
I guess these guys never heard of Jesus Linux..or they decided to try the same joke out on Ubuntu's new audience.
sbergman27

Aug 04, 2006
6:14 AM EDT
I was wondering about that. Is this one of those distros like "Jesux" ( http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Node/4081/ ) that aliases commands like "kill" and has argument aliases for things like "chmod 666"?

Edit: OK. Justme got first post. :-)
SFN

Aug 04, 2006
7:13 AM EDT
Looks like I'm wrong about this. When I view the screenshot tour on my box, I only see the first six screenshots on the right. Can't even scroll down to get more. I just looked at it on another machine and I see more. Odd.
tuxchick2

Aug 04, 2006
7:25 AM EDT
It's a hoax. Not even a funny one, sheesh.
NoDough

Aug 04, 2006
7:31 AM EDT
From the distro's host site http://www.whatwouldJesusdownload.com : "Along with the standard Ubuntu applications, Ubuntu Christian Edition includes the best available Christian software. The initial release contains GnomeSword, a top of the line Bible study program for Linux based on the Sword Project. Future releases will contain even more great Christian software."

They're not trying to change the look of Ubuntu, just taking it as is and adding Christian software titles to it.
tuxchick2

Aug 04, 2006
7:43 AM EDT
I kept getting 'host not found' errors, so I assumed it was some Geocities redirect or something. Plus I have a hard time taking 'whatwouldJesusdownload' seriously. Oh well, whatever, nevermind.
jimf

Aug 04, 2006
8:05 AM EDT
Yeah, 'whatwouldJesusdownload' would seem to be quite an assumption...
dcparris

Aug 04, 2006
8:08 AM EDT
I followed the trail with no problems. Many Christians have been working on exactly this kind of effort. Ichthux is one of the more prominent efforts, but has been on hold for some time now. I initially thought that one of the developers behind that project, that I know got involved in Ubuntu, had gone on and launched something. I guess someone beat him to it. I'm totally in the dark, since they did not post on any of the relevant listservs. :-(
tuxchick2

Aug 04, 2006
9:55 AM EDT
Snarking aside, it's cool that totally random people can take something like Ubuntu and customize it and re-distribute it. Just try doing that with Apple or 'doze.
Bob_Robertson

Aug 04, 2006
10:28 AM EDT
TC, I just can't put aside the snarking. With the chaff I when I tell them there is no god, I don't understand how they can spout their spew and then act surprised when someone spews right back.

That said, this is one of the funniest sites I've ever seen, because it is so warped yet so likely to be real:

http://www.landoverbaptist.org/

SFN

Aug 04, 2006
11:01 AM EDT
It's really kind of sad that the Christian portion of the Linux community takes flack for being a Christian Linux Community. They're actually doing some pretty cool work. Much more so than any other religious group. The various Bible study programs I've seen have some real value and could be ported to any number of sacred (and even non-scared) texts.

I'd really like to see someone create a (for lack of a better word) translation system. So that, like converting apps from English to other languages, something like gnomesword could be converted from Christianity to other religions.

Something like that run in conjunction with something like http://www.sacred-texts.com could be truly helpful to many people.
SFN

Aug 04, 2006
11:03 AM EDT
That Landover Baptist thing is pretty frightening. I think we all know that the site is fake. At the same time, I think we all know a few people who honestly think that way.
Bob_Robertson

Aug 04, 2006
11:10 AM EDT
SFN, come to North Carolina. It's not a "few" people here.
dek

Aug 04, 2006
11:28 AM EDT
Bob R: SFN, come to North Carolina. It's not a "few" people here.

Or Nebraska either.

BTW Bob_R: Thanks! Loved that landover baptist site and I consider myself a Christian, albeit a progressive one. I think I will use that site!!

Don
devnet

Aug 04, 2006
12:02 PM EDT
FYI,

Nebraska is mostly Luthuran and Methodist. Baptists there aren't the same as Baptists in NC.

I know...I've lived in both places for more than 10 years.
devnet

Aug 04, 2006
12:04 PM EDT
Quoting:It's really kind of sad that the Christian portion of the Linux community takes flack for being a Christian Linux Community.


You think they take flack?...I'm working on AthiestUbuntu and SatanUbuntu at the same time in my batcave of developing distros. Try not taking flack there.

All kidding aside, I think it unwise to have the Linux community dividided up into echelons to further classify it. Women's Linux, Gay Linux, Christian Linux, etc. Whatever. I think it is silly, stupid, and only works to divide us further.

SFN

Aug 04, 2006
12:06 PM EDT
Sadly, I don't need to come anywhere to see it. I live in Indiana. Or as I call it, the second circle of hell.
SFN

Aug 04, 2006
12:08 PM EDT
Quoting:All kidding aside, I think it unwise to have the Linux community dividided up into echelons to further classify it. Women's Linux, Gay Linux, Christian Linux, etc.


I'd probably check out Gay Linux (Gaybuntu anyone?).

It would sure be a hell of a lot of fun. Stylish too.
NoDough

Aug 04, 2006
12:11 PM EDT
Hamburger Linux: Bun1buntu
dcparris

Aug 04, 2006
12:25 PM EDT
I'll have to look over that site again when I have more time, but it sure does fit with some of what I've experienced in various parts of the world, though mainly here in the Southeast. ;-)

The really cool thing about a so-called "Christian" (your religion here) GNU distro is that it makes FOSS available to a wide range of organizations that really need decent technology, but cannot afford the non-free solutions. That was exactly what prompted me to write Penguin in the Pew. When I made a call to a friend who runs the PC shop where I bought my last box, he gave me quotes on Windows running into several thousand dollars. I was running SUSE 8.0 Pro on all of the working boxes that had been donated for $80.00 (USD).

The problem I have with this one is that it may be short on the applications needed and available. I haven't had time to investigate, but having some other apps installed and ready to go would give us the (near) complete stack that The Freely Project has been working to define for some time now. That means a church or other ministry would be able to install and run without much sweat at all. Who knows? Maybe we can get together on this.
SFN

Aug 04, 2006
12:38 PM EDT
I think that's where they are headed. Right now all they have aside from gnomesword is the regular Ubuntu install but the site says that more is coming.
dcparris

Aug 04, 2006
3:23 PM EDT
Thanks for the heads up.

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