If you're a developer or a tester or a designer, and you're Mormon, or even if you're not, come play!
The Church has been working to figure out a way to allow folks who want to contribute to its missions to do so. We're ready for help!
We now have applications you can work on, a sandbox with web services, source control, bug tracking and even a requirements for participation. :)
The most immediate need is the re-write of the stake and ward web site. We are working on an International web site (10 languages to start with) which will allow members to log in, and view or print their stake/ward directory, see a list of ward leaders, read the ward/stake blog, edit & view the ward/stake/Church calendar, and so forth.
Interested?
Read more here.
The first component you can start on immediately is the calendar portion. It's built on our Java stack, which you can read about here. You can also read up on our "community development best practices."
Tom Welch is our "community development" manager. His contact information is on the web sites.
Come join us! We're ready for your help!!
I went looking for Tom Welch's contact information on the wiki, proved to be a bit more work than I expected. So here's a direct link to his contact info:
ReplyDeletehttps://tech.lds.org/wiki/index.php/User:Welchtc
Mike, you're right. We're actually calling what we're doing "community development" and not open source.
ReplyDeletePing Tom on your licensing questions.
We're excited about the community involvement. Spread the word!
At last! As a developer and a frequent user of church software such as ward websites and MLS, I've been hoping for a chance to contribute and improve church software. It drives me nuts when I use the software and see improvements that could be made, but am unable to do anything about it. Thanks for finally making this available!
ReplyDeleteHaving worked at the Church previously, I welcome the opportunity to participate. How refreshing to have a CIO and management team which recognizes the "we are smarter than me"!
ReplyDeleteGlad for your interest everyone! To be clear, the stake and ward web site will primarily be written in JScript, talking to web services on the back end.
ReplyDeleteJump in and put your shoulder to the wheel! :)
I follow this blog as a technology licensing attorney, not a developer, but I just wanted to chime in to say I think this is a cool way to harness talents of Church members. I look forward to seeing what comes of this and other IT projects in the works.
ReplyDeleteI'm also interested in the answer to Mike Heath's question.
ReplyDeleteWhy not license the software developed for anyone to use?
Even if this doesn't fit the definition of Open Source exactly, couldn't you get it as close as possible?
I am sure that there are many other organizations and people, including many LDS Church members, who could benefit from the software produced by these efforts.
[...] Church’s Chief Information Officer, Joel Dehlin, called for help Wednesday in a post titled Mormon Open Source Open for Business. The project seeks help with a number of LDS Church projects, including, first on the list, a [...]
ReplyDeleteI'm certainly not a developer, but I've got a hint for those working on stake and ward websites. Make them a little easier to get into. Finding your membership numbers or baptismal dates before you can even get access? No wonder I never log in...
ReplyDeleteThis is an effort to get those in the community who so desire to help us develop web sites.
ReplyDeleteWe're calling it "community development" internally. You're right. "Open source" is a total misnomer for what we're doing it. I've changed the title to be more explicit and less confusing.
Thanks!
[...] message should disappear at your next visit.Thanks for visiting!The Church’s CIO has issued a call for anyone interested in helping develop and test “Mormon community development efforts... (I suppose that means stuff on the website). Sounds like some promising updates in store for the [...]
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea. I got to work in the office a bit during my mission and found great satisfaction in being able to volunteer my specific technical talents to the Work.
ReplyDeleteGiven that the Church isn't planning on monetizing the IP here, I think it would be really great if the code in question were truly Open Sourced. (The term Open Source is what brought me to this blog.) I'm a big fan of DVCS and Java isn't my language of choice, but one can't have everything. Looking forward to what happens and maybe I'll even find the time to contribute.
I'm certainly not a developer, but I've got a hint for those working on stake and ward websites. Make them a little easier to get into. Finding your membership numbers or baptismal dates before you can even get access? No wonder I never log in...
ReplyDelete[...] They need help with project management, design, development, and testing (QA). From the blog of Joel Dehlin, the LDS [...]
ReplyDelete