Regina Caeli Linux
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 11:57am
An idea that's been floating in my head for some time. I don't really consider myself a linux developer, butI know what I like, and I have some idea just what tends to attract users. So, without further ado:
Regina Caeli Linux J+M+J
Mission Statement: to develop a Linux distribution that helps Catholics live their faith in obedience to the Magisterium, and appeals to as many people as possible.
Papa Ben has said he wants the Gospel proclaimed on the Internet; surely this is part of it.
In omnibus caritas. Madeline L'Engle once said "We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it." This is how we make RC Linux appealing.
Ubuntu based; Ubuntu is easily one of the most appealing linux distros out there. Its ease of use especially contributes to this. Codenames could be taken from apparitions of Our Lady, e.g. Guadeloupe, Akita, Knock, the Immaculate Conception, La Sallette, Lourdes, the Angels, and so on.
We want it beautified; one of the most common complaints about Ubuntu is that it's ugly. This is important. One way that Catholics distinguish themselves from many Protestants (esp in these United States) is by getting beauty right. The Sabily team has made Ubuntu very beautiful (see review at http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2347168,00.asp ). Surely we can do as well. Eye candy has a lot of appeal.
One idea I have for this is to set up an autotheming script, to theme the desktop in accordance with the colors of the Liturgical calendar: green, gold, purple, red, and rose. Themes should include color coordinated window decorations, highlights and selections, Clearlooks widgets, icons, and wallpaper.
DansGuardian fronted by Webstrict, or else pull MintNanny.
Software for the liturgical calendar (requires localization), Rosary, Liturgy of the Hours, Daily readings (requires localization), Saint of the day (requires localization), GnomeSword with Douay-Rheims Challonier and King James Version with apocrypha. Other devotional applets in the repos could include Ignatian, Sacred Heart, Immaculate Heart, the Infant of Prague, Sacred Blood, etc.
Customized IceWeasel -- not just customized homepage, but a whackload of links built in: apologetics, catechesis, spirituality, faith and morals, canon law, history, saints, etc.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
Random Thoughts: I sometimes think that part of the failure of Ubuntu Christian Edition was its attempt to appeal to (and so, in some ways reconcile) believers with utterly incompatible beliefs. Narrowing the focus to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church ought to help make this a better distro than Ubuntu CE.
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 9:55pm
#2
Re: Intriguing idea, to be sure,
I agree with this. While it would be pretty cool to see, it would only be restricted to those few who use Linux, and even then you'd have to convince them to install a whole different kernel configuration. App development is better suited for your dream- release versions for Linux, Windows, Macs, smart phones, and any other device that would benefit from such implications.
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 5:48pm
#3
I think it's a pretty neat
I think it's a pretty neat idea, although I can be of virtually no assistance in it.
Tue, 07/14/2009 - 2:20am
#4
Not worth another distro
Yeah, I really don't think its worth another distribution. (Though, Ubuntu Christian Edition lead to lots of hilarious jokes, e.g. to install wine on Ubuntu CE type `sudo apt-get install water`). But the task of maintaining a distribution is monumental.
Plus, the purpose of a distribution is not to express one's beliefs. Rather, it's a tool. What does it even mean for an operating system to be Catholic?
But, even though I disagree with the core suggestion, you've got a lot of greeat ideas. A Catholic GNOME theme would be awesome. Wallpapers, liturgical calendar colours -- very cool! For Firefox/IceWeasel, one could recommend a set of plugins, etc. Plus, this would mean that any GNU/Linux user could benefit, rather than asking people to switch distributions.
I don't think Ubuntu Christian Edition failed because it's scope was too large. I think it failed because it's an extremely awkward raison d'etre for an operating system.
Should we have "Catholic cars" manufactured, or should we make bumper stickers, etc that Catholics can apply to their cars?
Tue, 07/14/2009 - 8:34am
#5
In agreement
Competely agree with Balleyne. Gnome theme would be a more realistic goal...and cool.
Tue, 08/09/2011 - 12:24am
#6
Is this project still alive?
I had the same idea. This should definitely happen, the sooner the better. I disagree with some of the earlier comments though. We need a Catholic OS rather than just a Theme.
It is just a matter of time before Linux distributions will be infiltrated & subverted by hostile/malicious covert ops (without trying to sound too melodramatic or cloak-and-dagger, lets not kid ourselves: the Big Brother is either already watching you, or is working hard on making sure he will be able to. People underestimate the amount of money & determination behind these sinister efforts. And I am of course not talking about some crafty hacker kid fooling around with his home PC... I mean Mossad, CIA, NSA etc.).
We need to be able to safeguard the Catholic distro's integrity rather than blindly inherit flaws from some other distro (which might be intentionally subverted - or otherwise compromised) - the only way to do this would be to have full control of the whole OS source.
I am a professional Solutions Architect & I am of course keen to contribute to such an undertaking - and there must be many Catholics out there that have Linux skills & would, no doubt, be happy to work on making this Catholic Linux distro a reality. So, the question is, what's happening to this project? Is it on, or what? (Are you project managing this?)
PS: you mentioned "Ubuntu", but I am not sure that Ubuntu would be the best choice. If one were to draw an analogy between Religion & Operating Systems (! - even if only in a very loose sense ;) - Windows & Mac would be like Rabbinical Judaism / Islam respectively (or vice-versa :), while Linux could be paralleled with Christianity, but Ubuntu would be very much protestant (in the sense of how loosely it guards purity of its sources. [Mono anyone? Thanks Microsoft but no thanks. Oh, and by-the-way, same goes for anything "contributed" by Novell, etc. ] . And this is precisely why I think there needs to be a proper Catholic/Orthodox Linux distro...)
Intriguing idea, to be sure, but I don't know about trying to wrap everything into a Linux distro. It would be great if there were an app that could be installed on Mac, PC, iPhone, etc. that would help restrict access, pop up liturgical reminders, etc... but it's a monumental task, in some ways.
And something that I think a lot of companies are failing at already :-(
Advancing the faith.