Why I can no longer recommend Logos Bible Software.
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I like being to pull up the images on my phone or laptop without having to be connected to the web. And, the sure web continually expands but at the same time things can also be taken off the net and not everyone in the world has great access to the internet or wifi all the time.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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One observation about numerous search options in Logos & Verbum is the absence/lack of searching for Hebrew vowel point patterns: find similar sounding words with different consonant letter(s), especially consonants that sound similar: e.g. "h"
Keep Smiling 😍
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Durning the Libronix (before Logos 4) Logos was able to regular expression searches, vowel point, and accent searches without the need for a tagged text. However, somehow when Logos changed over to a new software engine a lot of those features were lost.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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I don't think a search for any of those things would require a grammatically tagged text, would they?
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You are correct they don't require tagging, all they require is the ability to do regular expression searches which Logos 3 used to have! Today Logos does allow for searching on words with specific accents or vowels, but not on vowels with wildcards. And, Logos new cantillation searches actually preform searches on cantillations tags not on the accents themselves as one would be able to do with regular expression searches.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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I'm hoping that Logos can use AI to power searches for any part of the Hebrew or Greek text.
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They were simply an implementation of regular expressions i.e. an arcane search. For many years, even though they were not supported they would still work in Logos
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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If anyone is interested I have created a new feature request for Regular expressions:
https://community.logos.com/discussion/244778/request-for-regex-regular-expression-searches#latest
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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Oh yeah…. One of those missing features from Libronix days that never was implemented again…. If they add it back - probably be a Max only feature LOL
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
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That is sadly most likely what will happen!
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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I was asked, "If I no longer recommend Logos, what Bible software do I recommend?" I feel no obligation to recommend a particular Bible software. I would recommend any Bible software that includes scholarly study aids such a good commentaries (such as NIC Old Testament and New Testament, Tyndale Commentaries, and many other solid books for study. And with the standard languare tools. With over 9,000 books in my Logos Library, I intend to use it and buy books from time to time. I primarily recommend NEVER BUY A SUBSCRIPTION.
But I am no longer an evangelist for Logos. The company has changed. I do not want to influence anyone to subscribe. Nor does Logos any more seem interested in providing the best resources. Just one person's opinion. I respect those who disagree. They are certainly entitled to their opinion.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley3 -
Mike Childs thanks for sharing your opinions and the explanation.
I am also a non subscriber, and I prefer the way Logos did things before. Those who wanted to subscribe were free to do so, and those who did not want to subscribe were sill able to purchase one of the various feature upgrades.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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What you've described leaves only Logos and Accordance. And you might have noticed all the new Logos users on these forums moving from Accordance. There's a reason for that.
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As discussed earlier (this phrase covers 'you already said that!'), their previous subscriptions with a choice of buy, weren't as profitable (if that). And the PE, at some juncture, needs to sell an attractively profitable company. Folks say, 'subscriptions are needed to survive' … as if the earlier money to buy all the later-unloaded companies came out of nowhere.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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So, do you think the PE will sell Logos/Faithlife sometime in the future?
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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I trust our resident financial Logosian … ICo. They didn't buy it to keep it.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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I still see e-sword as the premier free Bible Software in the planet. I recommend it to people who can’t afford premium Bible software or subscriptions. Olive Tree is the second I recommend after e-sword, but Logos will always be number one. Accordance not so much but for obvious reasons. I couldn’t even download a free book to the desktop app the other day so I use it every now and then when I need separate outlines for the POSB.
DAL
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I too am on the same page with Mike Childs regarding Faithlife and the Logos software. Having been using it since 1998, and having obtained over 6,000 resources for it, to try to be nudged toward a subscription in order to obtain new keepable features under a license (all features of which aren't even known right now) as well as to be required to subscribe in order to purchase new available libraries, all of that left a very bad impression on me regarding Faithlife.
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Subscriptions cover the cost of AI integration. Without subscription fees, there would be no AI. If you don't see the need for AI features, then don't subscribe. Logos already has more features (by far) than any other Bible software app available. Be happy with all the money you've saved, knowing you have the best there is both now, and going forward into the foreseeable future.
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Or they could have allowed for an option for the faithful customers that supported them long before AI was a thing - by offering a "non-AI" purchase option… Some users may be interested in something like Bible Study Builder, but have no interest in AI or additional resources picked by Logos…. (Even allowing for purchase of individual modules like the Bible Study Builder would have been "an Olive Branch" for some)
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
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They obviously have good reasons for not providing those options. The reason may be that it wouldn't be as profitable, but that's still a good reason considering the high mortality rate of Bible software apps.
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Possibly…. But is turning away a group of your long term, faithful customers a good way to protect the business? Losing the purchasing power of the old time Logosians, as well as losing their 'positive' "word of mouth - those aren't good things…
Don't forget all of you that have a "bad taste in your mouth" about a certain other platform - once fully supported it…. Then you saw and experienced things that caused concern…. Eventually leading to the "exodus" from the platform - ever wonder if you are looking past the fact that for some of us Logosians - that is where we are today…. This just isn't the company that we invested in and supported for decades - some of us are very concerned!
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
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The reason people are leaving Accordance is because they believe it's a bad investment and they're fairly certain Accordance won't be around much longer. For example, I was looking at the Accordance forums today and saw complaints of missing content in the NA28 apparatus that were reported OVER A YEAR AGO and nothing has been done about it. And no wonder, Accordance had to lay off 2/3 of their staff, including programmers and almost everyone with any institutional knowledge or training in Biblical languages. And they did that because they couldn't afford to keep their employees.
Logos certainly knows its new plan is angering many long-time customers, and yet they feel it's still the best way to move forward in a way that makes sense for the future of the company. They obviously have a reason for doing that, even if they're not comfortable sharing it with us.
The only thing I care about is whether the digital library I'm spending a lot of money on will still be around in 10 years. If I have to pay for a subscription, I'm willing to do that.0 -
Not sure just how many are being angered. I picked up the Full-Feature at a nice discount. Two in-fact. And get to continue on, at no cost to me the next few years. Pick up some freebies here and there. How's that for a good deal? And you get to fund my joy!
But relative to the title of the thread, double the subscription rate and remove the 2-year-keep-something feature. And keep paying … and paying … and paying. For pastors and academics sure, they're loaded (joking). For the much larger population of Bible folks, no. OliveTree is the better choice.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Well I only wanted to quote part of the above response, but dont know how to do that. I copied what I wanted and hit quote, but the entire thing showed up.
I also am no longer an evangelist for Logos. The company has changed.
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Hey, OliveTree is still around and they also scholarly Original language texts, apparatuses, and commentaries. Of course no one other than Amazon.com has more resources and books than Logos, does.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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I don't use OliveTree much, but it seems to me that the ability to work with Greek and Hebrew is much more limited than Logos or Accordance.
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