Summary: 

The Online Bible and Linux is a tricky combination. No effort is being put into developing an Online Bible version specifically for Linux from the development team. The reason is that there is no time and money available for it and very little demand for it. 


Current Situation:

Many attempts have been made in the past to get the Online Bible working under Linux. This usually works fine for an initial installation or for the installation of the Basic Package. However, as soon as content needs to be added or an update needs to take place, things often go wrong.


We have looked for different options to still be able to use the program under Linux. There are two solutions, and it depends a bit on your situation and your computer skills which solution you will choose.


  1. There is the possibility of creating a virtual Windows environment in Linux. This can also be done on a computer that is not suitable to support a full Windows 11 installation. We have described the whole procedure in detail. At the same time, we state very clearly: We cannot take responsibility for the correctness or completeness of the instruction, or for the use of Windows.
    For this you need to have a computer with Linux, or install Linux, then create a virtual Windows environment. A detailed description can be found at the bottom of this page, with a clickable attachment: Creating Windows Virtual Machine.... And if you have any questions, please contact us.
  2. A second simpler way requires that you have access to a Windows computer so that you can download titles with it and then transfer them to the Linux computer. This may also be an old version of Windows. Here you will use the features included in the Online Bible. For completeness, this includes installing Linux as step A. If you already have Linux working, this step will not be necessary. We have not tested this option with all the variants of Linux out there. We have gotten it working with Mint21.


    This solution is described right below


Solution 2 - with access to a Windows computer

In this explanation, we assume a bare computer, and then install Linux on it. If you already have Linux, you can skip step A. At the same time, there are many variants of Linux, and the question is whether the Online Bible will work with all of them. We got it to work with Mint21, and it may also work with other variants. If step B (the installation of the Online Bible) goes well, the rest of the solution will also work.

Steps A and B are one-time (subject to updates). You will want to repeat step C fairly regularly.

 

A. Installing Linux

Download Linux Mint 21 as Iso file from e.g.: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id. We use this version of Linux because it allowed us to get it to work. This may also work with other Linux versions, but we haven't tried that.

  1. Make a USB stick with a bootable Linux according to the Installation Guide on this site: Create a bootable medium. Etcher didn't work well for us, but Rufus did.
  2. Install Linux on your PC with it. During the installation, you can choose to do this in addition to your existing Windows version, and then be able to use both Windows and Linux. We have done the same.
  3. Follow the instructions to install everything and then also update in Linux.
  4. Install Wine, which can be done with the command: sudo apt-get install wine, in the Terminal window, at the bottom left. Wine is then installed.

At the bottom of this page you will find a more detailed description to add Wine in the attachment.

 

B. Installing Online Bible

  1. In Firefox (or any other browser), download the Basic version of the Online Bible from the site: https://www.onlinebible.org/title/OLBBPDUT
  2. In the download folder, click on the downloaded .exe program (e.g. bp622dut.exe)
  3. Right-click on it and then choose Open with. Enter Wine in the input box and the Online Bible installation will start just like in Windows. You can leave the default locations unchanged.
  4. The Online Bible is now fully launched, but with a limited number of free modules.

 

C. Adding and updating modules

The Online Bible is now fully installed. Everything works well. However, you only have a limited number of modules available. Normally you need the Windows Content Installer to download the latest modules, but that doesn't work (yet?) under Linux.

To get the desired modules in Linux, you need a working Online Bible, which already contains all the modules you want (Bibles, commentaries, word books, etc.).

As indicated, you must have a Windows computer to use the Windows Content Installer. This allows you to download all titles and restore all modules to your Linux computer via backup/restore. So you can temporarily put the Content Installer on another (Windows) computer and then remove it again.

In order not to make this description too long, we assume that you have installed both the Online Bible and the Windows Content Installer (possibly temporarily) on your Windows computer. You can find out how to do that in the chapter for Windows

We describe here how to make a backup to restore it to your Linux computer

  1. On the Windows computer, go to the Online Bible. Look at that in the top bar: Tools/ module tools/ Create an Online Bible Backup. Click on browse, to the right of the empty box and choose an (empty) USB stick with Drives (bottom right). (leave the checkbox empty) and choose OK. Can take a while, can be a large file of a few Gb's, with me 3.3 GB. Sometimes it seems that the back up is stagnating, but just wait patiently.
  2. Use this USB stick to connect to your Linux PC. Open the Online Bible. You can find it under Menu/ All Applications/Wine/Online Bible.
  3. In the Online Bible, go to: Tools/Restore Online Biible Backup. Click Browse. Click up until you reach This Computer, click on it, choose the drive with the USB stick, find the backup there. It's called something like OnlineBibleComputerBackup with the date. Click on it and choose OK. The bar is starting to fill up.
  4. When this is done, the Online Bible switches off. Restart it.
  5. You do NOT yet see the incoming modules. Now choose Tools/ reset Program/ Click OK. The Online Bible now shuts down and will search for and find new modules when restarted.
  6. Now restart the Online Bible. You will now go through a number of installation steps (Accept)/OK). All modules are now being installed. In the Favorites, you have to check the desired modules again (Update/create desktop, etc.).
  7. Also check the Horizo language or Vertical window and you are completely Up to Date again.

 

You now have a complete working Online Bible with all the modules you want. Any new modules can be added, but only via the Windows PC and the Backup function.

 

 

PM: This instruction was created with the help of a few users who are also trying to work with Linux. We are very grateful to them for their input. However, a real expert remains a wish. If that's you, we'd love to get in touch with you.

 

 

Solution 1: A Windows virtual environment

 

(Double-click on the attachment to download it:) It is a Pdf file

Make sure you choose the right PDF file. 

There is also a file with an instruction to install Online Bible in Linux, using Wine.

You don't need this if you create a virtual Windows computer.