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October 29, 2006

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Marsha Brownlee

This may be a good idea for those of you that are PROFESSIONAL genealogists, but for those of us that are simply compiling our family history it is NOT! We just want a way to preserve our family heritage without all the bells and whistles, and without having to MOVE all of our files and years of research to a new program!! Hopefully LDS will take this into consideration when they make changes. Most of us just use the free downloaded version of this program and not the "hard copy" on CD. If they are going to discontinue the free downloaded on-line version then it would be nice if they would notify users so that they could save it to disc or CD before it is no longer available in case of a computer crash!! After-all the LDS church promotes the importance of family heritage... it would be a real shame for folks to loose years of data and research due to a computer crash and/or inaccessability to the LDS PAF program that they have relied upon for years!

Shaz

It was always nice to rely on PAF. You didn't have to worry about it being bought out by another company. I had PAF, Brother's Keeper (which I use for only the customizable Ahnentafel list) and FTM (which was a gift; I hate it and don't use it). I purchased Family Origins only to have it become something else, which needed to be purchased. Now what do I do? I have checked out several other programs - free and otherwise - but until now have decided to stick with PAF which I have used for 12+ plus years. A dilemma.

Stein Inge Haaland

I got the impression that it was the creators behind PAF that also created the GEDCOM-standard. If this is correct, what will happen with the old fashion Gedcom-standard now that PAF now longer will be supported? Gedcom v5.5 are not able to cope with data from the new genealogy packages, so to say that family data can flow from one genealogy program to another genealogy program, is no longer true. I really wonder how genealogy packages in the future should cope with the Gedcom-standard, now that PAF is on its way out and we know that the people behind PAF will not create an up to date Gedcom version? Does everyone need a direct database import from all other programs?

Ian Singer

Shaz asked about converting information from one software package to another. Wholly Genes (http://www.whollygenes.com/) makes and sells The Master Genealogist software. They also have a program called Genbridge that they use to read data from other software, in its native forma,t and import into The Master Genealogist. They will also provide this to other companies.

David Birley

Couple of important things to remember. First, PAF was not written as a genealogy program. It was written as a program to generate names for submission to the Temples of the LDS Church, and that is still its primary function today. While genealogy is an adjunct to that process, its primary design precludes some of the most essential requirements of true genealogy, such as the ability to store multiple "facts" for a single event such as a birth, until those facts can be reconciled into a single proven one, and a comprehensive system of storing sources including their repositories, etc. Even the last release, v5.5 (?) while relatively sophisticated by comparison with dear old clunky DOS v 2.31 (which I still own), it is a stumbling dog by comparison with a feature rich bargain like Roots Magic.

The Professional Genealogist probably will still stick with the old standby The Master Genealogist which is, because of its comprehensiveness, possibly too feature rich for the average user.

It is my guess that the downloadable version of PAF will not disappear from the FamilySearch.org website for many years to come merely because of its usefulness to folks worldwide in continuing to provide names for the Temples simply and at no cost for the software -- and because it does interact with a lot of the other LDS research software.

Haley

Paf is not being discontinued and will be supported by the LDS Church for the foreseeable future.

The new program they are launching will be wonderful for all users - just keep an eye on their website for news.

It is always wise to have back-up of your data regardless of what software program is being used in case of computer problems.

Dick Eastman

---> I got the impression that it was the creators behind PAF that also created the GEDCOM-standard. If this is correct, what will happen with the old fashion Gedcom-standard now that PAF now longer will be supported?

GEDCOM has not been updated in ten years or so. GEDCOM 6 was proposed some years ago but never implemented. Nothing has happened with GEDCOM since then. In effect, GEDCOM has not been "supported" for years.

One technically superior GEDCOM replacement has already been developed by another organization: GENBRIDGE. If consumer demand warrants it, even better standards could be created by any number of commercial organizations in the future.

- Dick Eastman

Fred Provoncha

Hi, the problem with supporting any computer program, is making it work on all releases of all operating systems, then fixing problems, which always seems to create a new level of problems. Some years ago, Kodak divested itself of all the things it had acquired in order to go back to what it did best. That seems to be what is happening here. The LDS church is already supporting several software programs, while developing new web based software to meet the needs of a growing membership. I've used PAF from almost the beginning,(I wrote my own program on an IBM mainframe for years :) and I'll use PAF till the "bitter end". And then, if Roots Magic is still around, probably switch to that..Life goes on...

Jim W

"...including one besides PAF that is available free of charge." What is the name of that software?

Jerry Kliot

Legacy Family Tree Version 6.0 at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ is a very user friendly program that is absolutely free. There is a deluxe version upgrade that can be purchased to access additional features. However, the basic program does everything that PAF does and probably more.

Billie Walsh

I have bought many different programs over the years. PAF was always my favorite. It has always done just what I wanted it to do. Keep my ancestors in order. Through computer crashes that would disable other programs it was a true blue friend. It was it's simplicity that was it's strong point. [ For years I have kept my programs on a seperate hard drive from the OS. ] A couple years ago when I started my conversion to Linux I found myself wishing they had a Linux version. Finally had to settle for Gramps. While it's a nice program, it's not PAF. If they are going to discontinue PAF they could make the source code available.

John L. Getz, MD

I see no local problem with the decision of the church to not update PAF5.

Few of our member have used PAF5 genealogy program to it's maximum including me. Combined with PAFWIZ (about $15.00) it will certainly meet all my needs as long as I enjoy our hobby.

I will continue to help any PAF5 users in our area.

New members of IRGS wanting another program should depend on IRGS to help them choose and provide help in using the better programs.

I know of no other free genealogy program available.

Now let me look at the decision of the LDS Church in another way--- They do not make it clear- Are they going to discontinue the PAF Disks (the $5.00 ones) that contain data submitted by users? That system of ancestor search has never been sucessful in our area. It should be scrapped. There are other databases available eg. RootsWeb and Ancestor.com. and others. We can continue to use them to get "ideas" where to research and verify. The information in those programs including the PAF databas is not always good.

LDS has made submission of individules research to the Church impossible to conform with (probably for legal reasons).

I suspect genealogy by non-members of LDS Church has grown so rapidly that the Church does not have the ability or resources to cater to "us". I'm sure they will continue to serve their members in a good way. I'm also sure that they will continue to allow us to use their library in our research.

Genealogy Programs come and go but basic research changes very little.

John L. Getz, MD
loisbruckheimer@comcast.net
Ph: 772-231-1767
109 W. Park Shores Circle # 33
Vero Beach, FL 32963


Eldon J. Edgin

I really hate to see PAF go away. I have purchased many genealogy programs over the years; however, I have always stuck with PAF because I thought the LDS Church was much more likely to be around years from now than the companies which produce genealogy software. A very serious problem I have encountered in the past in moving data from one set of software to another is the inability to transfer links to photographs and doucments between the programs. Is there a solution to this problem? I have a large genealgoy database with lots of photographs and census records linked.

Dick Eastman

---> "...including one besides PAF that is available free of charge." What is the name of that software?

That would be Legacy Family Tree. IIt is available in two versions: the Standard version is FREE while the Deluxe version is $29.95.

The Standard (FREE) version is an excellent program and has more features than PAF. However, upgrading to the Deluxe version adds still more features (spell checker, more reports, etc.)

Legacy Family Tree may be downloaded from http://www.legacyfamilytree.com.

- Dick Eastman

Pat

I have PAF 5.2 and find that its match/merge feature was the most accurate and reliable, as well as versatile, so I use it when I have to do a lot of that. I do exchange my databases back and forth between Legacy 6.0 Dx, PAF 5, Rootsmagic and Ancestral Quest because of the unique features that all have. I have found a few glitches, but am able to manipulate the gedcom export/import choices to get most of my data to transport without losing photo links, etc.

You might try a dummy database and do a lot of experimenting with different Gedcom export types into a program you are considering using to replace PAF 5.2--you will eventually find the right combination and get all/most of your data links to go.

I don't think PAF has a To Do/Research List.

Ancestral Quest will read the PAF 5 data directly--i.e., it will "open" a PAF file.
Legacy will open a PAF file also (indirectly, as it imports the data and not sure if it keeps the picture links, but playing around with the import options should help that)
Rootsmagic will import a PAF file directly, rather than open it.

So, in all cases, you can bypass the gedcom file--the companies try to make it easy for you to import PAF because they want you to switch from PAF to their program. Most of these programs have a free downloads (Legacy) versions or Demos to try.

My database is about 14,000 individuals with lots of photos and links and I can can tell you how each imports if you contact me. Best is just to try it yourself because everybody's database is unique. Use a dummy copy of it that you don't care about to do all the trial imports, etc first.

Carolyn H Pappas

PAF is wonderful. I use it as an easily accessible index on my laptop, when needed for other genealogy programs, answering queries, etc. It is also small enough to copy on a "flash" drive. The church is always looking forward; but I hope they will stay the course on this one & update.

Barb Jacobson

I am on a Mac and I understood it was being upgraded and was patiently waiting as the old version does not work on OS10. I really hate to retype thousands of names into a new program if I can find one for a Mac. I know Reunion is out there but I don't like it. What else is there for me to use?

Lynn Thrasher

I've read through all of the comments and must agree with the first one from Marsha. Most of us just need a simple, straight-forward method of keeping our family members organized. We don't use all of the features already available on PAF and most likely never will. I started using PAF when I joined my local PAF users' group several years ago. I like the software, it does what I want it to do, end of story!

Cole Goodwin

Dear fellow genealogists,

Please do not worry about PAF going away, notwithstanding Elder Jensen's pronouncement. The report you read suffers by being incomplete. PAF and FamilySearch.org are pioneering their way into new territory.

FamilySearch.org is undergoing dramatic changes and will soon launch a web-based version of Personal Ancestral File (to use computer geek terminology, a web-app). Using this web-based version, which will have something of the look and feel of PAF but may be known by another name, will allow users from around the world to post their family history on a password-protected portion of FamilySearch.org (i.e., you will be able to protect your own posted genealogy from alteration via the use of a password, which you may distribute to trusted, collaborating researchers. With this new system, a common family history online may be edited and augmented by a team of researchers, not just by one. By eliminating the inevitable chokepoints which arise when one person is maintaining the family history and trying to reconcile the work of many researchers sent to them, we will all begin to see online family trees growing quicker and more accurately. To be sure, there are versions of this system already apparent at Ancestry.com, Rootsweb.com, and OneGreatFamily.com. The new system--and I have seen the beta test--will be like the others, but on steroids. It will allow family photographs to be posted, digital, yellow Post-it notes for individuals and families (helpful where there are some questions that need collaboration and additional research), audio and video files. Current users of any genealogy program will be able to export GEDCOM files to the FamilySearch.org website, then add their multimedia files later (this may change and allow the full file to be posted).

One of the excellent aspects of shifting to a web app is that updates and upgrades to the online genealogy application can happen instantaneously, worldwide, to all users, no purchase or download necessary.

Another excellent aspect of these changes is the survivability of data. The Church has invested in several highly secure server farms and data centers. The main one is deep inside the legendary Granite Mountain; another one is located in Ashburn, Virginia (taking advantage of AOL and MCI technology not currently used), and there are additional redundant backups of all the genealogical information currently uploaded to the FamilySearch.org website, both now and in the future. Thus, if the worst should happen, the efforts of millions of people to discover and to record their family history will survive.

Many other developments are progressing and will be rolled out in two-phases over the next eighteen months. The high-speed scanning of microfilm is being coupled with IBM pattern-recognition technology making not only optical character recognition (OCR) of printed matter possible, but more and more, the recognition of personal handwriting, too, a la, Palm's Graffiti II software.

(By the way, I recently attended a large training meeting for members of the Church involved in family history and temple work where much of this was related.)

So, please do not panic but understand that the Church is not getting out of helping people to find their ancestors. Where one door closes, as Cervantes said, another door opens, and that is precisely what is occuring with Personal Ancestral File 5.2 and with FamilySearch.org. Old doors are being closed; new ones are opening.

Pat Cohen

I am growing a "tree" for the whole of the parish in which I live here in Cornwall from 1538 to present day - so far only about 12,000 entries mainly up to 1841.
I am devoted to Generations - the software that I have used for years. It has not been upgraded as I understand it was bought by the LSD and "shelved" because it was so much better than PAF.
I was considering a move into PAF thinking that their charting might be better than Generations.
If I have to move to another programme - what will happen to things like my identification numbers for individuals, etc.?
I have posted the tree on WorldConnect and have recently met someone who has downloaded their bit of the tree - but I don't know whether those all important ID numbers have survived. All the Census/Source entries are tied to these numbers. There are nearly 400 of these entries.

SuddieBill

For those bemoaning the loss of PAF. The code for PAF 4 was obtained from Incline Software, the developers of Ancestral Quest. PAF 5 and 5.2 are basically very similar to AQ with the exception of the user interface. For those who wish to continue using the program PAF _may_ have become had the Church decided to pour more dollars into it, take a good long look at AQ.

With regard to GEDCOM. The Church developed it back in the mid 1980s but it never was capable of transferring _all_ the data from the more advanced software programs. The last offical version, GEDCOM 5.5, was also incapable of handling data from programs such as ROOTS IV and its competitors. As a matter of interest, like so many other programs, PAF 5.2 does not conform precisely to the GEDCOM 5.5 specifications.

Jody Riddick

Paf is not going away for a long time---or the forseeable future. In fact, the new familysearch program will accept over 20 different GEDCOM files. I think we will all be pleasantly surprised. Patience.

Dino (All Dino, All the Time)

Pat Cohen,

Which Cornwall parish are you researching?

Michael Zacherle

With the decision of PAF being an online program in the future, I will soon have to look for an alternative. I am using my laptop with PAF in regions/situations and with relatives where no internet is available, i.e. in trains, on holiday or when visiting some cousins without computers in the US, where my german dial-in numbers won't work.

Michael

Bart Hansen

When I learned two years ago that my Generations Family Tree would not function on XP I turned to PAF, thinking it would be around for ever. Although the above comments make me realize there's no need to panic, I have hoped that PAF might be improved. That is a disappointment.

Dora Smith

I use PAF and PAF Companion, and find that they work better than more expensive programs I have tried, which include Legacy, Roots Magic, Family Tree Maker, and Ancestral Quest. PAF has the easiest data entry of any program I ahve tried and will accept anything within reason. PAF Companion prints more comprehensive, logical and informative genealogy reports than the best other programs, even Legacy, which comes close.

I wouldn't want to use anything different.

Where do we write to object to discontinuing this program? I don't want to become dependent on the commercial programming birdbrains to do genealogy!

Dora Smith

I just saw the explanations above of the web-based software. This is NOT of use to me! I need my OWN program and database to use on my personal computer. I do NOT want all my data and notes available for other people to see! And most of all, I often work where and when I do not ahve access to the Internet. Moreover, I often enter alot of data very quickly and do not have time to wait forever for data to be transmitted and pages to reload. Honest to God! Who's UNbrilliant idea WAS this?

Jason Presley

I think it needs to be pointed out here that FamilySearch.org is not attempting to eradicate every copy of PAF from the planet, they're simply not going to develop it any further. That just means no more new versions. If you use it now, you can still use it tomorrow. You can likely still download it a year from now. And if that's a worry, you can download it now and burn yourself a copy (or twelve) to CD and save it for later.

About the ONLY issue to worry about would be whether or not the last version of PAF would continue to work on future versions of Windows (and, seriously, who is actually going to upgrade to Vista in the next year or two?). There seems to be a bit of panic here that is completely unwarranted.

Dora Smith

I realized that I need to correct Dick Eastman's misperception that PAF and PAF Companion are no longer needed because the commerical genealogy programs can do everything they do.

Hardly true. Logically it SHOULD be true, but actually PAF and PAF Companion do good old fashioned genealogy far better than any of the commercial programs. The commercial programs are full of strange little bugs that can logically only be the product of failure of their programmers to have heads. I and others repeatedly try to argue them into GROWING Heads, or in other words, building basic functionality into their programs, and they never understand a word we are saying. Family Tree Maker doesn't even pay attention.

First of all, most of the programs won't accept nor import irregular dates. PAF accepts whatever date, set of dates, or range of dates you type in. Even "Of London" (an actual "date" in my database). And your set of dates can be as long as you want. Legacy and Rootsweb are the main exceptions to that.

Second, most of the programs won't print all the spouses and all their children in an ancestor report! They assume you don't want to know that, nor share that information. Legacy is the only exception to that.

But Legacy won't include the notes on the children in an ancestor report!

As for Family Tree Maker... don't even get me going. That program has degenerated into a cute little something or other that doesn't actually do much of anything.

PAF Companion's reports aren't quite as snazzy looking as output from the other programs, but good looks are worth absolutely nothing if your report is missing half the information.

And its modified register reports are alot less confusing and easier to follow than those from Legacy and Roots Magic.

I actually bought and tried more than a half dozen programs. I also tried Ancestral Quest. Legacy is really the only program that comes close to being as good as PAF, and it won't do things that PAF can do as well.

Legacy further fails completely in ease of data entry. Everything has to be entered and edited as individual facts. In PAF you just move through a single screen and then save it.

I'd like to see PAF's owners weigh in and say they aren't going to discontinue making the programs available for purchase or download. You need PAF Companion to do the reports that none of the commercial programs will do adequately. PAF really has little capacity for reports at all.

Dora Smith

Correction:

That's Legacy and Roots Magic that accept irregular dates.

David T. Johnston

Does anyone remember this discussion about 15 years ago? Then PAF was at about version 2.1. It was never going to be update/modernized. Now PAF 5.2.18.0 is widely used.

If you wait long enough, it may change. FTM might be the software most SOLD, but PAF is likely the software most widely used.

I'll check back in 10 years and see if this round is the final round.

James Clemans

I am dismayed in reading the various posts to see the lack of knowledge concerning PAF, its origin, and so many misconceptions. Where do people get this stuff.

1. The Windows version of PAF, came from the free donated source code of Ancestral Quest by author Gaylon Findlay, and his staff, (3 Cheers for Gaylon) now Incline Software, developer of Ancestral Quest, through an agreement he made with The Hope Foundation to purchase the product and donate it to the LDS Church. It wasn't developed by the Church. Only since then given some minor changes. They got it free and gave it out free to promote family history use and research. Unfortunately, their programming staff are not as competent as Gaylon's. They should have just hired and paid him and his staff and would have a far superior product. Neither the Hope Foundation or those involved from the LDS Church lived up to their commitments. Fortunately Gaylon has it back and is working to improve it. Anyone with the Ancestral Quest product before or after the Hope Foundation and the LDS Church receiving the source code would see and know that if they know anything about software.
Do everyone a favor. I don't work for Gaylon or Incline Software but think they not only deserve the credit but deserve more people buying their fine product.

James Clemans, jclemans@forgenerations.com

Marilynn Boosinger

John L. Getz, MD, wrote: "I suspect genealogy by non-members of LDS Church has grown so rapidly that the Church does not have the ability or resources to cater to "us". I'm sure they will continue to serve their members in a good way. I'm also sure that they will continue to allow us to use their library in our research."

Dr. Getz, the Church makes no distinction between members and non-members when it comes to family research and is happy to cater to all FHC patrons. The more folks there are working on genealogy, the more information there is available to all of us. The family history centers and libraries will always be open to everyone, regardless of church affiliation. You don't even need to be a church member to volunteer in your local FHC.

Someone else mentioned that PAF was developed to generate names for temple ordinances, but that is not quite correct. The members do use their data for temple work, but that information, after compiling a report in PAF (or Legacy and perhaps other programs too), is entered into the Temple Ready program, which is only available to the FHCs and of no interest to non-members.

I have been using Legacy and I find it just as easy to use as PAF. True, it is more complex if you choose to use all the features, but you don't have to. I recommend Legacy for anyone wanting to move on from PAF, regardless of its future.

David Le Hunte

I saw a comment above that metioned Linux, and a few others that mentioned that LDS got the software from a 'donation'.

Question. Does LDS have the rights to PAF5.2 source code? If so why not turn it over to the free software community (Sourceforge, etc.). Currently there is only GRAMPS in this domain.

I am sure it would find many people prepared to develop this application further. With it 'owned' by the users then all suggestions would be considered.

Another question. Who 'owns' the GEDCOM standard?

Dick Eastman

The GEDCOM standard is copyright by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

WizardsEye

Just wanted to comment on another program that was another addon to the PAF programs. http://www.ohanasoftware.com/
I think it note worthy to say that if you enjoy the program now, why would you want to clutter it up with more useless programs? Some people just want more from their software. Ok fine, Add on programs for paf are out there. The main program is free. Use the add on packages to increase it's value to you.

Tar

A informative Genealogy blog quotes church managers of NFS, roll-out will be March 18 next year.
The church has teamed for 1.5 years with 6 commercial company's and TMG has just joined, so far FTM has just ignored NFS etc. The reason PAF is a dead horse is -- MONEY

Interfacing with NFS - Part One
http://rzamor1.blogspot.com/2007/09/interfacing-with-nfs-part-one.html
http://www.ShoeStringGenealogy.com/ssg1.htm

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