Status of other genealogy programs on FamilySearch Center computers for 2024?

RobertLeighPritchett

1) In liu of the ChromeOS Flex move for current FamilySearch Computers, will Ancestral Quest, Legacy and RootsMagic still be available?

2) With FamilySearch becoming more robust, are Alternative Geneology Research programs even needed anymore, now that we can access Premium sites from any Liahona accessible location and use "goldiemay"?

3) We can successfully GEDCOM any genealogy database into FamilySearch now, so any alternative standalone genealogy research programs may become null and void after import. Is this a valid point?

Just in case, I compiled the following:

Authorized (i.e. Licensed) FamilySearch Genealogy Programs and ChromeOS Flex - Current Status as of 1 January 2024

“Background” Review for 2019 of “Family Historian” >

https://www.fhug.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17173

(Note: In a previous life, I used CrossOver on my Mac before RootsMagic became “native” to the Mac.)

Ancestral Quest16

http://www.ancquest.com/index.htm

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=3747

Works with CodeWeaver’s CrossOver (not an emulator) under ChromeOS for $74.00 per workstation. No site licenses. Ever. Just individual one-computer-at-a-time licenses.

https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover

Legacy9

https://legacyfamilytree.com/

https://legacyfamilytree.com/Frequent.asp

Legacy runs on Linux machines with a Windows emulator like VMWare or Sun's Virtual Box.

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=3207

https://legacyfamilytree.host4kb.com/article/AA-00417/12/Install-Uninstall/Installing-Legacy-on-a-Mac-or-Linux-computer.html

LINUX: Currently there is no version of Legacy for a Ubuntu/Linux system. This is something we may consider for the future. In the meantime, Legacy runs on Ubuntu/Linux with CrossOver software or VMWare or Sun's Virtual Box installed. For more information please see the Ubuntu forum at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=452675 (requires registration).  There are a few known problems with Legacy on a Linux machine including an unrecognized media path message each time Legacy is started, but if you click the error, it opens Legacy just fine.  If you do have a problem with Legacy on a Linux machine and this problem is caused by the Windows emulator or the Linux machine we here at Legacy support may not be able to help as we do not support Linux.

CodeWeaver’s Crossover 22.1.1 runs Legacy 9 under ChromeOS

https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/crossover/legacy-9x

RootsMagic9

rootsmagic.com

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=6473

https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/running-rm-9-on-linux-wine/6363/17

Basically, RM9 will work after a fashion under Wine/Linux using winetricks. It will not be supported by RootsMagic and they have no intention of ever supporting Linux. I was told quite matter-of-factly, "Work on the FamilySearch computer and then take the data home to import into RootsMagic at home".

CodeWeaver’s CrossOver 14.1.1 ran all previous versions of RootsMagic (before 9)

https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/crossover/rootsmagic  

CrossOver ChromeOS System Requirements

* Chromebook with an Intel processor (2019 models and later )

* 1 GB of free disk space and space for installed applications

* 2GB System RAM and memory required by applications

CrossOver ChromeOS uses the Linux subsystem (also known as Crostini). This must be enabled prior to installing CrossOver.

Version23.7 was released 27 November 2023

https://www.codeweavers.com/about/news?id=112

Alternatives for "other" Genealogy programs under Linux OS:

Gramps > https://gramps-project.org/blog/

https://gramps-project.org/blog/download/

Geneweb > http://cristal.inria.fr/%7Eddr/GeneWeb/

https://github.com/geneweb/geneweb

Graham Buckell

Quote

We can successfully GEDCOM any genealogy database into FamilySearch now, so any alternative standalone genealogy research programs may become null and void after import. Is this a valid point?

Unquote

I do not believe this is valid. I always advise people to maintain a copy of their tree away from FamilySearch in a location where they have sole control. There are way too many ill-advised edits in FamilySearch. A standalone program is one way to do this. Also standalone programs tend to have features that websites do not, e.g. the ability to combine trees.

RobertLeighPritchett

Thank you for your feedback.

jbuckaroo

It may be advisable to contact the developer of the standalone program with the question. Remember that FamilySearch is a community database. Any data about living people should not be posted on FamilySearch. Data on living people is always in Private mode. However, for real security it's better to maintain that information on standalone programs. A community database sometimes has ill-advised edits. Therefore, it's common sense to maintain your data where it's completely secure. Always be sure to record sources on that standalone also. When edits are made to the community database which you feel are incorrect, you can then correct those data items. Always be sure to include the evidence (sources) to verify any changes you make.