Is this a waste of time?

That's something only you can decide. You put time in it, you get something in return. If what you get in return is worth the time you put it in, it wasn't a waste of time; otherwise, it is. I don't know what you will get out of it, nor how much time you will need to spend. And even if I did know, it's just you who will decide whether it was worth the time or not.

What would be the benefits to writing a module as a front end to a c program, would there be any?

That would depend on the C program. If the program is as simple as 'program phone-number file', there would be little to no benefit, as one system() call would do. But if the C program has a large complicated interface, a front end may be useful.

Is there a module already available capable of faxing that I somehow missed in my travels?

Perhaps there is, but faxing isn't a portable operation. How to do it depends on the hardware you have, and the OS. Chances are that either such a module isn't available, or only for a OS/hardware combination you don't have.

Abigail