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Calibre – E-Book Management

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Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#131

Post by TeMPOraL »

tclancy wrote: post #115
Barrin92 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>one of those rare examples of software where the kitchen-sink approach is absolutely warranted I actually like this approach in general and I often wonder why there's so much animosity towards it. There's something about platform-like software like Calibre, or Emacs or WeChat where it becomes more than the sum of its parts that you just don't get with just a collection of disjointed, individual tools.

I appreciate the thought but I think there's a sort of survivorship bias in this. You remember the apps that worked for you which did this and not the ones that overwhelmed you too, even as a savvy user. The vast majority of users are not Hacker News users (even if we adjust that bar for average). Even as a developer (not a UX designer), whenever a client suggested, up-front, there should be a "power user mode" I wou…

> there should be a "power user mode"

Well, there obviously shouldn't be. There should be one mode, and that's the power user mode :).

More seriously: power users aren't born, they're made - made through repeated exposure, if the software leaves them the space to grow in.

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#132

Post by tomc1985 »

mitchdoogle wrote: post #129
paxys wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Compared to modern UI/UX which just slaps me with how stupid it thinks I am Because most average users of any software absolutely fall in that bucket. My mom can use the Facebook app on her phone just fine, but I wouldn't even dare to suggest that she try to convert an eBook on Calibre and transfer it to her Kindle.

Can we have apps for smart people?

Yes, why did the world have to stop making apps for power users? Why can't both groups coexist?

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#133

Post by ycombinete »

tpmx wrote: post #117

So few tweaks would be needed to make Calibre actually user-friendly to the average consumer. Instead people here are falling over themselves in declaring their love for a weirdo UI. Just because it's unusual?

This makes me think of Dwarf Fortress. Weird menu system, that becomes endearing very quickly. Emacs too, now that I think of it. I love all three though.

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#134

Post by dang »

This counts as a dupe because the most recent discussion was less than a year ago. Please see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.

Calibre 5.0 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24586455 - Sept 2020 (267 comments)

Calibre 4.0 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21156482 - Oct 2019 (302 comments)

The Calibre Content Server - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14568146 - June 2017 (140 comments)

Announcing Calibre 2.0 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8212885 - Aug 2014 (98 comments)

Calibre version 1.0 released - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6271090 - Aug 2013 (121 comments)

Calibre and Project Gutenberg: Liberate Your eReader. - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3750807 - March 2012 (18 comments)

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#135

Post by pfranz »

paxys wrote: post #80
tomc1985 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calibre's UI is an artifact from a superior and more civilized time, IMHO Extremely functional and just a little bit incomprehensible. Compared to modern UI/UX which just slaps me with how stupid it thinks I am

> Compared to modern UI/UX which just slaps me with how stupid it thinks I am Because most average users of any software absolutely fall in that bucket. My mom can use the Facebook app on her phone just fine, but I wouldn't even dare to suggest that she try to convert an eBook on Calibre and transfer it to her Kindle.

I earnestly think it's motivation and there's this societal pressure that software "is too hard." Just like your mom can use the Facebook app just fine. I have trouble using it, I'm worried anything I type into a box will turn into a public post with notifications going into everyone's inbox, and I've also mostly avoided it for over a decade. My grandmother over a decade ago figured out how to buy a webcam, install it, and use the software when grand kids were born.

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#136

Post by horstmeyer »

Jedd wrote: post #119
horstmeyer wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okular can open ebooks. Maybe it does what you want.

Okular's my favourite PDF reader -- I install it even on Microsoft Windows machines I have to use -- but it doesn't read .epub or .mobi files unfortunately.

I'm pretty sure it does for me. I think it's probably a package that it uses. I'll check tomorrow and let you know.

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#137

Post by lobstrosity420 »

the_af wrote: post #49
lobstrosity420 wrote: post #6

Calibre just works and is great, but the user interface needs some work to modernize how it looks and to be less confusing in general. I'd love a fork that follows the Gnome Human Interface guidelines.

I disagree and I hope no effort is wasted on this. Calibre is great and any confusion is solved by googling. If and only if the author(s) feel they have time and energy to spend on this, then that's ok. But no forks and no wasted energy, please! I'd rather they spent time solving bugs and improving/adding features.

UIs that you have to google are like jokes you have to explain...

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#138

Post by figbert »

barbazoo wrote: post #96
figbert wrote: post #92

I use Calibre to manage my ebook library. I share it across devices (and with a couple friends) using Syncthing[1], and read the books using KOReader[2] on a Kindle. I get my books either from Z-Library or by ripping the DRM off of books purchased from Amazon. Genuinely the best reading setup. [1]: https://syncthing.net/ [2]: https://koreader.rocks/

What made you use KOReader? I've always synced between my Calibre library and my Kindle directly and that works great.

By default, Kindle is a closed box. I love it, but the ads and tracking ruin a beautiful product.

KOReader gives me a great experience, sans the privacy violations, and with an incredible amount of additional control over the device. I love it.

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#139

Post by Jedd »

horstmeyer wrote: post #136
Jedd wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okular's my favourite PDF reader -- I install it even on Microsoft Windows machines I have to use -- but it doesn't read .epub or .mobi files unfortunately.

I'm pretty sure it does for me. I think it's probably a package that it uses. I'll check tomorrow and let you know.

Hot dang you're absolutely right - I'd never discovered this package before:

okular-extra-backends

Includes support for mobi and epub, as well as TIFF, CHM, Markdown etc. Weirdly the .epub and .mobi are quite slow to open compared to PDF, but I'm happier now for the suggestion to go hunting for this - thank you!

Re: Calibre – E-Book Management

#140

Post by zaphirplane »

paxys wrote: post #66
pmlnr wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the user interface needs some work to modernize No, it doesn't. Eventually people learn to use it, and everyone is happy that way.

Considering that it is an amazing piece of software but 90% of the comments on this thread (made up of mostly technical users) are about its user interface, it should be obvious that there are some problems.

There are people saying it needs improvement and people saying it’s ok for them, works for them as power users
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