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Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

gutenberg.org

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Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#31

I'm surprised no eBook Reader vendor has a Project Gutenberg "Store." Where you can just browse Gutenberg, find a book, and just grab it down to the reader. Instead, they either are actively hostile (Kindle), or require the use of Calibre (which itself is good, it is just the friction).

Most of them offer their own paid storefronts and have a perverse incentive not to offer a large area full of free books.

probably true. Maybe an true open-source eReader should exist.

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#32
post #2

Hi! I'm one of the programmers at Gutenberg. We've been improving the site a lot over the past few months (and more is coming!). If you haven't visited the page recently, it's worth checking out again: https://www.gutenberg.org/

Great Work. Thank you. I'm also a programmer. If you are ever short on help, let me know. I would love to contribute.

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#34

I'm surprised no eBook Reader vendor has a Project Gutenberg "Store." Where you can just browse Gutenberg, find a book, and just grab it down to the reader. Instead, they either are actively hostile (Kindle), or require the use of Calibre (which itself is good, it is just the friction).

I've used https://standardebooks.org/ to pull nicely formatted Project Gutenberg books on any e-reader that supports a browser (in my case, Boox). Technically, I can also just directly pull the epub from Project Gutenberg, but sometimes the formatting leaves a lot to be desired. Once you get an e-reader that runs a semi-capable OS (ex - stock android, even an older version), it's hard to go back to something like a k…

standardebooks.org is great!

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#35
post #2

Hi! I'm one of the programmers at Gutenberg. We've been improving the site a lot over the past few months (and more is coming!). If you haven't visited the page recently, it's worth checking out again: https://www.gutenberg.org/

There's a minor bug with chrome in android where the menu will not close when you tap outside the menu or on the menu link/button

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#36

Project Gutenberg had (has?) a tendency toward plaintext that always put me off. (And it has been over a decade I'm sure since I explored the site—so I am no doubt now misinformed.) I like a styled formatted book—would prefer PDFs. (I know, not a popular format apparently.) I like the idea of Project Gutenberg but guess I found book scans on archive.org my preference. My go-to example is Lewis Carroll's "Through the…

I have got quite a few books over the years from Gutenberg, and the epubs have been fine 0 even of illustrated ones.

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#37

Project Gutenberg had (has?) a tendency toward plaintext that always put me off. (And it has been over a decade I'm sure since I explored the site—so I am no doubt now misinformed.) I like a styled formatted book—would prefer PDFs. (I know, not a popular format apparently.) I like the idea of Project Gutenberg but guess I found book scans on archive.org my preference. My go-to example is Lewis Carroll's "Through the…

Check out Standard eBooks. They take the text from Gutenberg and add a level of polish to the ePubs.

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#38

As a Kindle user, I still miss the old version of the site. The new one looks great on normal desktop, but the old one was simple enough to load and directly download books on the device's built-in browser.

That's interesting. What about the new design prevents you from doing it? Genuinely asking here. We may fix it if it's actionable

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#39

Project Gutenberg had (has?) a tendency toward plaintext that always put me off. (And it has been over a decade I'm sure since I explored the site—so I am no doubt now misinformed.) I like a styled formatted book—would prefer PDFs. (I know, not a popular format apparently.) I like the idea of Project Gutenberg but guess I found book scans on archive.org my preference. My go-to example is Lewis Carroll's "Through the…

As others here have mentioned, https://standardebooks.org/ is excellent and my understanding is that they use Gutenberg books as a source for theirs but done up much nicer.

Re: Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better

#40

As a Kindle user, I still miss the old version of the site. The new one looks great on normal desktop, but the old one was simple enough to load and directly download books on the device's built-in browser.

Is that a Kindle issue?

You can download books in most browsers. I know Amazon have done things to make life difficult for other stores in the past.

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