Does OpeninkPot do .lit books natively or do you have to convert them?

Does the original firmware on bebook do .lit? I have a bunch of them.

Thanks
:book2:

OpenInkPot (FBReader) does not support LIT directly, but if you use ConvertLIT to "explode" the LIT to an OEB (HTML, images and a .opf file), make a ZIP of these files and rename it .oebzip then FBReader works very well. This is the format I use for almost all my ebooks. Note that you can try FBReader on any Desktop PC. Under OpenInkPot, the number of customization options is reduced but the display engine is exactly the same as the Desktop version.

The standard Hanlin firmware is supposed to support DRM-free LIT but when I tried it on a Baen ebook this did not work well (crashing the device at one point). The best options are to use Calibre (or ConvertLIT and Windows MobiPocket Creator) to convert to MOBI, or Book Designer to convert to FB2. OpenInkPot also reads DRM-free MOBI and FB2 (FB2 can optionally be read using Cool Reader 3, just like the standard Hanlin firmware, if you want).

Another, quicker way is to use Calibre to convert to epub, which OI can open. I also have a bunch of .lit files, so I'm pushing for inclusion of native support as well. Cheers!

Another, quicker way is to use Calibre to convert to epub, which OI can open. However, FBReader on OI does not currently read the toc.ncx file. The latest FBReader (0.10.2) does read the TOC, and I agree that when OI gets upgraded to the latest FBReader .epub will be as good or better than .oebzip.

couldn't OI use clit and automatically convert the LIT to .oebzip internally?

=X=

couldn't OI use clit and automatically convert the LIT to .oebzip internally?

=X=

Might that not introduce some legal issues for OI? I understand that its legality is questionable in some countries. Perhaps OI might wish to steer clear of such things?

Might that not introduce some legal issues for OI? I understand that its legality is questionable in some countries. Perhaps OI might wish to steer clear of such things?

They could build and include a copy of ConvertLIT which doesn't include the DRM-stripping code. Or they could integrate the LIT-reading code from calibre, which has no DRM issues and is more robust than ConvertLIT's.

I wasn't just thinking of DRM. Crazy though it sounds, the actual process of format conversion of copyrighted material is illegal in some countries, such as the UK, even for personal use.

I wasn't just thinking of DRM. Crazy though it sounds, the actual process of format conversion of copyrighted material is illegal in some countries, such as the UK, even for personal use.

That sound so absurd that I do not believe it. If you make your own lit file then how can it be illegal to convert the file I created?

Absurd, but true, Tommy. Such activities as ripping a CD that you've perfectly legally bought to MP3 format for your iPod, or converting a DRM-free copyrighted book from LIT to Mobi format, are technically illegal in the UK.

It is a completely ridiculous situation, but that's the way it is.

... actual process of format conversion of copyrighted material is illegal ...use.
I'm no lawyer nor live in the UK but well presume your correct here.

Having a tool that reads or converts LIT to HTML should not be illegal. It's using the tool to convert Copyrighted that is the illegal act.
So format shifting a LIT file out of copyright should not be a violation.

I think that is what tomp was pointing out.


Also on aside, your previous post makes it sound like you assume all LIT files and other file formats are copyright if that is the case MR is in serious copyright violation.

=X=

I'm no lawyer nor live in the UK but well presume your correct here.

Having a tool that reads or converts LIT to HTML should not be illegal. It's using the tool to convert Copyrighted that is the illegal act.
So format shifting a LIT file out of copyright should not be a violation.

I think that is what tomp was pointing out.


Yes, that was my point. You create your own lit file using a text editor or some program you have written. How can it be illegal to transform you creation to something else?

Might that not introduce some legal issues for OI? I understand that its legality is questionable in some countries. Perhaps OI might wish to steer clear of such things?

Not to be a nit picker but isn't displaying any "electro-magnetic" media onto a monitor changing the format, by the strictest definition of format changing? :rolleyes:

Also on aside, your previous post makes it sound like you assume all LIT files and other file formats are copyright if that is the case MR is in serious copyright violation.


Good heavens, no; what a strange thing to say! That is most definitely not the case.

Yes, that was my point. You create your own lit file using a text editor or some program you have written. How can it be illegal to transform you creation to something else?

For the nit-pickers, allow me to be more specific. It is illegal under UK law to "change the format" of copyrighted material WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER.

I hope that makes everyone happy :).

For the nit-pickers, allow me to be more specific. It is illegal under UK law to "change the format" of copyrighted material WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER.


I read your statement in the context that it could be a legal problem including convertlit in OI. So I thought you referred only to the process and not how it is used. Otherwise I cannot understand how you can say that it could be a legal problem.

So why is it a legal problem in UK to include a conversion program that is perfectly legal to use on non-copyrighted material?

I'm not saying that it necessarily is a problem: I merely point it out as a factor for consideration.

I don't think Harry is personally saying it's wrong, right or anything like that. He's simply bringing up a point to keep in mind if somebody gets a bug up their posterior about "legislation". You know how panicky the industry gets when they see things changing. They panic enough and then push every "letter of the law" they can.

And yes, they do think this way about format shifting. It's on record that one of the music industry monkeys commented that ripping from a legally purchased CD to move the song to a portable MP3 player for personal use was equivalent to theft. If you wanted that same content on a different device that used a different format then you should pay for a copy in that format (whether or not it's sold in that format).

The enforcement of this mindset varies from country to country so...

On the bright side, a lot of this is starting to be seen as the silliness for which it is as time goes on and more of the population becomes exposed to digital formats. Nothing helps shape law more than the people from the government being put in a position to perform "criminal acts" for doing what they always thought they could do (such as format shifting or moving music from one player to another).

I don't think Harry is personally saying it's wrong, right or anything like that. He's simply bringing up a point to keep in mind if somebody gets a bug up their posterior about "legislation". You know how panicky the industry gets when they see things changing. They panic enough and then push every "letter of the law" they can.

Yes, that was precisely what I was saying.

Yes, that was precisely what I was saying.

Yes, but you can say wearing a red shirt can be illegal also or can panic somebody to use strange laws. The case you brought up seemed to me to be as absurd if you had said that in the UK it can be legally problematic to wear a red shirt. I mean you need to have some argument to start to worry and I really do not see what kind of argument you can have here.