Quote:
Originally Posted by colink
Sigil's problem is that it violates one of the open source paradigms, in that the people who USE it also are able to MODIFY it.
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That statement is complete bull. Sigil fully embraces the concept that people who use the application can modify it. The only thing stopping someone from doing so is themselves. There is nothing missing, left out, or intentionally put in place that prevents someone from doing so. The only thing that prevents anyone from modifying Sigil is the knowledge in their own head. Knowledge which I might add is freely available for them to learn if they choose to do so.
Saying that Sigil violates open source paradigms because people don't know how to code could be said about EVERY open source application out there. This statement is the same as stating that Ford prevents people from changing their own oil because they don't know how to use a wrench.
Quote:
Originally Posted by colink
perhaps some of the 41 contributors to Calibre could be incentivized to take on that work.
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Who do you think has been developing Sigil. I've put just as much if not more time, work, and code into Sigil as I have into calibre. Grant is probably in the same situation for contributions too.
Fact is, calibre developers aren't interested in Sigil. They are completely different projects for different markets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by colink
Maybe we could raise enough money to get a Google Summer of Code project, or maybe a python user group or a community member would be willing to take it on. All those, however, require some kind of promotion or flag waving.
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Having worked on several open source projects and managing a few as well this isn't how it works. People who develop open source applications typically do so because they find the project interesting and enjoyable. Going to some random Python community isn't going to convince anyone to work on a project they have no interest in. Especially when you're going to them and saying, "see that, spend the next few years rewriting it from scratch."
If someone wants to work on Sigil they can. If no one wants to then it doesn't get updated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by colink
It would probably also require user_none's buyin, and Kovidgoyal really didn't talk about it beyond the bare idea of adoption.
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Rolling it into calibre would be an option if it was written in Python but it's not so it's not a valid option.
I have considered starting a rewrite in Python myself. Consider that it took 4 years to get Sigil where it is. If we estimate 1 person working full time on Sigil over that time period (which I think is a reasonable estimate) and we estimate that Python is 4 times more productive than C++ we can assume it will take 1 year of full time development to get to the same level Sigil is currently at. Working part time on Sigil we can estimate 2 years to get a rewrite to the level Sigil is at now. So is it worth years worth of effort to get to the point we're already at?
For me right now the answer is no. I'd rather spend my time on other projects. Sigil isn't fun anymore so I don't have much motivation to work on it. Also, Sigil's community is a major turn off. While people on Mobile Read are very friendly and great most of Sigil's users aren't on Mobile Read and ridiculously entitled and abusive.