What's Next For Calibre?

Ralob · 08-02-2009, 10:15 AM

Now that 6.0 is out and the weekly releases has restarted, I am curious as to that lies ahead for calibre? What is on the immediate agenda in the coming days, weeks, and months other than bug elimination? What is on the top of the epic TODO list? What exciting things are planned for us lucky users?

kovidgoyal · 08-02-2009, 11:24 AM

Hmm I try not to keep a list of upcoming features as I typically tend to work on random things in the order that I feel like working on them. But here are various ideas floating around in the calibre dev sphere:

1) Various GUI tweaks to make the calibre interface a little more streamlined and add a browse by covers mode [user_none's baby largely]

2) Meta recipes (i.e. recipes of recipes so you can create your own customized news source with news from different places combined) [GRiker is going to be the point man on this]

3) Access to public domain collections of e-books directly within calibre with a nice search interface etc

4) Support for multiple libraries instead of the current only one.

5) A server backend as a library so that you can store your books in a central place and access them using calibre (or a web interface or an OPDS feed) from anywhere. You can already do this using calibre's content server, but that's a little challenging to setup.

(5) is going to require some thought as it won't be free (bandwidth/hosting costs)

pilotbob · 08-02-2009, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

(5) is going to require some thought as it won't be free (bandwidth/hosting costs)

Just an idea. You could set it up to work with Amazon S3 service (or similar like live mesh or dropbox or something). That way, it is up to the user to pay Amazon for hosting/bandwidth costs.

BOb

kovidgoyal · 08-02-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Just an idea. You could set it up to work with Amazon S3 service (or similar like live mesh or dropbox or something). That way, it is up to the user to pay Amazon for hosting/bandwidth costs.

BOb

Hmm interesting, I'll keep that in mind, thanks

Ralob · 08-02-2009, 11:54 AM

Awesome news Kovid. I can't wait!

slantybard · 08-02-2009, 12:39 PM

Hmm, the problem with a server hosting a calbre library may bring on concerns about copyright, etc. Even if the library is only open to the user, I could imagine that some DRM/authors could become anxious at the very least in that they may be concerned with access to that served library on how to make sure that only one user can access the served library and that login/pw aren't shared. Then, the calibre team and Kovid may have to waste energy and effort defending or programming more and more based on the legal desires of authors/DRM license holders, and not on improving calibre as they have been doing.

kovidgoyal · 08-02-2009, 12:47 PM

Yeah DRM problems are what has kept me from doing this so far. One possible solution is to limit the number of downloads per book per format to x a day (only download not uploads). That should take care of concerns about using the service to distribute pirated copies and still not restrict typical use cases too much.

caluser · 08-02-2009, 09:42 PM

How about way to manage multiple media cards. I.e if we have multiple SD cards then there should be way to manage books on the sd cards. Right now it is all or nothing.

There is no way to make separate lists of books per SD card. I am using tags for this but this gets onerous and labour intensive after a couple of dozen books. How to figure out incrementally what books are on SD card and which ones are not ? etc

Ralob · 08-02-2009, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caluser

How about way to manage multiple media cards. I.e if we have multiple SD cards then there should be way to manage books on the sd cards. Right now it is all or nothing.

There is no way to make separate lists of books per SD card. I am using tags for this but this gets onerous and labour intensive after a couple of dozen books. How to figure out incrementally what books are on SD card and which ones are not ? etc

Open a ticket at the calibre site and I am sure Kovid will look into it if he gets the time.

astrodad · 08-25-2009, 02:56 PM

Any new thoughts on the server edition of calibre? My wife left her Kindle at home the other day and we were out and about and it would have been great to pull out Stanza on the phone and download the book from calibre. I know I can do that now, but then I have to keep that copy of calibre running, which prevents me from updating the library on another computer.

kovidgoyal · 08-25-2009, 02:57 PM

It will be a while, before that's implemented, probably not before early next year.

astrodad · 08-25-2009, 03:03 PM

Cool. In the meantime I think I will think about implementing a way to automatically import a book that's added to a folder on my server. That should be possible, but I'm worried I won't be able to do it while calibre is running.

mobelby · 08-26-2009, 09:06 PM

Hi Kovid,

The content server is a great current feature of calibre. I think it's one of your most compelling features in fact. The only problem I have with it is that if I use the same folder (on my windows home server) to store the central database and have that folder set up in all implementations of calibre on our home's multiple pcs there is one limitation. That limitation is that if I add books to the central database folders from any other PC (using calibre) the content server will not be updated until I log into calibre on whs and check the database from within the whs installation of calibre. Other than that it's wonderful

lukasfikr · 08-26-2009, 09:19 PM

Could you add copying between memory cards - easy one, with protecting all attributes ?

astrodad · 01-06-2010, 05:06 PM

The one feature I wish I had from the content server is to add books through it. I have set up plugins to convert books on the fly when I add them and it would be great to do it all from the browser.

08-02-2009, 10:15 AM	#1
Ralob Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: iPad Pro, Kobo Libra 2, PW4	What's Next For Calibre? Now that 6.0 is out and the weekly releases has restarted, I am curious as to that lies ahead for calibre? What is on the immediate agenda in the coming days, weeks, and months other than bug elimination? What is on the top of the epic TODO list? What exciting things are planned for us lucky users?

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08-02-2009, 11:24 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Hmm I try not to keep a list of upcoming features as I typically tend to work on random things in the order that I feel like working on them. But here are various ideas floating around in the calibre dev sphere: 1) Various GUI tweaks to make the calibre interface a little more streamlined and add a browse by covers mode [user_none's baby largely] 2) Meta recipes (i.e. recipes of recipes so you can create your own customized news source with news from different places combined) [GRiker is going to be the point man on this] 3) Access to public domain collections of e-books directly within calibre with a nice search interface etc 4) Support for multiple libraries instead of the current only one. 5) A server backend as a library so that you can store your books in a central place and access them using calibre (or a web interface or an OPDS feed) from anywhere. You can already do this using calibre's content server, but that's a little challenging to setup. (5) is going to require some thought as it won't be free (bandwidth/hosting costs)

08-02-2009, 11:54 AM	#5
Ralob Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: iPad Pro, Kobo Libra 2, PW4	Awesome news Kovid. I can't wait!

08-02-2009, 12:39 PM	#6
slantybard my parent's oops... Posts: 466 Karma: 1477570 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Vx->Handera->Clie-> Axim->505->650->KPW/Aura ->iOS/L2	Hmm, the problem with a server hosting a calbre library may bring on concerns about copyright, etc. Even if the library is only open to the user, I could imagine that some DRM/authors could become anxious at the very least in that they may be concerned with access to that served library on how to make sure that only one user can access the served library and that login/pw aren't shared. Then, the calibre team and Kovid may have to waste energy and effort defending or programming more and more based on the legal desires of authors/DRM license holders, and not on improving calibre as they have been doing.

08-02-2009, 12:47 PM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Yeah DRM problems are what has kept me from doing this so far. One possible solution is to limit the number of downloads per book per format to x a day (only download not uploads). That should take care of concerns about using the service to distribute pirated copies and still not restrict typical use cases too much.

08-02-2009, 09:42 PM	#8
caluser Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: PRS-505	How about way to manage multiple media cards. I.e if we have multiple SD cards then there should be way to manage books on the sd cards. Right now it is all or nothing. There is no way to make separate lists of books per SD card. I am using tags for this but this gets onerous and labour intensive after a couple of dozen books. How to figure out incrementally what books are on SD card and which ones are not ? etc

08-25-2009, 02:56 PM	#10
astrodad Guru Posts: 962 Karma: 568242 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Oasis 3, Kindle Paperwhite 1, iPad, iPhone	Any new thoughts on the server edition of calibre? My wife left her Kindle at home the other day and we were out and about and it would have been great to pull out Stanza on the phone and download the book from calibre. I know I can do that now, but then I have to keep that copy of calibre running, which prevents me from updating the library on another computer.

08-25-2009, 02:57 PM	#11
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	It will be a while, before that's implemented, probably not before early next year.

08-25-2009, 03:03 PM	#12
astrodad Guru Posts: 962 Karma: 568242 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Oasis 3, Kindle Paperwhite 1, iPad, iPhone	Cool. In the meantime I think I will think about implementing a way to automatically import a book that's added to a folder on my server. That should be possible, but I'm worried I won't be able to do it while calibre is running.

08-26-2009, 09:06 PM	#13
mobelby Zealot Posts: 107 Karma: 224 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: eeepc 901	Hi Kovid, The content server is a great current feature of calibre. I think it's one of your most compelling features in fact. The only problem I have with it is that if I use the same folder (on my windows home server) to store the central database and have that folder set up in all implementations of calibre on our home's multiple pcs there is one limitation. That limitation is that if I add books to the central database folders from any other PC (using calibre) the content server will not be updated until I log into calibre on whs and check the database from within the whs installation of calibre. Other than that it's wonderful

08-26-2009, 09:19 PM	#14
lukasfikr Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Cowtown, Alberta Device: Sony PRS-650, Kindle 3, Apple iPad/iPhone 4	Could you add copying between memory cards - easy one, with protecting all attributes ?

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01-06-2010, 05:06 PM	#15
astrodad Guru Posts: 962 Karma: 568242 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Oasis 3, Kindle Paperwhite 1, iPad, iPhone	The one feature I wish I had from the content server is to add books through it. I have set up plugins to convert books on the fly when I add them and it would be great to do it all from the browser.