Quote:
Originally Posted by GvilleBridge
I paid $50 to Calibre and will probably send in another $50. That's not freeware.
But I do understand that users on forums like these are unpaid volunteers, so I thanked them for walking me through the icon/menu business. That doesn't mean that I can't criticize the Calibre interface as kind users here aren't responsible for it.
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Calibre is "donationware" -- you're welcome to send them a donation if you like, but it is not enforced at all, it does not nag you (aside from showing the "donate" button in the toolbar by default, which is removable), and there is no limitation in functionality if you never donate. If you chose to send calibre $50-100, that was your own decision and doesn't change the fact that the software is still free and open source for anybody who would like to use it or contribute changes.
Also, there's nothing wrong with criticizing calibre's interface, but criticism goes down easier with workable suggestions on how to make things better. Invariably, every time I see someone post a criticism of calibre's UI they never provide any actual
constructive feedback besides, "It's ugly." The fact of the matter is that the current UI works well for millions of users right now, and there will always be some minority for whom it doesn't work well. Maybe you're one of the few, and there's nothing wrong with that, but things can't be made "better" without specific suggestions on how it could be made better for you (keep in mind that the UI is very customizable, with three toolbars and a menu bar that you can complete change or remove, so it might just be that you need to spend 5 minutes in the configs rearranging things to your preference).