Quote:
Originally Posted by LukeA
Mitch,
I guess I just have a hard time accepting the default notion that open source = toy. I see them as an alternative to commercial, not-necessarily-better software. Apache Web Server is an example - in spite of its headaches (I managed a server farm for several years so I know about the headaches), it is definitely a professional grade product.
My default position is that open source should endeavour to be the best it can be.
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I never said that Sigil was a toy; please don't miscast what I've said. I said, it was labled as a BETA and occasionally, an ALPHA, which is where the nature of it should have been more clear. Nor did I say it was in any way a "toy;" I said it was
a tool for people who already know html, XHTML, and CSS. It's a tool for commercial bookmakers and serious amateur bookmakers. It requires
more knowledge to use it, not
less. It's neither a word processor nor a toy.
Your expectations of it were simply incorrect--that's all. If you want a product that requires less knowledge of the user, as I stated previously, you can use Jutoh or Scrivener, which are paid products that provide service and customer service for less-knowledgeable users. Sigil is supported by OS donations (some folks here donate quite a bit more for Sigil on an ongoing basis than they would
ever pay for a paid product) and does not provide customer service to those folks who don't know what CSS is, or HTML, etc. That's the distinction I was endeavoring to make; not that it was a "toy" in any fashion. Paid products that specialize in allowing non-technological-savvy people to make technological products have the luxury of providing support to those that don't understand the "tech" side. Products like Sigil, or most any other OS-supported endeavor, don't. The crowds to which Sigil versus Scrivener and Jutoh appeal are completely different, and the products serve utterly different purposes. Sigil is not Scrivener, nor does it attempt to be. Sigil is, as I stated, a tool for crafting books using XHTML, HTML and CSS; not a word-processing tool that happens to make eBooks.
Sigil, in the simplest terms I can state it, is not
trying to be Scrivener or Jutoh. That's the point. It's not some "lesser cousin," it's a completely different tool. Just as an "FYI," there is and has been considerable discussion given to eliminating BookView entirely; perhaps that will crystallize the difference for you. A large number of us don't use it at all (which is why we now have Preview).
Hopefully, that clears up any confusion.
Hitch (not Mitch).