Quote:
Originally Posted by BetterRed
... - because if I decided to stop using Calibre, say because I wanted to use some obscure OS like RTM or Elixi, then when I migrated my library I could make head and tail of it when it got there  |
You would simply use "save to disk" function. Which is what I recommend to anybody who wants to have books from Calibre in some special directory structure and/or file naming convention. You can really go wild with the template language, you have great number of functions available there, together with a nice Template Editor GUI that lets you build any file structure and file naming convention you might wish.
This is the way I access the files in my Calibre database. I have set up file saving template just the way I like it and when I need to copy a bunch of books somewhere, I just do not use operating system copy with files, I ask Calibre to save the books for me to a directory. Why should I go hunting inside directories with books and copy files manually when I can use Calibre User Interface to perform various selects based on various metadata and then save books to a selected directory with a keyboard shortcut. It has several interesting (and beneficial) side effects, like refresh of the metadata inside e-book formats, such as mobi or epub.
IMHO, the file structure itself, such as it is - readable by humans, with opf files and other cool features, is only really important for disaster recovery.
To return to the original subject of this thread.
I am the type of person who is never completely satisfied with the software I have got at the moment and I am always looking for something better. I even keep trying out other text editors, despite the fact that I am already using Gvim, that I consider an almost ultimate editor for me. I keep trying beta and even alpha versions of software the I am already using. I keep trying out other Linux distributions and I sometimes compile [a little bit] customized versions of software.
So far I haven't seen any possible Calibre replacement / alternative that would have more than a tiny fraction of features and power that I have come to expect from my book management system.