Thread: Calibre Software for Chromebook OS
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Old 04-21-2016, 11:23 PM   #20
AndrewH
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Join Date: Jul 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz View Post
Never. calibre is written in python, and Chromebooks only support Chrome webapps.
Chromebooks (and Chromeboxes and Chromebits) aren't just thin clients, and don't just run web apps. They used to, but now they can run Chrome Apps, aka a packaged app. This is an app that can run off-line, outside the browser, written in Javascript, and contains all the HTML, CSS, fonts and images necessary in its own package. They can access the file system, and make use of attached peripherals (e.g. USB and Bluetooth). Some of the more "exotic" Chrome Apps include photo and video editors, music and video players, system info apps, a torrent client, unarchivers, a web server, and even a video transcoder.

More on Chrome Apps here.

I can't see Calibre being ported over to Chromebooks; I doubt it's even possible. The entire program would have to be re-written, and in a different programming language. However, there's no technical reason I'm aware of that a Chromebook couldn't run an ebook database/management app if one were created for it. Web SQL DB is available to Chrome, and thus Chrome Apps.

Given Chromebooks' typically small local storage, ideally such an app would utilize cloud storage like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.

One huge advantage of such an app would be that it would be OS-agnostic, there'd be no need to create a Windows version, a Linux version, an iOS version, etc. If your OS can run Chrome, then it would have access to Chrome Apps. It could even be monetized (some apps in the Chrome Web Store have a price tag, and some require subscriptions).

As someone who's recently given up on Windows and Linux (and has never touched an Apple product), I find all the "just run Windows" and "just install Linux" arguments insulting. I have a Chromebook and two Chromeboxes. Chrome devices are real computers. ChromeOS is a valid operating system (it's a specialized version of Linux based on Gentoo, and the Chrome Web Store is analogous to the Ubuntu Software Center). The fact that users currently have to resort to remoting into a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer or to installing Linux to do task X or Y is not a reflection on the capabilities of Chrome devices, but rather a reflection of the lack of software available for their device.
Last edited by AndrewH; 04-22-2016 at 03:14 AM. Reason: stuff
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