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orwell2k · 05-01-2009, 06:43 AM

Firstly let me say that all of us e-Readers should be extremely grateful to developers like Kovid Goyal for providing high quality eBook tools that make our lives easier, such as Calibre.

I'm not a Sony owner, and I know the roots of Calibre development started with the need to support conversion to and management of Sony format eBooks. But the tool has obviously expanded a lot since the early days, and now supports Mobi and ePub outputs as well as Sony LRF.

I was wondering if there would be any chance of having the FB2 (FictionBook) format added at some stage to the possible choice of outputs. There are a lot of us out there that use this format, but only a limited number of tools. And whilst tools like BookDesigner are excellent, they are only Windows-based.

Since Calibre is already well developed for Mac OS X and Linux, inclusion of an FB2 format output would provide a great option for non-Windows users. And FB2 is a great format - I've been using it since my Pocket PC days with Haali Reader (before eInk). It's XML-based, and therefore easy to use and process. I also prefer the reader implementations available for devices (such as FBReader and CoolReader for eInk devices, and Stanza for iPhone, etc.).

I would encourage other FB2 fans to join me in supporting this request, and if enough of us come out of the closet then maybe our request will get considered. And of course, any developers interested in assisting Kovid with implementing this option would probably be appreciated (I'd love to do it myself but fear I'm just not a software guru!).

Thanks for hearing me out. Cheers.

05-01-2009, 06:43 AM	#1
orwell2k Addict Posts: 357 Karma: 1112 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Euroland Device: PocketBook 360°, BeBook (Hanlin V3), iRex DR1000S, iPad	FB2 Output for Calibre Firstly let me say that all of us e-Readers should be extremely grateful to developers like Kovid Goyal for providing high quality eBook tools that make our lives easier, such as Calibre. I'm not a Sony owner, and I know the roots of Calibre development started with the need to support conversion to and management of Sony format eBooks. But the tool has obviously expanded a lot since the early days, and now supports Mobi and ePub outputs as well as Sony LRF. I was wondering if there would be any chance of having the FB2 (FictionBook) format added at some stage to the possible choice of outputs. There are a lot of us out there that use this format, but only a limited number of tools. And whilst tools like BookDesigner are excellent, they are only Windows-based. Since Calibre is already well developed for Mac OS X and Linux, inclusion of an FB2 format output would provide a great option for non-Windows users. And FB2 is a great format - I've been using it since my Pocket PC days with Haali Reader (before eInk). It's XML-based, and therefore easy to use and process. I also prefer the reader implementations available for devices (such as FBReader and CoolReader for eInk devices, and Stanza for iPhone, etc.). I would encourage other FB2 fans to join me in supporting this request, and if enough of us come out of the closet then maybe our request will get considered. And of course, any developers interested in assisting Kovid with implementing this option would probably be appreciated (I'd love to do it myself but fear I'm just not a software guru!). Thanks for hearing me out. Cheers.