Quote:
Originally Posted by ahi
Hmmm... how about explaining why it's preferable for Calibre to take an eBook source directory that may already have the books sorted exactly the way the user wants them sorted, then copy and resort them some other way?
Why can't Calibre's database simply point to where the file already exists? You are basically doubling eBook libraries' size for any person that isn't willing to fully entrust it to Calibre (by deleting the original, upon blind faith that nothing went wrong during Calibre's copying over).
- Ahi
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I still don't understand why this is such a sticking point for you. My Calibre library, with 180 books loaded, is at 110MB. This includes cover art and metadata for each book, and some of the books have been converted into a number of different formats for testing purposes. But just for round numbers, lets call it 1 MB/book. Just for grins and giggles, I went to NewEgg.com, where I quickly found a 1TB external hard drive for $75.00. At 1MB/book, that equals space for 1,000,000 books. You're library is really so large that you don't have space for the original archive, arranged however you like, and a Calibre library, arranged to work with Calibre? Twenty years ago, when a 40MB hard drive was standard, I might have been on your side. Today, books are small and back up media is large and cheap. And is anyone really naive enough to not keep a source archive?
Calibre is a well behaved program. It doesn't scatter itself around my hard drive or hide stuff where I can't find it. It has never once tried to take over my archive or handle books that I didn't load into it. I don't care what it does with its library, as long as it can find a book when I ask it too. In fact, I would be very unhappy if it tried to do anything with my archive. I'm delighted that when I convert a book, the new version is only in the Calibre library. If I want it someplace else, I can put it there. If I want to move Calibre someplace else, I don't have to worry about breaking the links to the source file. Half of my music in iTunes won't play in iTunes because of broken links. I manually manage my music there. When I rebuilt my computer, the data drive got a new drive letter. By the time I realized this problem, I'd loaded a lot of new songs that are linked to the new drive letter. I specifically wanted an ebook program that would not have the same problem. The solution to your use case is a little bit of hard drive space. What's your solution to my use case, where links are broken and books become unfindable within Calibre?