Quote:
Originally Posted by kovidgoyal
Yes but calibre's device driver system is designed solely for android devices.
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I feel like I'm misunderstanding you. calibre's entire driver system is designed for Android? I thought it was just one device plugin among many...?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovidgoyal
And since android is open I'd say its even more important to match bcd numbers carefully, since theres nothing preventing someone from designing firmware with a builtin reader app or features that require special handling.
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True, technically nothing is
preventing someone from doing that, at least the built in reader app. But anything that requires special handling would almost necessarily break the device's functionality as an Android device. It would then be so custom as to effectively not be Android anymore.
Android is open source and customizable, yes, but Android is a platform. With the exception of a few inter-version app incompatibilities and a few apps designed for specific models of hardware, all Android devices can run all Android apps, and utilize the same basic structure and file-system.
A few (very few) devices run a highly modified,
Android-based OS (ie. the B&N nook), but those are the exception, and are highly specialized devices that don't share basic Android functionality. Aside from that, all Android devices are either smartphones or tablet or netbook pc's, and all use the same basic OS.
At the very least, all versions of a particular device's OS share the same functionality, and don't require special interface instructions. A Nexus One is a Nexus One, regardless of whether it's running the stock OS, or a custom build. They're all builds of the same source, with a few modifications (usually pertaining to CPU speed or phone functionality, not to usb interface or app compatibility). The same goes for a Motorola Droid, or an HTC Dream, Hero, etc.
I really appreciate the effort you put in to make calibre as great as it is. I just feel like, with the Android platform, that probably vendor and product id are adequate to identify a connected device, especially with the customizable format and directory options built in to the driver. The books are being read by an app
within the OS, not by the firmware itself, so all that's really required are those two options.
(note: I keep calling Android an OS, rather than a firmware, because, while it is flashed onto a chip, it's a full, linux-derived, operating system, not just a firmware, in the typical sense.)
And before this gets any longer, again, thanks for all your hard work.