having difficulty downloading Sigil onto Linux

[Gregg Bell]

I'm running Xubuntu 13.10 and several people made suggestions on how to download Sigil. I followed two and couldln't get it. The first one was the 004 screenshot. Everything went fine but when I got to the Ubuntu software center I could not find a way to refresh it, and I could not find the package in the Synaptic window.

In the second one (the 007 screenshot) that too went fine but when I got to the install button (006 screenshot) the program started installing but then after maybe 5 or 10 seconds it stopped. I tried it several times.

Any suggestions? (And I'm pretty new using Linux so if you have a suggestion please give pretty detailed instructions.) Thanks very much.

[Pablo]

Have a look at post #24 of this thread, it worked for me in Ubuntu 13.10.

[capidamonte]

Assuming you properly added the repository as I described previously, you should close Synaptic (and Software Center), then reopen Synaptic.

Press the 'reload' button at the top of the app. Wait while the package information downloads (it's refreshing the list of available apps.)

Once that's done, type 'sigil' into the Quick Search text box at the top of the app.

If it shows up in the window below, then click the checkbox next to it if the checkbox is empty. If it's not empty, then Sigil is installed -- you should close Synaptic and search the launch menu for Sigil.

If it was empty, and you clicked it, you'll get a popup menu. Choose 'Mark for installation'. (It will be greyed out if Sigil is already installed.) Push the 'Mark' button on the popup dialog that comes (if Sigil has one -- some apps require additional support files -- Sigil may or may not, depending on what has been installed already).

Then click the 'Apply' button at the top. A dialog will open asking for confirmation -- click the 'Apply' button in the dialog. You'll see two dialogs, one showing the package download and one showing Sigil being installed. Wait until the second one disappears and the Synaptic window refreshes.

Close Synaptic and search your launch menu.

If none of that works, please take a screenshot of Synaptic with 'sigil' in the Quick Search box and a screenshot of the dialog box that pops up when you follow: Settings --> Repositories -->Other Software

Aloha.

[eschwartz]

If none of those work, then maybe you should just go with calibre's Edit Book feature. To quote user_none (Sigil lead developer) here: http://sigildev.blogspot.com/2014/02/ sigils-spiritual-successor.html:

At this point Sigil is no longer being actively developed. Moving development to Github has netted a few contributions but they were one offs and fairly minor. With Sigil development being stalled, Kovid (of calibre) starting making the tweak epub functionality in calibre into a full editor.

calibre's editor at this point is stable and has many of the features, though not all (yet), that are present in Sigil. Like Sigil, calibre's editor is open source and unlike Sigil is being actively developed. I've known Kovid for quite some time (though calibre) and I'm confident that the calibre editor is the way forward.

For people using Sigil, keep using it as long as it works for you. If you find it's not meeting your needs or if you want to see what else is out there I recommend checking out cailbre's editor. While it doesn't use any of Sigil's code I consider it Sigil's spiritual successor.

It can be used as a standalone application launched via ebook-edit.exe, and should be automatically registered in the application menu.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by capidamonte

Assuming you properly added the repository as I described previously, you should close Synaptic (and Software Center), then reopen Synaptic.

Press the 'reload' button at the top of the app. Wait while the package information downloads (it's refreshing the list of available apps.)

Once that's done, type 'sigil' into the Quick Search text box at the top of the app.

If it shows up in the window below, then click the checkbox next to it if the checkbox is empty. If it's not empty, then Sigil is installed -- you should close Synaptic and search the launch menu for Sigil.

If it was empty, and you clicked it, you'll get a popup menu. Choose 'Mark for installation'. (It will be greyed out if Sigil is already installed.) Push the 'Mark' button on the popup dialog that comes (if Sigil has one -- some apps require additional support files -- Sigil may or may not, depending on what has been installed already).

Then click the 'Apply' button at the top. A dialog will open asking for confirmation -- click the 'Apply' button in the dialog. You'll see two dialogs, one showing the package download and one showing Sigil being installed. Wait until the second one disappears and the Synaptic window refreshes.

Close Synaptic and search your launch menu.

If none of that works, please take a screenshot of Synaptic with 'sigil' in the Quick Search box and a screenshot of the dialog box that pops up when you follow: Settings --> Repositories -->Other Software

Aloha.

Thanks capidamonte. I appreciate all the help. Unfortunately I just couldn't get it. I followed the instructions meticulously. The only--albeit very minor--thing I could see was that you asked me to put 'sigil' into the 'quick search' box and on the synaptic package manager it was called the 'quick filter' box.

Here are the screenshots you requested. Thanks again.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Have a look at post #24 of this thread, it worked for me in Ubuntu 13.10.

Thanks a lot, Pablo. I'm going to hang with what I've been trying for a while. Good to know there's something else to try though. Really appreciate it.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

If none of those work, then maybe you should just go with calibre's Edit Book feature. To quote user_none (Sigil lead developer) here: http://sigildev.blogspot.com/2014/02/ sigils-spiritual-successor.html:


It can be used as a standalone application launched via ebook-edit.exe, and should be automatically registered in the application menu.

Thanks eschwartz. Although I will hate to see Sigil go. I do, even now, use Calibre for some stuff in Windows. Could you be more specific how I would get it in Xubuntu? (I didn't know how to launch that file. I've got that Wine, but every time I try to even look at that I get this 'program error' window that tells me nothing (except that there is a program error lol)). Thanks.

[HarryT]

Gregg - no disrespect intended, but you don't seem too familiar with using Linux, and the problem you're experiencing is really asking "how do I use Linux?", not "how do I use Sigil?". Perhaps it might be advisable to get a good book on Linux?

[mrmikel]

Calibre is available for Linux so doesn't require Wine as far as I know.

You just download it using the firefox browser in Linux here
http://calibre-ebook.com/download
and then follow the instructions on this page:
http://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux.

But I understand your frustration. Linux just isn't that simple and the endless variations of it don't help with the learning curve. The Unity desktop that is used in Ubuntu now is also puzzling to me, mostly because I don't want to take the time to figure it out.

[eschwartz]

As mrmikel said, calibre is available for linux, install from calibre's website. Wine is only required for programs that aren't already available for linux.

Once installed, you can launch Edit Book like any other program, as well as through calibre's interface by selecting a book in calibre and either clicking the shortcut key "T" or selecting Edit book from the right-click menu.

@mrmikel I agree Unity is a disaster although it's not that it's difficult to figure out, the way I see it, it's just that it looks stupid and doesn't give you many of the options the old interface did. For example, try creating a new application launcher. In Windows you can make a shortcut file to the program, likewise in linux you used to be able to open the Menu editor and fill in a few lines -- or using the Open With menu, you could choose the command to run to open it, and it created a launcher. Now you are limited to creating a launcher BY HAND in the text editor, which of course would explain how Ubuntu is the "User-friendly linux for beginners", right?

I would just install the MATE desktop -- which isn't a user-friendly-for-beginners suggestion either, but does get rid of my frustration, at least -- or just install Linux Mint.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Gregg - no disrespect intended, but you don't seem too familiar with using Linux, and the problem you're experiencing is really asking "how do I use Linux?", not "how do I use Sigil?". Perhaps it might be advisable to get a good book on Linux?

You're absolutely right, Harry. What I was trying to do was see if I could get by with just a Linux computer (after MS stops supporting XP April 8). So I wanted to know if I could get the basics I need for making an ebook (Sigil, Kindle Previewer etc.). I thought that would be quick and easy, but it hasn't been. And eschwartz gave me a great book on Linux. I started it but definitely need to delve further into it. Appreciate it.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

You're absolutely right, Harry. What I was trying to do was see if I could get by with just a Linux computer (after MS stops supporting XP April 8). So I wanted to know if I could get the basics I need for making an ebook (Sigil, Kindle Previewer etc.). I thought that would be quick and easy, but it hasn't been. And eschwartz gave me a great book on Linux. I started it but definitely need to delve further into it. Appreciate it.

Glad to hear you're getting use out of it!

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by mrmikel

Calibre is available for Linux so doesn't require Wine as far as I know.

You just download it using the firefox browser in Linux here
http://calibre-ebook.com/download
and then follow the instructions on this page:
http://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux.

But I understand your frustration. Linux just isn't that simple and the endless variations of it don't help with the learning curve. The Unity desktop that is used in Ubuntu now is also puzzling to me, mostly because I don't want to take the time to figure it out.

Thanks mrmikel. I went to the site but I'm not comfortable working in the terminal yet. (I went there once, with lousy instructions on how to use it, and had a heck of a time getting out of it.) It's like Harry was saying, I need to learn more about Linux. Once familiar, it'll probably seem easy. Right now, it seems uber complicated. Appreciate your help. Thank you.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Glad to hear you're getting use out of it!

Yeah, thanks a lot. I need to dig deeper into it though 'cause right now it's like you guys are talking a language I'm not familiar with. I gotta get the basics down first. That's my next task. Thanks again.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks mrmikel. I went to the site but I'm not comfortable working in the terminal yet. (I went there once, with lousy instructions on how to use it, and had a heck of a time getting out of it.) It's like Harry was saying, I need to learn more about Linux. Once familiar, it'll probably seem easy. Right now, it seems uber complicated. Appreciate your help. Thank you.

It's very simple, just copy-paste.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open the terminal, right-click and select paste,
(here's the code again)

sudo python -c "import sys; py3 = sys.version_info[0] > 2; u = __import__('urllib.request' if py3 else 'urllib', fromlist=1); exec(u.urlopen('http://status.calibre-ebook.com/linux_installer').read()); main()"

then hit enter. You will be prompted for your login password, to confirm that you should be doing this (to prevent accidental malware installations, etc.) and calibre will install itself. I'd be very surprised if anything went wrong, this isn't debugging or manipulation of configuration scripts or anything.

It's one of the more foolproof things the terminal gets used for. In fact, basic copy-paste stuff like this might be a good way to start getting used to the terminal.

Gory details on what's happening in that command -- well, not really gory: It uses the python programming language to download and run the auto-installation script from the calibre website. Pretty simple, and about the only thing that could go wrong is your internet connection.