[Device Plugin] Kobo Touch Extended Driver

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by madhatta

I'm sorry if it came across as insulting. It wasn't supposed to be, and I'd tried hard at my end to bend over backwards to make it clear how grateful I am for the existence of the plugin at all.

But the model "get your OS from the OS people and your apps from the app people" is a Windows model of computer use, not a Linux model. Most people who use Linux stick fairly rigidly to the software that's distributed under the repository+indices+dependencies model because we know how many things start to break, and how balkanised and unsupportable our systems get, if we don't. This doesn't mean "only software distributed by the OS people", but it does mean "only software that's been built specifically for the environment provided by the version of the distro I'm choosing to run".

The problem is that mot repositories have botched Calibre. They supply an old version or they have the Python 3 beta or it's not packaged correctly. This is why the Windows model works better because Windows users actually get the correct version.

The repository is the part of the reason that there are more support questions from Linux users then Windows users an OS X users combined.

I repeat, yet again, that it's absolutely fine if you don't want to support that software model. Your plugin is a marvellous thing, which makes the world a better place. I just wanted to try to shed a little light on why you might get pushback from some Linux users when you say "just upgrade Calibre". It's not because we feel entitled, or wish to insult you, or prize you at nought; it's because of decades of experience that suggests that following that software maintenance model doesn't work well for us.

You chose to use the repository and you chose to install the wrong version. The repository then doesn't update and you stick with the wrong version. If this is how Linux works, I'll stick with Windows. Saying to update is the correct thing to do. If the way Calibre is handled with updates does not work for you, then stop using Calibre. Calibre is not going to change to fit your outdated usage model. The way to get software is no to get it it from an unknown source when there is a know safe source to get it from. The repository is lousy as you can see from the botch job done to Calibre.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Leonatus

I'm only using the KoboTouch-extended driver (without converting before sending to device), but I personally can not confirm this: after deleting a book on the device (what I by chance had to do today because of some errors in the book) and re-sending from the library, there were no problems.

Error(s) in the eBook is/are the number one cause of problems.

[giddie]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is that mot repositories have botched Calibre. They supply an old version or they have the Python 3 beta or it's not packaged correctly. This is why the Windows model works better because Windows users actually get the correct version.

The repository is the part of the reason that there are more support questions from Linux users then Windows users an OS X users combined.

OK, well to put things a different way: Flatpak is the closest thing to "Windows-like" distribution you're going to see for Linux. It's a format that Calibre can put on its website that will work for all Linux distributions. (Although there's already a perfectly good package on Flathub, so there's no need.) Right now, the only offering Calibre has under "Download" for Linux is a shell script, and most Linux users avoid those kinds of installers for very good security and system management reasons.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by giddie

OK, well to put things a different way: Flatpak is the closest thing to "Windows-like" distribution you're going to see for Linux. It's a format that Calibre can put on its website that will work for all Linux distributions. (Although there's already a perfectly good package on Flathub, so there's no need.) Right now, the only offering Calibre has under "Download" for Linux is a shell script, and most Linux users avoid those kinds of installers for very good security and system management reasons.

And Flathub has the correct version of Calibre unlike most repositories.

[Leonatus]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Error(s) in the eBook is/are the number one cause of problems.

With "errors" in this case I only meant css-assignments that didn't work properly. I just mended them.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Leonatus

With "errors" in this case I only meant css-assignments that didn't work properly. I just mended them.

I was meaning structural errors.

[jxall]

Originally Posted by Leonatus

I'm only using the KoboTouch-extended driver (without converting before sending to device), but I personally can not confirm this

You were right, I have just updated Calibre to 4.19 and now everything works again. It seems that Calibre 4.18 and the latest plugins were not compatible on my PC, somewhow.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by madhatta

I'm sorry if it came across as insulting. It wasn't supposed to be, and I'd tried hard at my end to bend over backwards to make it clear how grateful I am for the existence of the plugin at all.

Well it was. As is this post, though maybe this time it would be better to say "condescending".

But the model "get your OS from the OS people and your apps from the app people" is a Windows model of computer use, not a Linux model. Most people who use Linux stick fairly rigidly to the software that's distributed under the repository+indices+dependencies model because we know how many things start to break, and how balkanised and unsupportable our systems get, if we don't. This doesn't mean "only software distributed by the OS people", but it does mean "only software that's been built specifically for the environment provided by the version of the distro I'm choosing to run".

Great, I understand. But, there is a problem. Your distro version of calibre is broken. The plugin isn't broken. The plugin calls a calibre function and that didn't work. And the reason it didn't work is because the distro maintainers have broken it. They have decided to package a version of calibre that is built for Python 2.7 with Python 3.something. You shouldn't be surprised when it doesn't work properly. If anything, you should be surprised it works at all.

So great. I'll fix it. But, to fix it, I have to fix calibre and get it into your distro in a way that actually works. And still works in other distros and environments. And then I have to somehow get it out to your distro maintainers and then you have to do the update needed. Hopefully you aren't in a hurry to get the fix. And hopefully the distro maintainers don't break it in some other way.

Alternatively, I could change the plugin. That means I have to work out how to fix the problem that is happening on your specific distro and nowhere else. And it will mean adding code that is probably useless elsewhere. Code that as to be maintained. Code that has to be tested. Code that might break when your distro maintainers finally decide to package calibre properly. Do you really think that is a good idea?


For the rest of your post, I'll stand my statement that it is impossible to support all combinations of environments. It's impossible because no one has the resources or time to do it. We all have to choose where to spend what time and resources we have. I choose to make sure things work with the official calibre builds first. If I have time, and get decent reports, then I'll look at other environments, but, it won't be my priority. Especially if I know the official release will work in that environment.

[icallaci]

Am I the only one noticing that a space following a span is not working with KoboTouchExtended 3.2.10? For example:

<p class="p"><span class="smallcaps">THESE WORDS SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY A SPACE</span> but they're not.</p>

displays as:

THESE WORDS SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY A SPACEbut they're not.

When I go back to the 3.2.9 beta, the space is there. I am using Calibre 4.19, and using KoboTouchExtended to send kepubs on the fly to my Kobo Forma.

[jxall]

Originally Posted by icallaci

Am I the only one noticing that a space following a span is not working with KoboTouchExtended 3.2.10? For example:

<p class="p"><span class="smallcaps">THESE WORDS SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY A SPACE</span> but they're not.</p>

displays as:

THESE WORDS SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY A SPACEbut they're not.

When I go back to the 3.2.9 beta, the space is there. I am using Calibre 4.19, and using KoboTouchExtended to send kepubs on the fly to my Kobo Forma.

Can confirm!

[Strether]

I don't know any CSS at all, but in a book I downloaded today, none of the italicized words were followed by a space. When I checked the Kindle version, they all were.

Jim

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Strether

I don't know any CSS at all, but in a book I downloaded today, none of the italicized words were followed by a space. When I checked the Kindle version, they all were.

Jim

Are they there in the .epub prior to sending to your ereader as a kepub?

[Strether]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Are they there in the .epub prior to sending to your ereader as a kepub?

I assume that the version of the book you see in the viewer is epub. I checked the italicized words in the first couple of chapters and they were all correct in the viewer version of the book, but not in the kepub version. I also noticed that there were no spaces after colons in the kepub version of the book but they were there in the viewer version.

Jim

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Strether

I assume that the version of the book you see in the viewer is epub. I checked the italicized words in the first couple of chapters and they were all correct in the viewer version of the book, but not in the kepub version. I also noticed that there were no spaces after colons in the kepub version of the book but they were there in the viewer version.

Jim

The KTE driver generates the epub on the fly and does not leave a copy in your calibre library so you would be seeing the epub version using calibre's viewer (or ADE or whatever you had set to do an open with action). There is an option to leave a copy of the .kepub file in a user defined directory which I've used a couple of times to look at the differences between the two formats.

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by Strether

I also noticed that there were no spaces after colons in the kepub version of the book but they were there in the viewer version.

Jim

I am also seeing no spaces after colons in kepubs, in addition to no spaces after </span>.