FBReader 0.12.0 released

[psrpsr82]

does this FBreader work with IRex DR`1000S ?

[mtravellerh]

Wondering why the new version of FBReader is opening new books smack in the middle. Not only is this highly irritating, it doesn't seem to follow any pattern either.

I'm running the newest version on my netbook with Ubuntu 9.10!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by psrpsr82

does this FBreader work with IRex DR`1000S ?

Well, an older version apparently does The IRex port was done by MobileRead user Adam B. He has a thread on the DR 1000 version here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37998
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

Wondering why the new version of FBReader is opening new books smack in the middle. Not only is this highly irritating, it doesn't seem to follow any pattern either.

I'm running the newest version on my netbook with Ubuntu 9.10!

Curious. It doesn't seem to do that here.

I installed FBReader 0.12 under Puppy Linux 4.12, having previously had 08.17, 0.10.2, and 0.11 installed. I use Xfce4 as my window manager/GUI.

Puppy required a manual install, as it's not a Debian or Red Hat based distro: I got 0.12 to install by extracting the data.gz files from th FBReader and dependency debs, and extracting to the file system.

It works fine here tested on ePub, fb2, mobi, and Plucker files. I don't add books to the library. I keep them in category subdirectories under an ebooks directory, and have Linux set to use FBReader to open those files.

I have Xubuntu 9.10 on the device as well, but have to install the GPG key file before apt-get will grab FBReader from the repository, so haven't tested there yet.
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Dennis

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Curious. It doesn't seem to do that here.
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Dennis

I manually installed the update when it was available. In the meantime, I used the Ubuntu update version to check if the problem might be with my installation. Still continues this curious behaviour! Once jumped to the frontpage, things are back to normal, btw!!

[psrpsr82]

thanks for your information,but it does'nt work with 10.2 ...

[rogue_ronin]

@DMcCunney: I have the same "jump to the middle" experience on my tablet (Xubuntu 9.10). My desktop (Xubuntu 9.04) doesn't seem to have that problem.

Generally, FBReader is okay, but still doesn't support CSS or bookmarks. So the books have a simple sameness, and cannot be used to mark edits.

But, boy!, they added another format that can be read! Whoopie.

Now, I know that there are supporters of the "one app to read them all" ideology. That's cool, and I can see the functionality. I'm in the "one small app per format" camp -- and do it excellently (see Aldiko). I'm of a mind that most people have one or two formats that they stick with. I think FBReader is stuck trying to force all their additional formats into their FB2 model of display. It works, but it's weak tea.

The network integration is good, and is getting a lot of focus. I hope they don't drift into "we added another feed" mentality.

I wish there were another lightweight reader for Linux. Maybe there'd be some competition. I hear a lot about CoolReader, but cannot find a binary for Ubuntu. Is there one?

m a r

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by rogue_ronin

@DMcCunney: I have the same "jump to the middle" experience on my tablet (Xubuntu 9.10). My desktop (Xubuntu 9.04) doesn't seem to have that problem.

I've subsequently seen the problem with FB 0.12.1 on my Linux systems and on WinXP SP3.

I posted a bug report in the FB forums, and got a "Can't reproduce" from the developer, followed by a "Sorry, I found the problem", so I anticipate a bug fix sometime soon.

Another issue is that FBReader doesn't properly exit when you close it on Windows. I have to manually kill the process from Process Explorer

Generally, FBReader is okay, but still doesn't support CSS or bookmarks. So the books have a simple sameness, and cannot be used to mark edits.

I don't need to do that, but I can see the lack being an issue.

But, boy!, they added another format that can be read! Whoopie.

Now, I know that there are supporters of the "one app to read them all" ideology. That's cool, and I can see the functionality. I'm in the "one small app per format" camp -- and do it excellently (see Aldiko). I'm of a mind that most people have one or two formats that they stick with. I think FBReader is stuck trying to force all their additional formats into their FB2 model of display. It works, but it's weak tea.

I'm an old Unix guy, and generally hold with "one tool for one job" myself. But I'm just as happy FBReader handles ePub, Mobi, and Plucker, because that pretty much covers my ebook bases. Plucker is a major win, as I've accumulated close to 4,000 docs in Plucker format, and having them available on my notebook is a boon.

The network integration is good, and is getting a lot of focus. I hope they don't drift into "we added another feed" mentality.

Me, too. I don't care about feeds through the reader. I'll get books by other methods. I just want to read whatever I might get.

I wish there were another lightweight reader for Linux. Maybe there'd be some competition. I hear a lot about CoolReader, but cannot find a binary for Ubuntu. Is there one?

Not that I know of. Source is up on Sourceforge, so you could try to build it. See http://sourceforge.net/projects/crengine/files/
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Dennis

[rogue_ronin]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

But I'm just as happy FBReader handles ePub, Mobi, and Plucker, because that pretty much covers my ebook bases. Plucker is a major win, as I've accumulated close to 4,000 docs in Plucker format, and having them available on my notebook is a boon.

Three formats? You're blowing holes in my hypothesis!

Source is up on Sourceforge, so you could try to build it. See http://sourceforge.net/projects/crengine/files/

That link actually led to an i386 DEB for Ubuntu! I'm running 64-bit systems, though, so no easy way out for me...

I'll give compiling it a try. Y'never know, it might work!

m a r

ps: do you have any idea which set of files is needed? There are a massive number of source files under any given version...

[Moe The Cat]

Rogue_Ronin, I'm happy to read your info about the link, because I am running Ubuntu 32-bit and the deb file worked just fine for me. I've now got a choice of FBReader or CoolReader on my system. I hope you can figure out how to install CR on your 64-bit system!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by rogue_ronin

Three formats? You're blowing holes in my hypothesis!

I have stuff in other formats, too, but things like PDF files, Word docs, and RTF files I read using other tools. About the only things I can't read under Linux are eReader files in PML format, but I have very few of those.

I don't mind a multi-format reader app, as it means just one to maintain and keep updated. My primary ebook reader is a Palm OS PDA, and I must use Plucker, MobiReader, eReader, PalmPDF, and PalmFiction to cover all the bases, and remember which ebooks are in what format.

That link actually led to an i386 DEB for Ubuntu! I'm running 64-bit systems, though, so no easy way out for me...

I'll give compiling it a try. Y'never know, it might work!

In some cases, a simple "make" will do it...

ps: do you have any idea which set of files is needed? There are a massive number of source files under any given version...

Nope. Haven't even glanced at the source. But most source distributions are packaged with all the required parts, and you specify what sort of build you are doing via options passed to make.

You may get bit by dependencies. CoolReader may want to link against libraries you don't have.
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Dennis

[rogue_ronin]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I have stuff in other formats, too, but things like PDF files, Word docs, and RTF files I read using other tools. About the only things I can't read under Linux are eReader files in PML format, but I have very few of those.

Conversion is easy for eReader, I gather, so ultimately no problem I guess.

I don't mind a multi-format reader app, as it means just one to maintain and keep updated. My primary ebook reader is a Palm OS PDA, and I must use Plucker, MobiReader, eReader, PalmPDF, and PalmFiction to cover all the bases, and remember which ebooks are in what format.

Yeah -- I'm trying to simplify, myself, but I don't want to settle for not-beautiful. I've been trying to use both the Smart Q7 and my old Nokia 770 -- but they've both developed stupid software problems. Now I just want to get rid of it all, and probably move to an Android phone. Screen might be too small, though. The Nokia is a good compromise size, and has awesome ergonomics, but I can't even connect to a wireless router. (I must have done something way back when -- now that I'm on it again, I've forgotten. Maybe I'll just reflash the thing to factory fresh.)

In some cases, a simple "make" will do it...

(snip)

You may get bit by dependencies. CoolReader may want to link against libraries you don't have.

The basic ./configure, make, sudo checkinstall process is no problem. I'm just trying to avoid downloading all the zips and trying each one until something positive happens.

Off to start randomly downloading...

m a r

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by rogue_ronin

Conversion is easy for eReader, I gather, so ultimately no problem I guess.

Nope. The stuff in eReader format is readily available in other formats as well. I have a copy of the CIA World Factbook in eReader format on the PDA because it's a convenient way to read it, but it's available in HTML format so no need to try to convert eReader->something else. I have a couple of other things in eReader format, but nothing I'd miss if it went walkabout. By preference, I get HTML and read native in a browser or convert for Plucker on the PDA.

Yeah -- I'm trying to simplify, myself, but I don't want to settle for not-beautiful.

I sympathize, but ultimately, I'll settle for "working", and worry about beauty some other time. That largely describes FBReader...

I've been trying to use both the Smart Q7 and my old Nokia 770 -- but they've both developed stupid software problems. Now I just want to get rid of it all, and probably move to an Android phone. Screen might be too small, though. The Nokia is a good compromise size, and has awesome ergonomics, but I can't even connect to a wireless router. (I must have done something way back when -- now that I'm on it again, I've forgotten. Maybe I'll just reflash the thing to factory fresh.)

A reflash might be the solution for the Nokia. I see weird issues like this a lot.

An old friend had an ASUS eee that decided it didn't want to see her home network, but worked fine elsewhere. I looked at it over dinner, but didn't see anything obvious. (I don't have an eee, and was poking about in Linux in general.) A week or so later it decided to see her network again. No change to either the eee or the network had been made, What happened? Damned if I know...

The basic ./configure, make, sudo checkinstall process is no problem. I'm just trying to avoid downloading all the zips and trying each one until something positive happens.

Understood. But as mentioned, a source archive should have all the files for the app itself, and you'll get linker error messages about unresolved symbols that should give you an idea of missing libs.

Off to start randomly downloading...

Good luck...
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Dennis