How long have you been using Calibre?

[JSWolf]

I was using calibre since sometime in the fall of 2006 when calibre was libPRS500 and I had a Sony Reader back then. I was mostly buying LIT format eBooks because the DRM could be stripped and converted to LIT format. That was before Sony added ePub.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I have, of course, been using calibre since before it was calibre, Fall 2006, when the Sony PRS-500 was released, and I released libprs500 to work with it on Linux. I was curious to see the dates on my earliest books, its Jan 2007 which means that was around when development on what would become the calibre GUI started.

I for one really appreciate your work and the long term commitment.

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I for one really appreciate your work and the long term commitment.

I can't recall where I heard Kovid say that he would be glad to devote his entire life to Calibre, perhaps on some Youtube talk. This has greatly impressed me as it's a bold statement towards a life of meaning, by someone who has clearly found his path. Calibre moves and unites people from all over the world and that's a truly meaningful accomplishment.

(he has used the word "dedicated" on a Github page, but I seem to remember specifically the use of the words "devote" and "entire", which sounded outstanding to me)

[Wiggo]

I don’t remember exactly, 2016 I think. I bought my first ebooks when I was sent to South Africa for 3 months in 2015 - unfortunately Amazon at the time.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I for one really appreciate your work and the long term commitment.

It's my way of giving back to the world of books. Books are and have always been my best friends, so calibre is my way of saying thank you. I hope to be able to continue to work on it and improve it for the rest of my life. I am indeed very fortunate to have found something to devote most of my life to that I find meaningful.

[phossler]

In 1998 I started editing the HTML in epubs by hand with a text editor (very tedious), then switched to Sigil for editing when I got a little smarter

I switched to Calibre 100% when Kovid added the editor

I don't have enough books (400+) to REQUIRE a library manager, but the many other features (e.g. metadata download, sorting, tags, VLs, etc) are very handy and I use them all the time.

BUT I can't live without the Calibre editor. I use it to make books more Kindle-friendly and formatted more to my personal preferences

[dunhill]

I started using calibre around 2015, consulting forums in Spanish until I started studying English and in 2017 I started to see the mobileread threads.
And thanks to the fact that Kovid listens to users, calibre will have a long life. I can tell you that my children already manage their calibre libraries and consult me ​​about any changes.
This program, apart from connecting people from all over the world, as Comfy.n says, unites generations. Kovid has dimensions on this!!

[JimmXinu]

I have a few generated covers in my library marked Calibre 0.6.44 and the epubs show timestamps on the files inside of March 2010.

I started making plugins in late 2011 because I was tired of having Baen books in Calibre but manually managing my fanfic downloads.

Many thanks to Kovid for sharing his passion and hard work with us all.

[JSWolf]

I want to thank the plugin developers who help make calibre even better.

I also want to thank Kovid for the foresight to make a plugin system.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I want to thank the plugin developers who help make calibre even better.

I also want to thank Kovid for the foresight to make a plugin system.

I agree with that too!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I agree with that too!

Ditto!

[DrChiper]

I started using calibre in 2009, at first as a conversion tool in order to be able to read "strange" text-file formats on my PC. Due to a hospitalization of my daughter I bought end 2009 the then new Sony PRS-600 so I could read something during the long waiting hours. Calibre did help as it connected to the PRS-series. In 2010 I became dissatisfied with the way some epub books I had were created (rendering them almost unreadable), hence started to use Sigil to correct that and joined MR in 2011 in the process. I converted to full calibre usage when Kovid added the editor. The rest is history.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I want to thank the plugin developers who help make calibre even better.

I also want to thank Kovid for the foresight to make a plugin system.

³

I have seven plugins permanently installed which I regard as more-or-less essential… not sure I'd use calibre without six of them. I install others as and when needed… e.g. I installed Quality Check this morning to fix hundreds of generated covers that I shouldn't have trimmed… I removed it immediately after.

BR

[Apache]

I found Calibre when I joined in 2011.
Apache

[rwmcafee]

I needed a catalog program to organize my books and get rid of DRM.

So, I did a search and found Calibre early 2011. I think it was version 0.6 or 0.7 and I also got the tools 3.8a. I've been a happy camper since.

I joined the Calibre forum 04-29-2011 when I needed help with DRM removal and converting Amazon MOBI books into Epubs to read on my B&N Nook that I had at that time.