Beta testers for calibre 9 needed

[kovidgoyal]

Seems like a better solution for that would be a how do I box that lets the users type questions such as "how do I have multi level series" and answers them based on the manual. It's on my TODO list to setup a small language model with the user manual and other resources embedded and run it on a server. I just need to find the time to get around to it.

Meanwhile simply typing that into the calibre AI tool or in any Gemini/etc. prompt online gets you pretty nice instructions and overview. The problem is getting users to ask such questions, which is why having a how do I box right in the preferences would help.

[Comfy.n]

That would be fantastic, IMO.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Seems like a better solution for that would be a how do I box that lets the users type questions such as "how do I have multi level series" and answers them based on the manual. It's on my TODO list to setup a small language model with the user manual and other resources embedded and run it on a server. I just need to find the time to get around to it.

Meanwhile simply typing that into the calibre AI tool or in any Gemini/etc. prompt online gets you pretty nice instructions and overview. The problem is getting users to ask such questions, which is why having a how do I box right in the preferences would help.

Great idea!

[un_pogaz]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Seems like a better solution for that would be a how do I box that lets the users type questions such as "how do I have multi level series" and answers them based on the manual. It's on my TODO list to setup a small language model with the user manual and other resources embedded and run it on a server. I just need to find the time to get around to it.

Meanwhile simply typing that into the calibre AI tool or in any Gemini/etc. prompt online gets you pretty nice instructions and overview. The problem is getting users to ask such questions, which is why having a how do I box right in the preferences would help.

I strongly discourage such feature.
IA integration at it has already do caused quite a stir, and this would be a step too far for many more, even with the tweak hide_ai_features.

But more over, LLM/AI are notorious to be unreliable, and use it a helping chatbot is the worst idea possible. Even if you do you own model, training on the very precise manual, it will higly hallucinate instructions and features that do not exist.
Really, is too unreliable to take the risk to me.

That say, this idea of a "How to..." ask box is not bad, but other solutions should be considered than LLM before.
Personaly, I suggest to first start to have integrate FAQ into Calibre, possibly even the all manual really easy to open. Like, when pressing F1 rather to open the online manual, open a local version of the manual in the viewer.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by un_pogaz

I strongly discourage such feature.
IA integration at it has already do caused quite a stir, and this would be a step too far for many more, even with the tweak hide_ai_features.

But more over, LLM/AI are notorious to be unreliable, and use it a helping chatbot is the worst idea possible. Even if you do you own model, training on the very precise manual, it will higly hallucinate instructions and features that do not exist.
Really, is too unreliable to take the risk to me.

That say, this idea of a "How to..." ask box is not bad, but other solutions should be considered than LLM before.
Personaly, I suggest to first start to have integrate FAQ into Calibre, possibly even the all manual really easy to open. Like, when pressing F1 rather to open the online manual, open a local version of the manual in the viewer.

Unfortunately most people don't read manuals, no matter how easily accessible they are. They take one look and then they go complaining how they can't figure out what to do and how it's not intuitive at all, and how that other program is much simpler to use.

[un_pogaz]

Yes. And it a unsolvable issue because people just don't like read manual, that why so many go to forum to reach others peoples to explain them how to help. People want to talk to people, we need to accept it.
So I undestand that is kind of annoying to constantly answer to the same questions, but there are many of us and there will always be several people who are more or less motivated at different times to fill in all the gaps. And if someone makes a mistake, there will always be someone else to catch their error.

And their is why LLM/IAgen are a fucking traps of a miracle solution: Because they give the illusion of talking to people. But when asking a LLM, their is no one in the room to catch it mistakes, which it stated with confidence, which could be even more disastrous because we trust them far too easily (when we know that humans can make mistakes, we are not as cautious with machines).

So, Kovid, I don't want to discourage to try, I'm personaly fascinated by the technological power of LLM/AI, their are mathematic wonder and it impresive that we are capable of such technological prowess. But. As wonderful as they are, all I see in them over time is that they have such fundamental, conceptual, and unsolvable problems that, and in the best case scenario, they are unreliable in a dangerous way (I have no other word for it), and that why I have very little hope that you will succeed in creating a model that produces results acceptable enough to be made public.
And if you want to try it, a very robust test protocol containing tens of thousands of questions (or even more), whether for Calibre or urelated, question asked several time why different iterations of words, is required.


But their is one line I want to draw sincerely for you own good Kovid:

Don't. Put. It. In. Calibre.

You can make runnig on the website, no problem. But if you put it in any way inside Calibre itself... well, what happened in the recent thread wil be a spark compared to the bushfire that such feature will lead, and I realy don't want that you find yourself in such harassment Kovid.

I would love it if you proved me wrong, but in the meantime:
We cannot trust what is in fact nothing more than a pseudo-random procedural word generator on steroids, that has absolutely no intelligence or understanding of what we say to it or what it says itself, despite the billions of dollars spent on marketing to make us believe otherwise.
This is the technological reality of LLM/AIgen.

[ownedbycats]

Also, I'd be worried about mistakes. Kobo's help AI made reference to nonexistent menu options, and it's presumably trained only on the help documents.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Another feature lots of folks have asked for is omnibus edition support in series numbering. Like, an option to number your omnibus as Series Name 1-3 or something like that. Maybe that's not possible to do, though.

Totally possible, I've got it... with a custom column.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Another feature lots of folks have asked for is omnibus edition support in series numbering. Like, an option to number your omnibus as Series Name 1-3 or something like that. Maybe that's not possible to do, though.

That is already doable. I have a column labelled Omnibus. If that column is set to yes, a template in the Kobo driver's Metadata, on device & advanced tab changes the series from say, 1.05 to 1-5. The template itself is in the code box below and I've attached an image of the tab in the driver config. For me, it was relatively easy since I renamed omnibus editions to add Omnibus to the end of the book title.

See this thread for more information: Kobo: Separate series index (text) and series_index (float)?

program:
	if field('#omnibus')=='yes' then
		series_start = floor($series_index);
		fraction = fractional_part($series_index);
		if fraction ==# 0 then
			result = series_start
		else
			series_end = round(fraction*100);
			if series_end >=# 0 then
				result = series_start & '-' & series_end
			fi
		fi
	else
		result = $series_index
	fi;
	result

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

That is already doable. I have a column labelled Omnibus. If that column is set to yes, a template in the Kobo driver's Metadata, on device & advanced tab changes the series from say, 1.05 to 1-5. The template itself is in the code box below and I've attached an image of the tab in the driver config. For me, it was relatively easy since I renamed omnibus editions to add Omnibus to the end of the book title.

Yes, I know and I'm doing it as well. But again, it's pretty obscure and complicated for inexperienced users. Most people wouldn't even know it can be done.

[DNSB]

The average user is unlikely to care. The average calibre user I've met have tended to import books into calibre, edit the metadata and either send them to their ereader or read the books using calibre's ebook-viewer.

As for complicated? It seems we have very different ideas of what constitutes complicated.

Also for me, this is asking for a feature that is already available. Yes, it only works with Kobo ereaders and it is not visible in calibre's library view.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The average user is unlikely to care. The average calibre user I've met have tended to import books into calibre, edit the metadata and either send them to their ereader or read the books using calibre's ebook-viewer.

As for complicated? It seems we have very different ideas of what constitutes complicated.

Also for me, this is asking for a feature that is already available. Yes, it only works with Kobo ereaders and it is not visible in calibre's library view.

I don't personally need it either. I just mentioned it because it has been requested here many times.

As to complicated, of course it wouldn't be complicated to someone who has worked with computers their entire life. To persons who are not so knowledgeable in that regard and so familiar with calibre, it's likely pretty complicated.

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

True, but not necessarily for the slicker UI.

I help coordinate reading group of 25±5 at my local public library. Over the past couple of months three members (mac users) have moved from calibre to Octary - it has a migration feature. The clincher wasn't Octary's glitz and glamour, it was support for multi-level series and universes. Given how often that issue is raised here perhaps it should be 'the why' for calibre 10.

Now that there's a Windows version more will undoubtedly follow, and more still when it provides support for Kobo and Pocketbook e-readers. Thirteen members of the reading group have used calibre at some time (about half), it's now seven (about a third). My guess is that it will be down to two by the end of the year… me and the Linux user.

Don't know whether it means anything, the number of active calibre installs used to be north of 3.1M, its now south of 2.9M ==>> https://calibre-ebook.com/dynamic/calibre-usage.

BR

Over the years, I've seen many book management systems that try to be more aesthetically pleasing than Calibre, but that glittery makeup falls off in the long run. Meanwhile, given Calibre's regular updates and constant evolution, no one else will ever achieve that. Calibre is multiplatform, and many of its clones rely on Calibre's code. There, I've vented!

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

True, but not necessarily for the slicker UI.

I help coordinate reading group of 25±5 at my local public library. Over the past couple of months three members (mac users) have moved from calibre to Octary - it has a migration feature. The clincher wasn't Octary's glitz and glamour, it was support for multi-level series and universes. Given how often that issue is raised here perhaps it should be 'the why' for calibre 10.

Now that there's a Windows version more will undoubtedly follow, and more still when it provides support for Kobo and Pocketbook e-readers. Thirteen members of the reading group have used calibre at some time (about half), it's now seven (about a third). My guess is that it will be down to two by the end of the year… me and the Linux user.

Don't know whether it means anything, the number of active calibre installs used to be north of 3.1M, its now south of 2.9M ==>> https://calibre-ebook.com/dynamic/calibre-usage.

BR

Over the years, I've seen many book management systems that try to be more aesthetically pleasing than Calibre, but that glittery makeup fades in the long run. Meanwhile, given Calibre's regular updates and constant evolution, no one else will ever achieve that. Calibre is multiplatform, and many of its clones rely on Calibre's code. There, I've vented! Calibre doesn't charge a membership fee.

[retyured]

Originally Posted by DNSB

There is no way to disable that page count scan as far as I know. OTOH, on my main library, it counted close to 1700 books per minute when I first installed the calibre 8.99 beta and that was a background task for the 11 minutes it lasted. Since that first time, the delay when adding a new book is negligible.

That's faster than I thought it might be. I can live with that