On Sun, 29 Nov 2009, David H. Rothman wrote:
We've been supporting ePub. Don't you ever look before you leap?
Heck, Michael, I wrote in the very message you were commenting on: "I'm pleased that PG is offering ePub, which can, yes, slug it out [with] the other formats in the best Darwinian tradition." You acknowledge that later in your response. But there's a difference between PG simply offering ePub and your being a genuine advocate of it, which you have failed to be so far (care to decide to be?). ePub isn't perfect, but it is progress and is still evolving.
I haven't FAILED to be an advocate, I have REFUSED. . . . Quite a difference. A difference YOU have refused to acknowlege all these years. Don't you listen when I say I am not going to do such things? We have added ePub to PG, that is all the support any formats are ever going to get in the foreseeable future. Get used to it! We're not a bandwagon. We're not likely to be any time soon. Do you realize how silly you sound harping away at this when you should have picked it up years and years ago? Stop wasting our time. . .and yours.0
Speaking of controversy, rather than trying to marginalize my e-book standards advocacy, perhaps you'll find it more rewarding to move on to a different topic if it hasn't been discussed here earlier.
You are more than welcome to advocate any eBook standards you like, but at least have the respect to pay attention.
To quote Paul Biba's item in TeleRead: "As you may have heard, the US, in a fit of Governmental insanity, is negotiating a new copyright treaty that allows for criminal action to be taken against copyright infringers and gives governments broad powers to require ISPs to spy on their users. The insane thing is that the text of the treaty and its basic terms and conditions are not being released due to 'national security.'" See:
http://www.teleread.org/2009/11/25/two-us-senators-demand-that-secret-copyri...
We're hardy the first to warn people of the possibilities for mischief here, but we're glad to help spread word.
Your comment on this secrecy, Michael? As I see it, THAT is genuine fodder for your ire. Imagine the potential for future damage to the public domain if copyright law is even more crook-ridden than it is today, due to still less transparency. As you can see, national security is the excuse here. Talk about D.C.-style patriotism!
You missed the REAL threat, when Gonzales asked for life imprisonment!!! You are SOOO far behind the times, all of this is old, not news.
As is so often the case, the PG archives contain relevant thoughts. From Boswell: "Patriotism having become one of our topicks, Johnson suddenly uttered, in a strong determined tone, an apophthegm, at which many will start: 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.' But let it be considered, that he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak for self-interest."
If you really want to quote the best, at least quote Milton.
David
TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home http://www.teleread.org
Michael S. Hart wrote:
On Sun, 29 Nov 2009, David H. Rothman wrote:
I don't believe any of these standards will last terribly long, and I don't
want to give any standards MORE gravitas that would allow them to keep new ones from developing.
So by that logic, Michael, I guess PG shouldn't have been so .TXTcentric for so long.
Still pretending that plain text as we are writing it here is a standard!?
It just makes anyone wonder if you will ever make any ridicule progress...
Why don't you try something new instead of accusing everyone else of not doing anything new???
You can't and shouldn't freeze standards absolutely, but can at least work toward graceful evolution.That's what ePub is about. It isn't perfect, but we're better with it than without it. My own idea of nirvana remain a world where most everything is available in nonDRMed ePub. If the larger publishers won't listen about encrypted books, then smaller rivals may well come along with easier-to-enjoy alternatives.
Hey, where have you been???
We've been supporting ePub.
Don't you ever look before you leap?
Anyway, I have a choice between doing my work and wasting time replying to
Well, I certainly agree that you are wasting your time with such comments.
If you can't come up with something better, it's time to call it a waste.
some rather surrealistic misstatements here. I choose the former. But meanwhile I'm pleased that PG is offering ePub, which can, yes, slug it out which the other formats in the best Darwinian tradition.
Ah, so. . .on the one hand you deny ePub, on the other it is there.
Ever consider trying consistency?
Your normally disruptive behaviors haven't changed over the years.
Too bad maturity doesn't always come with age. . . .
I hope you are serious about stopping wasting time, yours and ours. _______________________________________________ gutvol-d mailing list gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org http://lists.pglaf.org/mailman/listinfo/gutvol-d