On Tue, May 23, 2006 at 11:37:53AM -0400, David H. Rothman wrote:
Many thanks, Greg. Those are all extremely reasonable conditions, and I'll forward this to the appropriate folks, so they can be in direct touch with you. We're eager to work with PG/DP and blend in well with everyone's workflow. I also agree with you on the need for thinking through the support issues. You could share with us the lessons you've learned from Plucker. - David
I haven't learned any particular lesson from Plucker, which is probably good... Marcello might have some views on how things integrate. Mail to help@pglaf.org goes to me & George Davis...George answers most of them. We get 5 or so inquiries per day. Frustrations come from our .lit, .pdb and .mp3 files which, when broken our outdated, cannot be easily fixed. We get frequent requests to submit this and that format, including some people who do the work of conversion then send me files. Lots of PDF, but pretty well any format you can think of (.doc, etc.). For the most part I don't want to add such formats in static files to the PG collection, instead prefering conversion on the fly. The goal, as oft stated, is automated conversion to many formats from XML or HTML input. Several people have made great progress on this, and the XML production chain at DP is in pretty good shape....but we're not there yet. The current catalog/download interface at gutenberg.org is close to the ideal: just a few static files, then a selection of conversion options. Today, Plucker is the only one Marcello has available, but more can be added. Conversion to PDF, MP3 & Braille are at the top of my personal list. Not all input books or types can be reasonably accurately converted to any possible format, especially for the older titles with no well-formed & valid HTML version. (David Widger converts several dozen eBooks per week, minimum, to current standards.) -- Greg
For the OpenReader format, as Marcello said there is no conceptual resistance to using this as a "convert to" format at gutenberg.org, just as plucker is. All we need is a clear and preferably open source processing chain that we can insert into the ibiblio.org site. Also, of course, a reasonable support community so that PG help staff (me, George & Marcello) don't end up being too challenged in supporting the format.
In short, as you've heard before, you should feel encouraged to "go for it." -- Greg
On 5/23/06, Greg Newby <gbnewby@pglaf.org> wrote:
On Tue, May 23, 2006 at 04:07:06AM -0400, David H. Rothman wrote:
.... PG people are very welcome to write me privately or phone me--especially Greg, if he's really serious about the comments he made to U.S. Today extolling interactivity. Here's PG's chance to adopt a powerful format (OpenReader) and enjoy readers worthy of it (dotReader and in the future FBReader). I'm all ears as far as suggestions from Greg or anyone else, and I know others will be as well.
I enjoyed reading those quotes, and they're pretty accurate from an interview I did a few weeks ago concerning launch of the newest Sony eBook reader with electronic ink.
(I was just in Tokyo two weeks ago, and was unable to find one of these units for sale. I didn't look all that hard, but peered closely in the PDA section of Bic Camera which is a huge electronics chain store).
They somehow recycled the article for USA Today -- nice to see. Of course I'm serious about limitations of eBook readers, and am against any format that is one-way, closed, non-fixable/editable, etc. This is a thread in the "about" essays Michael and I worked on: http://www.gutenberg.org/about , with a key theme being "unlimited distribution."
For the OpenReader format, as Marcello said there is no conceptual resistance to using this as a "convert to" format at gutenberg.org, just as plucker is. All we need is a clear and preferably open source processing chain that we can insert into the ibiblio.org site. Also, of course, a reasonable support community so that PG help staff (me, George & Marcello) don't end up being too challenged in supporting the format.
In short, as you've heard before, you should feel encouraged to "go for it." -- Greg
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