[suggestion] Removal of Calibre from Boutique

Development Discussion
#1

I’m suggesting the removal of the Calibre software from the boutique.

The reason is that this installation is based on the official Ubuntu repositories that unfortunately quickly get outdated and buggy.

  1. Calibre has a very fast release cycle; The official repos list version 2.55 and Calibre is already on 2.85.
  2. A good deal of these new versions fix or improve on Calibre metadata download features due to changes to the upstream websites html (Amazon, Barnes&Noble, news sources, etc), which means older versions can quickly see their book searching and metadata filling become non-operational.
  3. Another reason for the fast release cycle is that the software, entirely developed in Python, has a considerable complex source code due to the insane amount of features present. This makes Calibre a hard to maintain project with a long backlog of bug and TODO list.
  4. The ubuntu repos installation is incompatible with the developer advised method of installation on Linux, meaning that users who installed through Ubuntu repos cannot add Calibre to the ignore list and update it manually.
  5. The developer himself advises users not to use the official repositories on fixed released distros (see prior link).

There are some PPAs around for this software, but none from the developer. I wouldn’t trust them to stay maintained.

The good news is that the advised manual method based on wget/python works flawlessly with Ubuntu MATE and is how I have my Calibre installed since… ever. And the whole software presents no issues with MATE, including its themeable tray icon with menu.

4 Likes
#2

I concur. I’ve always used the recommended install method.

#3

Removed repo Calibre. Downloaded and installed latest dev version. Worked perfectly. Thanks Marfig.

#4

Hallo

I also use the developers release - I’ve done so for the last three years more or less. I’ve also contributed financially to the development work. Wonderful software. :slight_smile:

#5

Calibre is one of the first candidates that has been highlighted as a great application to snap, because as you’ve pointed out, it has a very fast release cadence.

If you want to help get Calibre snapped join the Snapcrafters discussion in the Snapcraft.io Forum :slight_smile:

6 Likes
#6

Following the advices above (thanks a lot every one), it was a woow!
i am now with the version 3.5 and for sure there have been a lot of improvement compared to the version 2.55 in the repository.

Instead of removing it from the repository (which will hurt it’s “reputation” and it will have less users and will become less known from potential new users), is it possible to add in the software center that the one in the repository is not updated and we need to go to the Calibre website if we want the latest version?