Re: " zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/~sloum/index.gmi looks like @…"
In: s/Books
While I admire all efforts to make books available, I have to confess that I don't really get gemsub, or Gemini-specific efforts. So far as I can see, Gemsub isn't hugely simpler than ePub, and there are stacks of tools for turning just about anything into ePub.
Am I missing something? Does Gemsub have some killer feature that I'm missing?
🚀 lars_the_bear
9 hours ago
🌆 skyjake [...] · 9 hours ago:
— https://codeberg.org/oppenlab/gempub
## Rationale
While implementing an .epub reader, it became apparent that it is practically impossible to separate an ebook's data from its presentation. EPUB archives are zipped HTML, CSS, and metadata, and even Google with its infinite resources is unable to render pages correctly for all titles in Play Books, where mangled and unusable index pages are common. It's a lot of work and effort to attempt to convert HTML markup into another format that can be rendered natively.
## Goals
Simplicity. Gempub follows the same original aims as the Gemini Protocol.
* It should be possible for somebody who had no part in designing the protocol to accurately hold the entire protocol spec in their head after reading a well-written description of it once or twice.
* A basic but usable (not ultra-spartan) client should fit comfortably within 50 or so lines of code in a modern high-level language. Certainly not more than 100. (In the case of gempub, the lines-of-code target may be ambitious but the spirit is the same.)
* A client comfortable for daily use which implements every single protocol feature should be a feasible weekend programming project for a single developer.
🚀 stack · 9 hours ago:
Yeah, epub is a wrapper for a completely dangerous format.
🚀 lars_the_bear · 8 hours ago:
@skyjake: "EPUB archives are zipped HTML, CSS, and metadata,..."
OK. I understand; but I'm not convinced. Gempub documents are zipped and require (IIUC) metadata. ePub documents don't have to use CSS, or be complicated. An ePub only needs three files in addition to the content itself, and two of those are boilerplate.
And there's a heap of tooling for creating ePubs from just about anything, including plain text files. And vice versa.
I'd be the last person on Earth to discourage distributing books, but Gemsub still seems to me a solution looking for a problem.
But perhaps the same can be said for Gemini in general? ;)
🚀 stack · 8 hours ago:
I don't trust HTML/CSS. I don't want to unzip and verify each epub file personally, even if I knew what I was doing.
Also, epubs tend to be many megabytes, and I often see multiple versions with size differences of an order of magnitude
And they are often poorly formatted.
🚀 lars_the_bear · 7 hours ago:
@stack : "I don't want to unzip and verify each epub file personally,..."
Fair enough, but perhaps the solution is to set up a repository of _properly_ formatted ePubs, rather than creating a whole new format? Isn't that what Standard EBooks is already trying to do?
🚀 stack · 7 hours ago:
True, but... It's better to have a solution that requires zero trust than one that requires trust.
To circle back, if someone is spying on my non-encrypted connection, at best they learn something about me. If someone gets me to execute malicious code via a script hudden in a book... much, much worse.
🚀 lars_the_bear · 6 hours ago:
@stack : Fair point. But my Kobo doesn't execute scripts. Even if it did, it wouldn't be a huge problem, since it's not connected to anything.
And the script I hacked up to convert ePubs to Markdown certainly doesn't execute scripts. Or even look at CSS.
Having said that, I can understand the benefit of having books in a format that doesn't contain much author formatting. It's a drag when ePubs _require_ CSS to be readable. But I think Gemtext is going too far.
🚀 stack · 4 hours ago:
Agreed, Gemtext is missing at least bold and emphasis to be considered enough to transcribe a book IMHO.
Original Post
🌒 s/Books
🍀 gritty:
— zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/~sloum/index.gmi
looks like @sloum made a gempub library over at circumlunar. check it out.
💬 9 comments · 2 likes · 9 hours ago