[scribus] a new ebook

[john Culleton]

On Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:09:33 +0400
Alexandre Prokoudine <alexandre.prokoudine at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 9:37 AM, Peter Nermander wrote:
> 
> > So, once again, why should Scribus be the "hub"? Wouldn't it be
> > better with a SLA export from Libre Office Writer or Calibre? Or a
> > SlaTex?
> 
> Please read my other reply :)
> 
> Alexandre Prokoudine
> http://libregraphicsworld.org


I will argue against the "typeset once" principle, at least as
far as Scribus is concerned. The text content can be moved from format
to format. It is the typesetting, the decision making on line
breaks, page breaks, hyphenation, kerning etc. that is relatively
non-transportable. So at the lowest level of portability we can
import raw text into Scribus. At the next level we can import
some macros from e.g., ODT or whatever. But Scribus is not
structured to export macros. It produces a typeset document. 
And styles may or may not be used to produce that document,
simple or complex. So as the old Vermont farmer told the
tourist, If I wanted to get to Montpelier I sure wouldn't start
from here. 

We all love Scribus. But it was designed from the start to
produce finished documents, not some intermediate form that can
be adapted to various formats. To do that you need to develop an
intermediate form, like dvi. As it happens dvi today only translates to
ps and pdf documents. But it could be translated to html or one
of its variants I suppose.

There is another problem. If I am writing a book to be sold in
pdf form for people to view on their screen and print out
locally, I design it very differently from a book to be printed
5.5 x 8.5 or viewed on a Kindle. The page dimensions will be
different (or maybe nonexistent) the word count will be
different, the use of urls will be different and so on. So when I
take my e-book listed below and recreate it as a print book I
will rewrite it completely.

I think a case can be made for using docbook or dvi as a
starting point for a multiuse document. But I am pessimistic
about the whole project. A hammer is not a saw.  




-- 
John Culleton
Free list of books for self-publishers:
http://wexfordpress.net/shortlist.html
Police Procedural and Expose: "Death Wore Black"
"Create Book Covers with Scribus"
http://www.booklocker.com/books/4055.html