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Honestly if someone doesn't like Calibre so much it would be better to contribute to it, or fork it. And yes, electron sucks and it ruined desktop software bec

by tomc1985 7y ago

Honestly if someone doesn't like Calibre so much it would be better to contribute to it, or fork it. And yes, electron sucks and it ruined desktop software because a bunch of business brats have to cut costs on software craftsmanship. This "modern UI" crap is a lie. Software using native widgets (or even JVM) is fine, but hey take it to extremes

horsawlarway 7y ago
I don't have a problem with Calibre. I have a problem with asshats spouting off with Electron hate. I use Arch every freaking day. We have finally gotten to the point where basically any vendor can release software day one that will work for me. They use electron. Most of them don't even freaking test on linux, but it still just works. Better yet, it works and those companies literally spent zero effort on it! Better Better yet, those companies have easy access to developers with the skillsets they need to continue providing me features. Does electron have warts? Abso-fucking-lutely. But I'd take a large download and slightly slower execution ANY day in exchange for native support on the platform of my choice. You can fuck right off with your "it ruined desktop software" bullshit.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- blub 7y ago
  I'd wager most of us that dislike Electron aren't at the point that we're so desperate for software, that we would lower our standards regarding usability, resource consumption and platform integration. For me it's definitely not a problem that I'm missing software X which is only available as an Electron app. The Electron apps I use are required to interact with some piece of hardware (syncing, etc) and have completely custom UIs, which work most of the time, but have super-weird limitations or UX bugs, because you can't reinvent decades of UX on all platforms without forgetting or messing up several things. And then there's MS Teams, which proves either that Microsoft can't write working software, or that Electron isn't able to offer a way of building working software. Probably both.
  - coldacid 7y ago
    Counterpoint: Visual Studio Code is great software from Microsoft that was built on Electron. However, it's the ONLY app I've ever seen built on Electron that isn't a slow and voracious consumer of all resources on a system.
hombre_fatal 7y ago
Meanwhile I like Electron/web-stack for desktop applications I can write plugins for. I like classic DOM + HTML + CSS + JS tech. I've written scratch-my-own-itch plugins for VSCode/Atom that I never would've written if it was Javafx or Swing or something. And I also benefit when other people find it as hackable because it uses such familiar tech -- the ecosystem benefits. It's all trade-offs.
filmgirlcw 7y ago
If you’re actually talking about ruined software craftsmanship and mentioning JVM in the same paragraph, I have a hard time taking this critique seriously. (Java is great on the server — it’s not great on the desktop, which is what we are talking about) Electron isn’t perfect and plenty of people who build apps with it make bad design and architectural decisions. But the same could be said for any other cross-platform framework or language. There are trade-offs, period.

horsawlarway 7y ago

I don't have a problem with Calibre. I have a problem with asshats spouting off with Electron hate. I use Arch every freaking day. We have finally gotten to the point where basically any vendor can release software day one that will work for me. They use electron. Most of them don't even freaking test on linux, but it still just works. Better yet, it works and those companies literally spent zero effort on it! Better Better yet, those companies have easy access to developers with the skillsets they need to continue providing me features. Does electron have warts? Abso-fucking-lutely. But I'd take a large download and slightly slower execution ANY day in exchange for native support on the platform of my choice. You can fuck right off with your "it ruined desktop software" bullshit.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
blub 7y ago
I'd wager most of us that dislike Electron aren't at the point that we're so desperate for software, that we would lower our standards regarding usability, resource consumption and platform integration. For me it's definitely not a problem that I'm missing software X which is only available as an Electron app. The Electron apps I use are required to interact with some piece of hardware (syncing, etc) and have completely custom UIs, which work most of the time, but have super-weird limitations or UX bugs, because you can't reinvent decades of UX on all platforms without forgetting or messing up several things. And then there's MS Teams, which proves either that Microsoft can't write working software, or that Electron isn't able to offer a way of building working software. Probably both.
- coldacid 7y ago
  Counterpoint: Visual Studio Code is great software from Microsoft that was built on Electron. However, it's the ONLY app I've ever seen built on Electron that isn't a slow and voracious consumer of all resources on a system.

hombre_fatal 7y ago

Meanwhile I like Electron/web-stack for desktop applications I can write plugins for. I like classic DOM + HTML + CSS + JS tech. I've written scratch-my-own-itch plugins for VSCode/Atom that I never would've written if it was Javafx or Swing or something. And I also benefit when other people find it as hackable because it uses such familiar tech -- the ecosystem benefits. It's all trade-offs.

filmgirlcw 7y ago

If you’re actually talking about ruined software craftsmanship and mentioning JVM in the same paragraph, I have a hard time taking this critique seriously. (Java is great on the server — it’s not great on the desktop, which is what we are talking about) Electron isn’t perfect and plenty of people who build apps with it make bad design and architectural decisions. But the same could be said for any other cross-platform framework or language. There are trade-offs, period.