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You both should do the bare minimum amount of research before asking these questions or insulting the project. It would take you one whole click to find the ser

You both should do the bare minimum amount of research before asking these questions or insulting the project. It would take you one whole click to find the server code. https://github.com/Librum-Reader/Librum-Server https://github.com/Librum-Reader/Librum-Server

Gormo 3y ago
I guess I just don't understand why a desktop application intended to read e-books would need a remote server in the first place. I've already got my e-book library on my local drive, and synced to my own storage server with NextCloud -- why do I need my desktop e-reader application to force me to use a separate, parallel server solution? And even if I were to self-host, the UI does not seem to expose any way to point the frontend client at my own server instance.
- mathgeek 3y ago
  It’s designed as a platform, not specifically a reader. > It's not just an e-book reader. With Librum, you can manage your own online library and access it from any device anytime, anywhere. Different strokes for different folks as you seem to already have a solution to sync your own library.
  - antiframe 3y ago
    When I read that "can" I thought it meant it's optional. It sounds, though, like it's baked in and would require a lot of work to just read books.
  - happymellon 3y ago
    I couldn't find a reference to mobile devices. Are the clients desktop only?
    - mathgeek 3y ago
      No idea, never used it. I would check the readme.
    - DavidLazarescu 3y ago
      Support for mobile devices is currently in development. The application is currently only available on Desktop, but the aim is to be available on all devices.
- Double_a_92 3y ago
  That reminds me of that Dropbox discussion, where some guy said it's not worth it because he can easily replace it with some FTP server.
  - j45 3y ago
    Such perspectives can wonder why their startups are not successful and users don’t adopt them
  - latexr 3y ago
    This meme needs to die and people should pay attention to the full conversation before making fun on it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 It took one clarifying comment from the founder of Dropbox for BrandonM to understand and agree with the value proposition. The story of that comment is not “clueless power user doesn’t understand regular user needs”, it’s “user makes respectful criticism and changes their mind when confronted with compelling arguments”. That exchange is a prime example of what we should all strive to do, not a target of ridicule.
- j45 3y ago
  It seems to replace what the kindle platform would do Multiple users might allow that for friends and family It’s easier to ask “ what else could this mean” in a positive way and assume that it doesn’t have to make sense to one perspective to make sense for everyone. Calibre for example doesn’t seem to do the multi device access/sync well
  - suslik 3y ago
    Calibre library syncs perfectly across devices via dropbox / any other cloud storage. Can't see why this wouldn't just work with a shared cloud folder as well. This also has an added benefit that the books are available for download on mobile.
    - j45 3y ago
      As a light Calibre user: - Calibre doesn't have a reader app as far as I can tell on android or iphone. - KOReader I hear is excellent and could point to Calibre, but again, I don't think it handles per user highlights and annotations as easily. Mostly I'm looking for a reasonably straight forward workflow to import highlights into logseq/obsidian that doesn't need a user to install or run a script manually, or connect a usb cable. That kind of self-hosting is useful.
      - suslik 3y ago
        Fair enough - I don't do highlights; usually I only import books into marvin (iOS reader app), so never encountered this use case.
        j45 3y ago
        I have a lot of love and respect for calibre. Since I’ve started playing around with logseq/obsidian for one point of note taking the value of having your notes and annotations from books and YouTube videos in one place is too close to making all that reading more useful and introduce it into practice :)
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
its-summertime 3y ago
The client did not seem to have a way of specifying which server to use, so that seems irrelevant.
- midasz 3y ago
  Haven't tried to install it myself but was looking through the git repo for this exact info. Just do it like every other project, either let the user configure it in the frontend through config or make it an environment variable.
- DavidLazarescu 3y ago
  The client has a way to specify what server to use. That is described at the bottom of this file: https://github.com/Librum-Reader/Librum-Server/blob/main/self-hosting/self-host-installation.md https://github.com/Librum-Reader/Librum-Server/blob/main/sel... It will be in the Server’s readme very soon.
moss2 3y ago
I looked for any mention of hosting your own server on the repo's readme and could not find it. This is not readily available information so stop shaming people for not finding it. But thank you for sharing the link that was helpful
- j45 3y ago
  The second paragraph seems to address this “ With Librum, you can manage your own online library and access it from any device anytime, anywhere. It has features like note-taking, bookmarking, and highlighting, while offering customization to make it as personal as you want!” It is very clearly called a platform.
  - dugite-code 3y ago
    Many selfhostable solutions use similar wording as their main focus is the platform. While not excluding selfhosting options they don't promote it either.
  - GTP 3y ago
    To be fair, Amazon could write the exact same things (minus customization) about their platform, saying that you have an online library is different from saying that you can self-hosted it. But it being (F?)OSS can give an hint that there could be the possibility of doing it.
    - j45 3y ago
      No kidding. I appreciate and use Open Source, and still I'm recognizatnt of the saying "Open source is only free if your time is worthless". Luckily the short term self-hostability of many projects has become trivial.
      - GTP 3y ago
        > "Open source is only free if your time is worthless" The main reason to use FOSS software shouldn't be the price: indeed with commercial competitors at a few $/€ per month that require less work on your part one can rightfully wonder if he's saving money with FOSS software. But also control over your tools and not giving away personal data has a value.

Gormo 3y ago

I guess I just don't understand why a desktop application intended to read e-books would need a remote server in the first place. I've already got my e-book library on my local drive, and synced to my own storage server with NextCloud -- why do I need my desktop e-reader application to force me to use a separate, parallel server solution? And even if I were to self-host, the UI does not seem to expose any way to point the frontend client at my own server instance.

mathgeek 3y ago
It’s designed as a platform, not specifically a reader. > It's not just an e-book reader. With Librum, you can manage your own online library and access it from any device anytime, anywhere. Different strokes for different folks as you seem to already have a solution to sync your own library.
- antiframe 3y ago
  When I read that "can" I thought it meant it's optional. It sounds, though, like it's baked in and would require a lot of work to just read books.
- happymellon 3y ago
  I couldn't find a reference to mobile devices. Are the clients desktop only?
  - mathgeek 3y ago
    No idea, never used it. I would check the readme.
  - DavidLazarescu 3y ago
    Support for mobile devices is currently in development. The application is currently only available on Desktop, but the aim is to be available on all devices.
Double_a_92 3y ago
That reminds me of that Dropbox discussion, where some guy said it's not worth it because he can easily replace it with some FTP server.
- j45 3y ago
  Such perspectives can wonder why their startups are not successful and users don’t adopt them
- latexr 3y ago
  This meme needs to die and people should pay attention to the full conversation before making fun on it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 It took one clarifying comment from the founder of Dropbox for BrandonM to understand and agree with the value proposition. The story of that comment is not “clueless power user doesn’t understand regular user needs”, it’s “user makes respectful criticism and changes their mind when confronted with compelling arguments”. That exchange is a prime example of what we should all strive to do, not a target of ridicule.
j45 3y ago
It seems to replace what the kindle platform would do Multiple users might allow that for friends and family It’s easier to ask “ what else could this mean” in a positive way and assume that it doesn’t have to make sense to one perspective to make sense for everyone. Calibre for example doesn’t seem to do the multi device access/sync well
- suslik 3y ago
  Calibre library syncs perfectly across devices via dropbox / any other cloud storage. Can't see why this wouldn't just work with a shared cloud folder as well. This also has an added benefit that the books are available for download on mobile.
  - j45 3y ago
    As a light Calibre user: - Calibre doesn't have a reader app as far as I can tell on android or iphone. - KOReader I hear is excellent and could point to Calibre, but again, I don't think it handles per user highlights and annotations as easily. Mostly I'm looking for a reasonably straight forward workflow to import highlights into logseq/obsidian that doesn't need a user to install or run a script manually, or connect a usb cable. That kind of self-hosting is useful.
    - suslik 3y ago
      Fair enough - I don't do highlights; usually I only import books into marvin (iOS reader app), so never encountered this use case.
      - j45 3y ago
        I have a lot of love and respect for calibre. Since I’ve started playing around with logseq/obsidian for one point of note taking the value of having your notes and annotations from books and YouTube videos in one place is too close to making all that reading more useful and introduce it into practice :)
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

its-summertime 3y ago

The client did not seem to have a way of specifying which server to use, so that seems irrelevant.

midasz 3y ago
Haven't tried to install it myself but was looking through the git repo for this exact info. Just do it like every other project, either let the user configure it in the frontend through config or make it an environment variable.
DavidLazarescu 3y ago
The client has a way to specify what server to use. That is described at the bottom of this file: https://github.com/Librum-Reader/Librum-Server/blob/main/self-hosting/self-host-installation.md https://github.com/Librum-Reader/Librum-Server/blob/main/sel... It will be in the Server’s readme very soon.

moss2 3y ago

I looked for any mention of hosting your own server on the repo's readme and could not find it. This is not readily available information so stop shaming people for not finding it. But thank you for sharing the link that was helpful

j45 3y ago
The second paragraph seems to address this “ With Librum, you can manage your own online library and access it from any device anytime, anywhere. It has features like note-taking, bookmarking, and highlighting, while offering customization to make it as personal as you want!” It is very clearly called a platform.
- dugite-code 3y ago
  Many selfhostable solutions use similar wording as their main focus is the platform. While not excluding selfhosting options they don't promote it either.
- GTP 3y ago
  To be fair, Amazon could write the exact same things (minus customization) about their platform, saying that you have an online library is different from saying that you can self-hosted it. But it being (F?)OSS can give an hint that there could be the possibility of doing it.
  - j45 3y ago
    No kidding. I appreciate and use Open Source, and still I'm recognizatnt of the saying "Open source is only free if your time is worthless". Luckily the short term self-hostability of many projects has become trivial.
    - GTP 3y ago
      > "Open source is only free if your time is worthless" The main reason to use FOSS software shouldn't be the price: indeed with commercial competitors at a few $/€ per month that require less work on your part one can rightfully wonder if he's saving money with FOSS software. But also control over your tools and not giving away personal data has a value.