With support from the MobileRead forums, Goyal reverse-engineered the proprietary Broad Band eBook ( BBeB) file format. On 31 October 2006, when Sony introduced its PRS-500 e-reader, Kovid Goyal started developing libprs500, aiming mainly to enable use of the PRS-500 formats on Linux.

Books in other formats like MOBI must first be converted to those formats, if they are to be edited. Editing books is supported for EPUB and AZW3 formats. Calibre supports organizing existing e-books into virtual libraries, displaying, editing, creating and converting e-books, as well as syncing e-books with a variety of e-readers. I also have to say CC is growing on me in the past 24 hours because it's actually working as long as I transfer my library in small batches, I just feel the program is a bit lack luster on features and design.Calibre ( / ˈ k æ l ɪ b ər/, stylised calibre) is a cross-platform free and open-source suite of e-book software. It does however let you set up your book organization/folder structure however you wish (though that could be the cause of the performance issues). While it is an alternative, I agree it is not a very good one - and when I tried it before it did not handle a large library very well at all. One could also argue that having a profitable piece of software, and open source don't go hand in hand, both have pros and cons (though I always fall more into the open source / donation camp). Though as a windows user who doesn't mind paying for software and updates Alfa is still an alternative when it comes to the function of the program. I agree with you when it comes to concerns using closed software. No way I would install something like that on my computer.Īnd it's amazing how many times it's been trotted out here lately, from brand new members.Open source is always better which is why I use Calibre.

There is NO info about the company behind it, and no reviews that potential users can read.

Alfa only runs on PC's, costs $30 I think, and updates aren't free.

Calibre companion app