Use of PrinceXML

[wjgilmore]

I learned about the Magic Book Project via http://natureofcode.com/ and it looks very interesting. However I'm a bit perplexed by the README's statement "...making books available to the widest audience possible at the cheapest prices." (which implies commercial aspirations), followed by the later note "For the time being, the asciidoc gem uses Prince XML for PDF rendering". I've visited the Prince XML website and it appears Prince XML can't simply be downloaded and used for commercial purposes, as it would be a violation of the Prince XML license. Or am I misunderstanding something? Presuming I'm not, shouldn't this be clarified in the README?

[runemadsen]

Hi @wjgilmore. Thanks for your comment. The problem is that there's really no good open source HTML->PDF renderer available on the market today. We've tried them all, and they are all lacking in features. So until the PDF rendering support is better in the open source tools, we're using PrinceXML. It's really easy to switch this mechanism, but there's really nothing to switch to.

[shiffman]

Indeed, the other point I should mention is that it was our original intent with the project that it would eventually become a web app in which case we would seek funding to purchase a server license for PrinceXML so that users of the system could generate PDFs without having to purchase their own license. Hopefully we'll have the time and resources to get to that point someday!

[wjgilmore]

Hi guys,

Even lacking an acceptable open source PDF rendering solution, it remains a violation of PrinceXML's license to use their software without purchasing a commercial license (unless the project is non-commercial, at which point you can use their software but will result in a watermarked document). I am apparently misunderstanding something.

FWIW I'm currently using Asciidoc's a2x (http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/a2x.1.html) for PDF rendering, and it's working out quite well so far. Over the years I've written/published books using Word/InDesign and Docbook/oXygen, and am finding the Asciidoc/a2x approach to be particularly appealing. Have you taken a look at a2x, and if so, were there any particular features which you found problematic?

[runemadsen]

Hi again,

This library just shells out to PrinceXML. We're not shipping PrinceXML with the gem, so this library is not really violating anything. Whether you have a commercial license or a trial of PrinceXML is up to each individual running this gem.

The problem with a2x is that it's really hard to do anything remotely custom with the HTML output. If you take a look at our .erb templates, we're doing a lot things that would never be possible in the pure asciidoc toolchain. That was what made us write the gem in the first place. This library makes it possible to write your own .erb HTML templates, and have a totally custom output.

Does that make sense? Thanks.

[snj33v]

what about pandoc? is that a good alternative?

[jilljenn]

This is what I wanted to ask. What about pandoc? :)