jesuisbenjamin
March 16th, 2012, 11:32 AM
Hello,
I've posted an idea on Ubuntu Brainstorm (http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/29385/):
Problem:
I am a student in Humanities. I went through my studies using Ubuntu. It was great, but it could have been better.
Recently I dicovered a non-free software called Mendeley, which provides many features required for academics and studies:
- management of library and implementation of citation in LibreOffice
- share and annotation of PDF articles and books among work-groups and think tanks
- find and communicate with others who work on similar subjects
Mendeley however is made in such a way that it uploads all one's PDFs on a cloud, before you can upload your library, you already have surpassed the default 500MB capacity of the cloud, and you are required to pay 5 to 10 or more EUR per month.
As a student, I cannot afford such a price, and I doubt many could (especially in countries where currency is weak).
Ubuntu, and Linux users in general deserve better. If anything free and open source software should encourage education and sharing. Hence, the idea is to create a free and open-source software similar to Mendeley for students and academics.*
* yes, there are already few available tools that do bits of what is described above, but no complete and comprehensive working environment to do all the above consistently.
Solution:
The main strategy of Mendeley is to force cloud use, clugging the cloud and driving to consumption. Sources, like digital books and articles are even duplicated on their server, rather than using the same file for all its users.
The most important features:
* manage library
* implement citation
* annotate PDFs
* share documents and annotations
* find others
do not require a cloud indeed. The entire service could exist using peer to peer, like .e.g. SoulSeek / Museeq.
The service could be a lot cheaper and accessible to all this way.
I propose to make a similar software using peer-to-peer, making the use of a cloud (like Ubuntu One) optional to those who have the means pay for a larger space on servers.
I'd like to discuss the feasiblity and technicality of programming a software as described above.
Please share your opinion, thanks. Benjamin
I've posted an idea on Ubuntu Brainstorm (http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/29385/):
Problem:
I am a student in Humanities. I went through my studies using Ubuntu. It was great, but it could have been better.
Recently I dicovered a non-free software called Mendeley, which provides many features required for academics and studies:
- management of library and implementation of citation in LibreOffice
- share and annotation of PDF articles and books among work-groups and think tanks
- find and communicate with others who work on similar subjects
Mendeley however is made in such a way that it uploads all one's PDFs on a cloud, before you can upload your library, you already have surpassed the default 500MB capacity of the cloud, and you are required to pay 5 to 10 or more EUR per month.
As a student, I cannot afford such a price, and I doubt many could (especially in countries where currency is weak).
Ubuntu, and Linux users in general deserve better. If anything free and open source software should encourage education and sharing. Hence, the idea is to create a free and open-source software similar to Mendeley for students and academics.*
* yes, there are already few available tools that do bits of what is described above, but no complete and comprehensive working environment to do all the above consistently.
Solution:
The main strategy of Mendeley is to force cloud use, clugging the cloud and driving to consumption. Sources, like digital books and articles are even duplicated on their server, rather than using the same file for all its users.
The most important features:
* manage library
* implement citation
* annotate PDFs
* share documents and annotations
* find others
do not require a cloud indeed. The entire service could exist using peer to peer, like .e.g. SoulSeek / Museeq.
The service could be a lot cheaper and accessible to all this way.
I propose to make a similar software using peer-to-peer, making the use of a cloud (like Ubuntu One) optional to those who have the means pay for a larger space on servers.
I'd like to discuss the feasiblity and technicality of programming a software as described above.
Please share your opinion, thanks. Benjamin