By far the most common request I’ve received from buyers of Exceptional Ruby is for mobile formats, and today I’m happy to grant those requests. All current Exceptional Ruby buyers have received new download links for a combined PDF/ePub/Mobi/HTML download, and future buyers will receive all formats.
For anyone curious, the production process for the mobile formats was fairly straightforward. I used Org-Mode to write the book, and one of the “core” export formats of Org-Mode is HTML. HTML is the preferred input format for Calibre, so with a few tweaks I was able to automate production of the mobile formats via Calibre.
The conversions aren’t lossless, however. There is a distinct hierarchy of quality. Here’s an example of a source code listing in the PDF version:
And here’s the same listing in HTML:
There’s an issue with the colorized syntax highlighting in HTML output that I’m still ironing out.
Here it is in ePub:
And finally in Mobi:
To Kindle readers (Mobi version): I’m sorry. It’s the limitations of the format. Apparently Amazon decided that all they needed was a format capable of representing the average Harlequin romance novel, and nothing more.
In any case, if lack of mobile versions was keeping you from buying the book, wait no longer!