The Gospel Library would actually be very useful as an installation for Linux, if it had all the same features as the Android App. I prefer to use it via Android on VirtualBox than to use the website. I don't recommend the VirtualBox method to anyone but advanced users, though, since Android isn't that easy to set up on Linux. (Don't assume all Linux users are advanced, or even intermediate, users. Even small children use Linux. The learning curve is primarily for admins and people who want to do non-standard stuff like use Android on Linux.)
What features does the Browser lack?
1. Offline access. This is the main thing.
2. Speed (by comparison)
3. Ease of access, navigation and all that
4. Night mode
5. No need to sign in every time.
6. More convenient configuration of text size that won't interfere with other things.
7. The ability to customize text alignment.
8. Bookmarks that aren't mixed in with other things.
9. A dedicated app: Less distractions from the rest of the web, and less temptation to do something else.
10. A more unified interface for accessing all the content, with less stuff on the way to what you're looking for. (That stuff is good, but if I'm just looking to read, it's another hurdle on the way to reading.)
Margins used to be an issue, but they aren't anymore. I like the narrower margins on the web scriptures a lot.
As a side-note, for those interested in getting the Gospel Library working in Linux (as well as other Android apps), here is how (it is slower than the original, depending on your computer, but still fast enough to be nice); I've only tested this on Debian and an older version of Ubuntu (before Unity came out):
1. Have VirtualBox 4.1 installed. 4.2 doesn't work very well with this.
2. Download android-x86-vm-20120130.iso from somewhere. No other iso I've tried works.
3. Set up a VirtualBox thing for Android. Choose Linux, and version 2.6.
4. Set up the ISO to boot like a CD.
5. Run the installation.
6. Install it somehow, but make sure to make the fake SD card and give yourself plenty of RAM.
7. Download the Amazon App Store. You can't ethically get Google Play to work on it, as far as I can tell. You can do it, but I don't think Google approves.
8. Get the Gospel Library from the Amazon app store.
9. Use it.
Oh, you'll also want to know that you'll want to shut down Android every time you're done instead of saving the machine state. If you save the machine state, the Internet won't work when you open it again, until you restart it.
I've heard you can get it working in VMware, too.
To get around the lack of night mode for those who don't want to use VirtualBox on Linux, here's a very nice tip:
Download xcalib (you can use apt-get or Synaptic or whatever). You can use the following command to instantly invert the colors:
xcalib -invert -alter
What I did was create a script and put it in a folder called bin in your home directory. Mark the script as executable in your permissions. Have it's contents be these:
#!/bin/bash
xcalib -invert -alter
Then save it. Then go to System->Preferences->Startup Applications. Then add your script to that, and your computer's account will startup with the colors inverted.
All the whites will be black and the blacks will be white, is what I mean.
Now, as far as offline access goes, I don't know of a legal way of doing that without using a virtual machine or the Windows emulator (the virtual machine is a far better way).
Anyway, Ubuntu does have an app store, and Ubuntu is usable on mobile devices (that's why Unity looks like it does, it seems, to cater to mobile devices, like tablets). So, creating an app for Linux isn't just for Desktop/laptop use. People are going to have a harder time with smaller tablet/phone screens if they have to use a web browser (especially if they're away from a wifi hotspot, like with a tablet on the road).
A Linux Gospel Library app would be very useful. I bet you could get a lot of volunteers from the Linux community to help program it, too (the vineyard site would be great for that, perhaps). People might have already done it, had they legal access to the reading material.
I can see how a Linux app wouldn't be a priority right now, but as less people care about Windows with the popularity of mobile apps (and the expense of Windows 8), they're going to be less willing to fork out a bunch of money for it for their desktops, and they'll see there's something free that's just as good (Linux). Linux is gaining popularity faster than any operating system, currently. That's not to say everyone's talking about it. It's not a commercial fad that goes in and out. Because it's free-software, that means it's constant. Some company going bankrupt isn't going to do it in. Lack of popularity won't do it in. It's just there for people to pick up and put down as they will, according to their wants. Not to mention how other popular operating systems and services rely on Linux (such as Android).
It should be noted that Android apps are written in Java. That means, at least half of the work for creating an app on Linux is already done. We just need a different user interface for it, since the Android GUI libraries don't yet work on Linux, as far as I can tell. Someone might make that possible in the near future, though, if they haven't already: in that case, there wouldn't be much work at all to port it.
Something nice instead of a Linux app would be just to make a download for the regular HTML website to make it accessible offline, and make a way to sync your highlights/notes and stuff with the online one. That would be cross-platform. However, you'd likely have the same problem as TiddlyWikis do if you went that route—the permissions that web browsers require with offline files can be annoying in this case. If you made a web browser specifically for this purpose, however, you could circumvent that. Just make sure it doesn't do offline files that aren't associated with the Gospel Library, or else it'll pose security problems.
I really like the changes that have occurred in the web scriptures, lately, though. I'm not putting it down. It's actually really nice, and improving well.
Anyway, for me personally, it's not the end of the world if you don't make a Linux app. I have a Kindle Fire. But, I think it would be really awesome if you did, and I'd definitely use it.
