Pub-Tools is a suite of Python-Flask apps for downloading and displaying publications from JW.ORG. These include an Epub viewer and scripts for OBS Studio which turn it into a media player for use at congregation meetings.
To install on Ubuntu and other Debian-family Linuxes:
$ sudo apt-get install git cmake pulseaudio-utils python3-pip python3-venv
$ git clone https://github.com/david672orford/pub-tools.git
$ cd pub-tools
$ ./venv_tool.py --create
To install for Development on Microsoft Windows:
> winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget --scope user
> winget install -e --id Python.Python.3.12 --scope user
(Close and re-open the terminal)
> cd Desktop
> git clone https://github.com/david672orford/pub-tools.git
> cd pub-tools
> python venv_tool.py --create
Start the Pub-Tools web server on Linux:
$ ./start.py
On Microsoft Windows:
> python start.py
Then open this URL in a web browser:
http://localhost:5000
The pub-tools script wraps Pub-Tools into a standalone application. It first starts the Python-Flask backend and then opens it in a web browser widget. When the viewing window is closed it shuts down the server.
To start it on Linux:
$ ./pub-viewer
On Microsoft Windows:
> python pub-viewer
When you open Pub-Tools in a web browser as described above the first thing you will see is a menu of the subapps.