Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative • Hacker News Board

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#81

Post by nine_k » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 4:25 AM UTC

Imagine an open-source iPod that won't have access to iTunes. It likely would be a success, but not a replacement.

I see the power of Kindle in the ease of buying books. I see the device as a storefront to Amazon's e-book collection.

To be more massively successful, such a device should come with access to a sync service (or several), and access to e-book stores. IDK if Amazon has an API for buying books, but definitely some e-book sellers with APIs exist.

And yes, of course it should allow uploading DRM-free books of your choice, and maybe integrate nicely with Calibre.

The software part of the project looks much bugger and gnarlier than the hardware part.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#82

Post by Wingman4l7 » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 4:35 AM UTC

michaelmrose wrote: post #77

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... it's clear the OP meant, where do you obtain / purchase books legally (i.e., without violating copyright & piracy laws).

Why would you care about violating a law nobody on earth has any chance of catching you and punishing you. If you want to give money to the author you could consider seeing if they have a way to take donation/patronage or buying a physical copy. If you don't actually need the physical copy or have room for it gift it to someone and request that they gift it when they are done with it.

You kind of answered your own question -- it's not about the getting caught (in my opinion), it's about the ethics of the author getting compensated for their work.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#83

Post by Legogris » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 4:39 AM UTC

jamiek88 wrote: post #63

Legogris wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that you mention it - this makes an open source device such as this interesting. Make it go through your own self-hosted proxy, which renders the page to and sends over something suitable for the ereader. Like Opera Mini if anyone remembers. I think calibre has features that can be used as a foundation to build on.

Hmm I remember that opera browser in the early days of iOS, that’s not a bad idea! Kinda like a plex transcode but for text. How would you navigate tho?

You could still have a web browser with address bars and links and all that, just with “transrendered” responses. No need for css or JS.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#84

Post by GuiA » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 5:04 AM UTC

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #82

michaelmrose wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you care about violating a law nobody on earth has any chance of catching you and punishing you. If you want to give money to the author you could consider seeing if they have a way to take donation/patronage or buying a physical copy. If you don't actually need the physical copy or have room for it gift it to someone and request that they gift it when they are done with it.

You kind of answered your own question -- it's not about the getting caught (in my opinion), it's about the ethics of the author getting compensated for their work.

- try emailing the author directly, asking for a pdf/zip file in exchange for paypal payment. sometimes they can't because of their publisher, but they're often happy to.

- download the content through whatever means are most convenient for you, and paypal the author/mail the author a check. My money has never been returned :)

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#85

Post by Markoff » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 5:26 AM UTC

who would want to read anything on 4.2" display?

I've had bigger (4.5") display in smartphone 8 years ago and I would not call even that suitable for reading books

why is nobody discussing this and why they don't show the device in hand to show how ridiculously small it is?

> Main features: > 4.2" inch e-paper display with partial refresh, driven over a dedicated SPI bus.

https://github.com/joeycastillo/The-Open-Book

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#86

Post by Markoff » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 5:28 AM UTC

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #70

GekkePrutser wrote: post #20

This isn't really equivalent to a kindle though. The fonts are basic, there's no enclosure. Fonts are a huge thing for eReaders and Amazon has spent a lot of time perfecting them. It's also important to remember that it's perfectly possible to use the Kindle without DRM. You can just put your own books on it with a cable, though you'll have to convert them to MOBI as it doesn't do ePub. The same can be done with othe…

> I think the problem with DRM and ebooks is not the readers. At least Kindles do track what the user is reading even if it wasn't purchased on Amazon so having a good, high quality, open source e-ink device would be of great benifit. [1] > I think for the reader, I would prefer to buy commercial hardware as look and feel is an important thing for a device you will interact with a lot. In the case of laptops, at leas…

> At least Kindles do track what the user is reading even if it wasn't purchased on Amazon so having a good, high quality, open source e-ink device would be of great benifit.

How do they do that without any account, registration and internet connection? I use my kindle entirely for offline reading of books I copy over cable.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#87

Post by wojciii » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 5:41 AM UTC

This is not a replacement.

I love my Kobo but tend to use my phone because I can buy books using the Amazon android app. I hate the UI (both navigation and the suggestions on which are never what I want to read next) but it works ok for buying books.

A replacement would be a book market place where I can buy DRM free books and use clients on any ebook reader to download them to native format supported by the reader. Wirelessly and without fear of someone keeping track of what I read.

Kobos can be hacked to some extent, but no replacement firmware exists to my knowledge. Their readers already run Linux but I'm sure that they don't release drivers for their display or UI source code.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#88

Post by ornornor » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 5:42 AM UTC

GekkePrutser wrote: post #20

This isn't really equivalent to a kindle though. The fonts are basic, there's no enclosure. Fonts are a huge thing for eReaders and Amazon has spent a lot of time perfecting them. It's also important to remember that it's perfectly possible to use the Kindle without DRM. You can just put your own books on it with a cable, though you'll have to convert them to MOBI as it doesn't do ePub. The same can be done with othe…

Aside from libgen, you can also buy your books from amazon or Kobo and use calibre with the dedrm plugin to free your books. You can then load books from any platform to any reader and keep a copy of them yourself. Even if they delete the ebook from your device, the one you dedrmed will still be there.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#89

Post by ornornor » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 5:48 AM UTC

Markoff wrote: post #86

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think the problem with DRM and ebooks is not the readers. At least Kindles do track what the user is reading even if it wasn't purchased on Amazon so having a good, high quality, open source e-ink device would be of great benifit. [1] > I think for the reader, I would prefer to buy commercial hardware as look and feel is an important thing for a device you will interact with a lot. In the case of laptops, at leas…

> At least Kindles do track what the user is reading even if it wasn't purchased on Amazon so having a good, high quality, open source e-ink device would be of great benifit. How do they do that without any account, registration and internet connection? I use my kindle entirely for offline reading of books I copy over cable.

Well then obviously not. Note that turning the info off isn’t always enough. I can’t remember if it was my kindle or my kobo but it knew my WiFi password and would turn the WiFi home periodically without my knowing to call home anyway.

Re: Open-source, DRM-free Kindle alternative

#90

Post by int_19h » Sun, Jun 21, 2020, 6:55 AM UTC

GekkePrutser wrote: post #20

This isn't really equivalent to a kindle though. The fonts are basic, there's no enclosure. Fonts are a huge thing for eReaders and Amazon has spent a lot of time perfecting them. It's also important to remember that it's perfectly possible to use the Kindle without DRM. You can just put your own books on it with a cable, though you'll have to convert them to MOBI as it doesn't do ePub. The same can be done with othe…

You don't even need the cable. You can use their Send to Kindle email feature (that's advertised for "documents") to send .mobi files. They then show up in the library same as any other Kindle book, cover and all, and even sync their last read position across devices.