I don’t know how to word this but here goes. What FOSS eReaders can any of you recommend me, if there is any out there?
I’ve tried one of the Kobo years ago and did not like how it required me to create an account and activate it online. It seemed like an excuse for them to pull some Big Brother bs on it’s users.
I’ve happily used my Kindle keyboard reader for 10 years, up and down the west coast, in the Rockies, to Alaska, and during a lovely trip to the UK. I’m also quite happy with the Kindle library, which contains zillions of free books on all kinds of subjects.
I bought one circa 2018…
I liked it - used it for 4 years - but - eventually got fed up the “walled garden” and it wasn’t much of a garden… And it ANNOYED the crap out of me when something wasn’t available on their store, but I could get it on Amazon Kindle or Google Play Books - or the release date on Kobo of a new book, was days/weeks after it’s release on other platforms…
I would buy books for it - but also try and get a DRM copy from elsewhere (most resources that hosted DRM free e-books are now “deceased” or behind a paywall - e.g. zlibrary) and keep it in Calibre - and - I’d use Calibre to push the DRM free version to my Kobo - why? BECAUSE the DRM versions were better than the Kobo store bought ones - e.g. the page number stayed consistent on the DRM free ones - everytime I changed font size or formatting - with the Kobo store e-books it would repaginate and changed the total number of pages… and ridiculous page numbering - e.g. increase font by 2 or 3 points on the slider - and suddenly the ebook that was 800 pages is now 1500 pages!
So - anyway - few things I hated about the Kobo (the wifi was DODGY as hell!) were enough to convince me to get a 2nd hand iPad Mini (5th gen) in 2022 - that way - I’m not locked into anyone’s walled garden - I can read Kindle books, Google Books, Rakuten Kobo books - and - I can upload DRM free (or DRM removed) e-books into my Google books library (e.g. using a computer browser) - and they pop up in the Google Book reader on my iPad almost instantly!
I NEVER found a satisfactory workflow to remove DRM from purchased e-books (e.g. Amazon Kindle) for Linux or MacOS. There’s “allegedly” a plugin for Calibre that will remove the DRM - but I never got it to work on Linux. Back when I had a Windows machine (work laptop) I’d use a couple of apps to remove DRM from Kindle books so I could load them into my Kobo - WHAT A PITA!
Also - I chucked into a crowdfunding effort for a paper white “tablet” with Android : MobiScribe - and got my device - but it’s utterly useless to me - it’s Android 8 and ALL the screen elements, fonts, dialogs are so TINY I can’t even read them with my glasses on - and NO WAY anywhere in their locked down version of Android 8 to crank them up - ZERO accessibility settings - I complained to the developer and got a polite apology that his WASN’T something he, or they, were working on or considering… it’s a PIECE OF CRAP!
What I HATE about using the iPad mini (gen 5)? IT EATS BATTERY - like it has to be on charge when I’m not using it… How is that? Why is it EATING battery when I’m not using it? Apple Spyware probably… I keep bluetooth and wifi off, and battery saver on… Somehow iOS decides when I’m not using it “Oh you’re not on charge? You no longer need battery saver so I’m going to turn it off again, and crunch on some CPU and eat up your battery - so that when it comes time to hit the fartsack (bedtime) I will be dead and you won’t be able to read your book where you left off…” And when that happens? I get so AGITA (been watching Sopranos again) with frustration - it takes me another hour to get to sleep!
One thing I DO like about using Google Books - with purchased or uploaded DRM free books - I can read them on multiple devices, and, it remembers my place. e.g. I go to bed at 9 pm, fall asleep reading an epub novel… Get up… Remember I’m booked to donate blood that day - make sure the iPad is on wifi - and then when I get to the Blood Bank, I can read where I left off - on my Android Phone!
BTW - Calibre is your friend for managing your e-book reader… Runs on Linux too!
My original kindle gave up last year with a faulty charge port and not worth repairing after 12 years of constant use. So got another newer model with better connection port. I also bought my wife the same model but different cover so we know which one.
The kobo gave my stepson all sorts of issues and he has abandoned it.
Did try the amazon fire but did not like the battery life and all the adverts as i bought the cheapest.
Also use Calibre to transfer and stock my books from my computer.
Dont tell amazon but you can get so many free books on line and easy to share but must be the correct format for kindle where kobo is not as choosy
Also get the backlight one as if reading in bed in the dark it helps.