Can you buy from Amazon without their software

[Nilotikus]

I've been trying to buy an e-book from Amazon but can't find a way to do it. It seems they want you to install a load of their software first - but they don't even provide such software for Linux anyway.

After a good search I've been unable to find the book anywhere else, not even in paper format.

Anyone know how to do this or if it's even possible?

Thanks

[pidgeon92]

Nope, not without some device that uses their software. You don't have a smartphone or tablet, either?

[susan_cassidy]

You need an app to read a Kindle book if you don't have a Kindle device. It is very easy to install Kindle for PC, if you have access to a Windows box. I wouldn't call the software "a load", just one app. If you have a smartphone, you can download Kindle for Android, or Kindle for iOS.

[daffy4u]

If you have an Android or iDevice, you can use the Kindle app to purchase the book. It will be in Amazon's proprietary ebook format so you will have to do some liberating and converting to read it on your Kobo.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

You need an app to read a Kindle book if you don't have a Kindle device. It is very easy to install Kindle for PC, if you have access to a Windows box. I wouldn't call the software "a load", just one app. If you have a smartphone, you can download Kindle for Android, or Kindle for iOS.

Now I would call Kindle for PC a 'load'. Although not very much in terms of disk space there's a lot of individual files & registry entries for it. That's very common with Windows apps though. Basically, lazy programmers.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by Nilotikus

I've been trying to buy an e-book from Amazon but can't find a way to do it. It seems they want you to install a load of their software first - but they don't even provide such software for Linux anyway.

Just install Kindle for PC under Wine in a virtual machine...

[Nilotikus]

No. All I have is my trusty old desktop.

I was gonna convert it to epub so I could read on my Kobo. The price is pretty good at Amazon.

It seems like even if I had a Kindle I couldn't buy it though as I don't have wifi. Glad I went for the Kobo instead now.

A bit more searching and I've now found a cheap used paper copy on Abebooks so might just go for that instead if there's really no way to purchase from Amazon.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Nilotikus

It seems like even if I had a Kindle I couldn't buy it though as I don't have wifi.

Not sure why you say this. WiFi makes it all work a bit easier, but if you had a Kindle (without 3G) you can also download to a computer and transfer via USB.

if there's really no way to purchase from Amazon.

Kindle 4 PC under Wine works fine for quite a few people.

[ProfCrash]

Buy it for Kindle PC and use Calibre to strip and convert.

[Hellmark]

You can technically buy via the webpage, and then read using the Kindle Cloud Reader webpage. You don't really download the books, but it is better than nothing.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Just install Kindle for PC under Wine in a virtual machine...

Should be "or in a virtual machine". Wine would not require a virtual machine, and, depending on the OS, a virtual machine would not require Wine.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by Nilotikus

No. All I have is my trusty old desktop.

I only meant as a way of getting the ebook in question. Once you have it, you'll probably want to strip the DRM anyway, and just convert to whatever format you need.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Wine would not require a virtual machine, and, depending on the OS, a virtual machine would not require Wine.

True, but it makes the post-buy cleanup so much easier, and doesn't affect your desktop no matter what.

[K. Molen]

Originally Posted by calvin-c

Now I would call Kindle for PC a 'load'. Although not very much in terms of disk space there's a lot of individual files & registry entries for it. That's very common with Windows apps though. Basically, lazy programmers.

Any modern OS I'm familiar with use multiple files for programs. What do you use that doesn't?

[fratermus]

Originally Posted by K. Molen

Any modern OS I'm familiar with use multiple files for programs. What do you use that doesn't?

Some of the RAM-resident linux distros like Puppy (~110MB!) and Tiny Core (11-60MB!) store the OS and standard apps in a single, bootable .iso file. Additional software packages are kept in individual files (ie, one file per application). Changes like documents and settings live in a combined user userspace savefile if you want to save state. It's not a solution for everyone's taste but they are very lightweight and fast. These functional and free OSes run in less RAM (and can load faster) than, say, Word.

There may be other examples of this kind of approach but I do not have personal experience with them.

The PortableApps approach seems to help keep Windoze app installs from flinging their stuff quite so far. I keep Portable firefox, putty, vlc, etc, (and usb bootable Puppy linux described above) on my keyfob USB.