Open Source Ebook Solutions

[conan50]

Originally Posted by crich70

You are at a very good place to find DRM free epubs that are clean of problems. Many of us find them over at Project Gutenberg and then clean then up before posting them here (as well as conversions for those of us who use Kindle. Of course these are all PD books not current, new titles. Feedbooks sells some epubs though I have no idea what the quality of the books are as i just look around the PD stuff there.

Very good reminder. I have picked up some nice ebooks here.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Just Baen and Tor, I think.

And as crich says, PD stuff -- but I suspect you want newer works.

I have lots of classic ebooks. I have about 700 epubs right now, many of those are classics.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Tor (US) and Tor (UK) are both DRM-free but they have different catalogues, so you can get more DRM-free books if you buy from both.

E.g. Peter F. Hamilton's UK editions are DRM-free (Tor UK) but his US editions have DRM (Random House). Gene Wolfe's US editions are DRM-free (Tor US) but the UK editions have DRM (Hachette).

Can you buy directly from Tor? Not sure where to get their DRM free ebooks other than Amazon.
I'm only seeing a UK store, not US.

[eschwartz]

Anywhere Tor books are sold, they should be DRM-free. You could buy them on Kobo or Google Play, I assume.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Anywhere Tor books are sold, they should be DRM-free. You could buy them on Kobo or Google Play, I assume.

Assuming the store doesn't screw up.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by conan50

I've got a Paperwhite, nook ST, but will probably stick with Android tablets for ebooks in the future. I don't trust hardware makers, especially as nook hid away my ebooks, even public domain ebooks--unforgivable. I would not be surprised if Kindle does the same at some point.
In the future I'm only buying drm-free ebooks, somewhat easy as I mostly like SciFi and Fantasy genres, with Baen & Tor.
I just bought the new Premium Fbreader app in Google Play, looks nice so far. I like what they are doing with Google Books, might be the best solution at this point for syncing books, but wish I could link the books I already have at Google Books.

You have a Nook ST? Rooted, it is an excellent e-ink e-reader.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by Rizla

You have a Nook ST? Rooted, it is an excellent e-ink e-reader.

I like the ST, but don't have it rooted. I have all Linux and Chromebook computers, no Windows, and if I remember the rooting instructions I saw were for Windows computers. Do you know of any way to root the ST with Linux?
Thanks.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by conan50

If someone wants to have the most control over their ebooks, software, and hardware, what are some of the best open source solutions?

The overlooked issues are:

• Software that calls home;
• Software that distributes malware;

That software is distributed under an open source license, does not mean that neither of those two issues are not going to be present.

Calling home can be benign. For example, the software simply looks to see if a newer version is available, and if so, updates itself.

Calling home can be malevolent. The program ships a copy of everything on your tablet, and all input, to an unknown destination.

What information about the platform usage does the operating system retain, and transmit to other parties?
What information about the platform usage does other software obtain, and transmit to other parties?

Likewise:
What information about the device contents does the operating system retain, and transmit to other parties?
What information about the device contents does other software obtain, and transmit to other parties?

The next questions that need to be addressed are:

• What are the proposed use cases;
• What are the threat models;

The use case is not "reading", but rather, the type of reading:

• Casual mind candy, partaking of two or three per day;
• Analysis of legal briefs, verifying citations do imply what is claimed, and the like;
• Study for college/graduate work;
• Portable reference library;
• Something else;

For threat models, you are looking at:

• Unknown third party tracking your activity, via the device;
• Unknown third party using the device for nefarious purposes;
• Unknown third party altering data in the device;
• How soon the vendor will abandon the hardware;
• How soon the vendor will abandon the software;

There are both major and minor variants of each of those scenarios.

There also is the issue of how much tracking of your activity, and contents of your device, you are comfortable with, by those parties that "request" your permission to do so. More pointedly, how comfortable are you with those entities selling the data about you that they found?

Whilst FLOSS solutions, in theory, provide the "right answer", in practice that need not be the case. The virtue of FLOSS is that one can examine the source code, if one has the appropriate tools. With closed source, one needs both the appropriate tools, and the appropriate amount of cash, to perform the same type of scrutiny.

I've seen a couple of open hardware designs, that are purportedly suitable for tablets, and eBook readers. One could, in theory, purchase parts off-the-shelf, then assemble the device. Install an appropriate OS, and go from there.

So, if you have the time, energy, cash, and know-how....

[conan50]

Good points.
Open source to me means you can read the software, no back doors, no lock-in, you are not frozen into a single supplier/company of the product.
I like Android tablets for reading as they can be rooted and other OS's put on them if need be. Yet, though it might be crazy, I tend to trust Google more than most companies. They have mostly been friendly to the Linux community, many are Linux geeks that work there, and they keep Android and ChromeOS and Chrome itself open/readable code. Do they want to know everything about you? Yes. So they can sell. But not to put you in jail which is why government spying is so bad.
Amazon worries me because they are so in your face selling. I can remember when my Kindle tablets had barely noticeable screen lock ads, but they have become obnoxious. Prime is also shoved down our throats.
So far I like Fbreader software. I just wish there was something comparable to the Kindle Store for epub ebooks. Luckily I'm a fan of classic books, so I will never run out of stuff to read thanks to Project Gutenberg and some other sites.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by conan50

I like the ST, but don't have it rooted. I have all Linux and Chromebook computers, no Windows, and if I remember the rooting instructions I saw were for Windows computers. Do you know of any way to root the ST with Linux?
Thanks.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2040351

Unzip the file you downloaded and write the NookManager.img file to an empty SD card. On Windows, you can use disk imager. Linux and mac users can use dd.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by conan50

Do they want to know everything about you? Yes. So they can sell. But not to put you in jail which is why government spying is so bad.

What prevents the company from selling your data to the government?

More pointedly, what triggers will be generated, from analyzing what you read, and how much of that is read? And what will become of that data, down the line?

Going back to the data being sold, what happens when you're looking for a job, and the background report notes that two months ago you read several books on Holocaust Denial, and last month you read Anarchist Cook Book, White Man's Bible, The Turner Diaries, and The Lord is a Mighty Fortress, so HR decides not to hire you, because you are "obviously" a racist, and as such, a potential liability for the company.
(FWIW, It's a toss up between those four books, and the books that Snooki wrote, as to which has the higher literary merit.)

Or let's say you are applying to graduate school, and the review committee looks at the research papers and books you've read, and notes that there is a lot of material about "Creation Science", and/or "Intelligent Design". What is going to be happen to your chance of being accepted into the biology program?

Maybe the ISIS scenario is more appropriate. You read a Bible on your ebook reader, and now you're going to be executed, because reading the Bible is a mandatory death sentence.

Furthermore, it isn't a question of "if", but rather how soon, and how much that Google/Amazon/etc scoops up about users, is freely available to all and sundry, thanks to a data breach.

This is why, for maximum security --- both short term and long term --- you want zero data tracking, and zero data retention.

[conan50]

Thanks Rizla!

[conan50]

Fiat_Lux, very good points. If one is extremely concerned about privacy Google is going to be a problem. Mostly I use Google via the browser, and there are lots of good plugins/extensions to limit how much Google can snoop on your web browsing, also Duck Duck Go is an option.
With Android you can use CyanogenMod.
Ghostery became my good friend after looking at a set of headphones on Amazon and having those headphones literally follow me in ads across the web.
I'm a Linux guy so I can pick and choose how much I let businesses look over my shoulder.
The biggest concern you bring up is having businesses know your complete reading habits. I'm not reading anything exotic, mostly boring low brow stuff, but I'm old enough that the whole "social push" for everyone to know what you are doing 24/7 is irritating at the least.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by conan50

Thanks again for the ideas!
I'm wondering where there is a good place to get clean epubs. I'm aware of Baen, but are there any other publisher sites worth considering, especially for SciFi/Fantasy genre ebooks free of DRM?

Maybe Angry Robot? I don't know that they are DRM free though. I haven't paid attention. But some of the smaller publishers like them are DRM free and are usually available at Kobo books (which is where I generally run across them).

The good thing about Kobo is they tell you at the very bottom of each book page if a book as DRM or not. So you can selectively shop if that is what you are looking for.

[conan50]

Will check it out.
Thanks!