im thinking of getting an ereader, but cant find many foss devices. i dont plan on connecting it to the internet, so i suppose it doesnt matter if its controlled by amazon right? love to hear your thoughts…
Kobo devices are the way to go. Easy sideloading, multiple FOSS operating system alternatives, and generally they’ve got some nice n’ cheap options.
You can install PostmarketOS on several kobo devices, e.g.: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Kobo_Clara_HD_(kobo-clara)
PostmarketOS is a general linux distro based on alpine linux.
Instructions for avoiding sign in, and side-loading etc
I’ve had good luck with this. I buy books, and occasionally go to my library and download the books to my desktop for the day I change devices. Adept helps with the DRM stuff, and knock with the even worse ASCM DRM crap. Manage it all in Calibre.
Some books I move to a reMarkable and read them there; technical books, mainly, because they’re easier to read in large format - code examples, formulas, etc., are better on a bigger screen.
It’s not FOSS, but I have a Kobo Clara 2E, I like it a lot. There’s a bit of a sqlite hack to activate it without an account, but it works great after that.
Don’t bother with Overdrive on the Kobo, its a scummy company and it didn’t even work without a Kobo account.
Kobo has a good support for alternative OS software and they are good.
At least in Germany “tolino” might be worth a look. I don’t know how far they have expanded out of Germany, though.
