Josh
Jules she/herOkay I have about 900 Kindle books that I've paid for. I've never dared try stripping the DRM off them in case Amazon somehow finds out and blocks my account, losing me the rest of them. But since Amazon's planning on deprecating my Kindle in May now I guess I have nothing to lose. What would everyone suggest? And can anyone recommend a good e ink reader to replace the Kindle that can read files from any source?
Also where do you buy ebooks from in the UK? I've had some luck with publisher websites directly but not all publishers seem to offer this
Jae
Gavin
Sheepnik
Pete Ashton@afewbugs This might come across as too much but unless the publisher offers a DRM-free ebook the best way I’ve found that fits what I need is to download a pirated copy from a shadow library (need a VPN as they’re mostly blocked in the UK) and buy a physical book for the shelf (or a gift).
Albert CardonaI second this: buy a paper book and gift it away, and download an electronic copy for yourself from wherever you can.
There are also several legit free ebook sites, like:
* https://openlibrary.org/ (by the internet archive)
* https://gutenberg.org
* https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu (lists 3 million free ebooks online)
There are others.
ben
Adam H. Sparks 
@afewbugs I deDRMed mine before they shut the door last year? I can’t recall. There was a change and it’s more difficult if not impossible now to do. I think it was to do with having files on your computer vs your Kindle.
I have a Kobo. The Rakuten store books are DRMed but it reads mostly anything. My XTInk X4 won’t accept DRM. I buy from ebooks.com (here in Perth even!) and use Calibre to transfer and strip as needed. But not all their books have DRM. Seems just ones I’m interested in.
@afewbugs Calibre + DeDRM + instructions found online worked for me^w um this person I overheard at the bus stop (with zero retaliation from Amazon: how would they know?)
Doug Webb@considermycat @afewbugs I didn't try this method, but recently bought a book and only got a .acsm file. This first method: https://ratfactor.com/b/drm-sucks was the only thing that worked for me.
And ofc, Annas-archive (long live)
@douginamug @afewbugs Yep, you need ADE to open the .acsm file, then Calibre + DeDRM to access the .epub and transfer to your Kindle. (For Linux, installing Windows ADE under Wine also works.) And if stronger .epub encryption becomes the norm (it's apparently being rolled out), I can imagine "buy a legit copy [so the author gets paid] then download off AA" may be my next recourse
Kara Goldfinch@considermycat @afewbugs Seconded Calibre. I've used hive.co.uk, not to be confused with the heating people. They support local bookshops but I haven't set that bit up since I don't use any.
Like with the others mentioned you'll need to use Calibre to de-drm them.
Like with the others mentioned you'll need to use Calibre to de-drm them.
sotolf@afewbugs I'm still using my kindle and just converting everything to mobi with calibre, it usually offers a format to convert to that the reader will accept. I don't want to contribute to e-waste by putting aside a reader that works, probably will go for something else once it gives up. But I'm also one of those weirdos that don't let my e-book reader connect to the internet.
@sotolf I don't want to give up my Kindle either 😢 But apparently after the 20th of May I won't be able to add new files to it
@afewbugs I mean, they can't stop you from connect it to usb and transfer stuff that way, can they ? There is no way if you turn off your wifi that they can even instruct it do selfdestruct that way. I usually buy stuff from other book stores which offers non drm books and then transfer them over usb.
@sotolf that's a very good point, I interpreted "you will not be able to purchase, borrow, or download additional books on them after that date." as you will not be able to add any new files, but if it just means through wifi and I can still use USB transfer that changes things
@afewbugs Yeah, if they would go that crazy direction they would have to somehow update the firmware to block usb transfer, and I don't think that will be the case, it's more likely that they are changing over to some more complex heavy encryption/drm scheme that they didn't manage to get performant on the older devices, and therefore just say they are no longer supported.
RedYeah, it's the same thing I've done, after the first week when I downloaded the stuff I had bought on Amazon I deleted the network connections and put it in airplane mode, and it has stayed that way.
But I'm weird, I just want it to stay the way that it was when I got it, and I don't think that I will need any updates, it's there to show text, and it does that well enough, so it doesn't get to update.
Dash@sotolf @afewbugs Yeah, I've got, not the first ever model, but the first cheap-model one that dropped the keyboard. It's been in aeroplane mode for over a decade at this point.
TBH I've never managed to be a big ebook person, but the ones I have bought since then have been indie stuff from Smashwords via Calibre and a USB cable. If I want something from a big publisher I still just buy paper copies.
River Crow@afewbugs Kobo would be my recommendation, there's ways of de-DRMing Amazon ebooks and importing them to Kobo. I buy my ebooks direct from Kobo too, usually.
OtherRyn@afewbugs I like Kobo as an e-reader. I just bought a color so I can read comics on it as well.
All the DRM stripping I've done has been through Calibre and the (DeDRM) plugin. Any books I couldn't remove the DRM from, I acquired through other means. As for "from any source" Calibre can also convert most things to epub and mobi.
Kobo has an ebook store. Ebooks.com has a UK shop. Some authors will have a way to purchase ebooks from their websites.
Thalia.de sells English language ebooks as well.
I've started self-hosting my ebooks and audiobooks (because there got to be so many) so feel free to ping me!
@otherryn thank you!
@afewbugs It's so frustrating when the terms suddenly change, which is why I've stripped DRM and we now self-host all our media (movies, TV shows, music, ebooks, audiobooks, etc.).
The only problem is with the rise of AI datacenters, the price of hard drives has increased drastically so we're keeping an eye on prices because we're starting to run out of space. (And we need to move things into a new case with available space. When we remove the oil boiler and the fuel tank to put in the heat pump, we might set up a wall mounted server in the basement.)
Julian Schwarzenbach@afewbugs Where is the list of devices they are killing off? My Kindle is pretty old but still works well, so would be a shame if it was bricked
@jschwa1 I got an email from them, if you didn't you're probably okay.
"Affected devices include Kindle 1st and 2nd Generation, Kindle DX and DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, Kindle 5, and Kindle Paperwhite 1st Generation."
@afewbugs Thanks. Mine is a Kindle Voyage, so probably one for the next batch to be killed off
@afewbugs Maybe you can put KOReader onto your Kindle and continue using it? https://koreader.rocks/
Getting it set up is, honestly, a bit janky. And the design is sometimes a bit rough around the edges - but! - it has _all_ the options, displays all the formats and even has PDF-reflowing, for reading A4 PDFs comfortably.
@afewbugs ... it looks like KOReader supports all Kindles
https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-Kindle-devices
Gosh, it is only a half-recommendation though. It really does seem a bit nerds-for-nerds with the instructions for setting up.
FloreanaI KOreadered my Kindle with Winterbreak, it was easy. Highly recommend it!
qwazix@douginamug @afewbugs you just saved a device from becoming e-waste, thanks.
Abhijit Menon-Sen@afewbugs Not a recent device, but: my partner has been happy with the Kobo Libra 2 for some years.
Gemma ⭐️🔰🇺🇸 🇵🇭 🎐@afewbugs the DRM stripping is done externally, by copying the files from the Kindle to a PC, so it doesn't have anything to do with any of the files on the Kindle. There's no way for Amazon to know.
@gcvsa I was just a bit concerned they would have something set up to compare files on the Kindle with what I've bought and know I'd done it. I do connect it to wifi to transfer books and sync with the kindle app on my phone and will stop doing that, but the app reports my "reading streak" which I find incredibly creepy and invasive so tehy're clearly tracking what i do on there
@afewbugs But when you strip the DRM from the files, it doesn't remove the DRM from the files on the Kindle. Nothing changes on the Kindle. You just make a copy of the files on you computer, and strip the DRM from the copies.
@gcvsa I was just worried Amazon would see the files on my Kindle when I put them back on my Kindle and compare them to ones I'd bought with DRM
@afewbugs But you won't be putting the files back on your Kindle, because the files are already on the Kindle and don't get removed when you copy them, and the Kindle will continue to work with the copies of the files on it that have the DRM intact.
@gcvsa gotcha, sorry. You're talking about the de-drm'd versions as a backup but nothing with drm actually comes off my kindle. My problem is my kindle doesn't actually have enough storage to hold all my books, so I was planning on having all drm free files and just rotating them in and out, but you're right it would make more sense to just keep the drm free ones as a backup
@afewbugs There are Android ereaders that allow you to use apps for almost any source of books. Something like the Boox Go 6 might be a good device for you. I've had a Boox Leaf for 4 years and have been very happy with it, but I'd recommend doing a bit of reading about the devices so you know what the limitations are.
https://euroshop.boox.com/products/boox-go-6
https://euroshop.boox.com/products/boox-go-6
@afewbugs Another option to look at is Pocketbook, which is a European brand more like Kobo, but not tied to any one book store. Some of the newer models have access to Libby included, which is useful if your library service offers ebooks that way.
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/pocketbook-era-7-ereader-16-gb-silver-10275893.html
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/pocketbook-era-7-ereader-16-gb-silver-10275893.html
Aegir@afewbugs I’ve recently got a Boox Go 7. I was very unsure about what to get, haunting review sites and so on. It’s good, the screen is amazing. I’ve got all my kindle and kobo books on there as well as loads of Gutenberg (standard ebooks versions) on there. I won’t ever get a restricted one like kobo or kindle ever again.
The Drop Bear 2.0 
Leonid (fuck USA 🖕🏻)@afewbugs Kobo is great. Tolino is the same hardware, but the software is worse.
I have the "Kobo Clara BW", kind of "Kindle Paperwhite". You can copy ePubs directly via USB.
Ben Hammondits a bit of a rabbit hole; i would recommend starting with
https://github.com/apprenticeharper/DeDRM_tools/wiki/Exactly-how-to-remove-DRM
I have not tried doing this since before they locked down the kindle downloads, your mileage may vary
they do have a kindle reader app for phones that might allow you to keep reading DRM-encumbered data
I appreciate that would not completely solve the problem
Kevin Karhan
Jürgen HubertI use a handheld BOOX, which is a full-fledged Android device. And it's possible to install the Kindle Reader app on it, too.
Charlie Stross@afewbugs @quixoticgeek Just noting I've been stripping DRM off Kindle ebooks for over a decade, and although the current file format is uncrackable Amazon have never come after me: the way the tool works doesn't give them any way to detect such activity.
Onur@afewbugs I’ve also migrated from Kindle, and carried all my books. Looks like it’s already the consensus but I’d also say Kobo. Both as e-reader and to buy the books.
I use Calibre to manage my ebook files and sync them to my e-reader. They can be in any format. https://calibre-ebook.com
And this Calibre plugin auto-removes DRM while you’re importing the book from any DRMed source: https://github.com/noDRM/DeDRM_tools
abominabledrh@afewbugs Pocketbook do nice ereader devices.
David Cohen@afewbugs You might want to take a look at https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x4
Tiny (smaller than a phone), cheap and completely open. It is so small it is very pocketable, which is great for always having it with you. There is an alternate firmware called Crosspoibt for it that is excellent.
Jonobie@afewbugs Do you have the books downloaded on something / somewhere already? If so, it’s a pretty simple import into Calibre with the deDRM plugin. At that point you can put or keep them on your permanently-airplane-mode kindle (to avoid Amazon screwing with it more), or get fancy and jailbreak the kindle (more effort but definitely possible). But the kindle should be able to keep working with something like Calibre putting the books on it. No immediate need to get a new reader unless you want to.
If the books aren’t already downloaded somewhere, that’s the first step and I’m not sure how to get around that these days.
@afewbugs I’ll add I bought an old kindle specifically to do this with, and while I jailbroke it for funsies, I didn’t need to for the calibre route to work.
I tried KO reader and found it absolutely unusable without a touchscreen and worse than the native kindle software. So I just read things using the native software and load the device via usb. Once jailbroken there’s a way to load it via WiFi but it just wasn’t worth the setup to me.
Simon Wood@afewbugs I've got a Pocketbook Verse. It was a faff getting all my stuff out of Amazon's clutches and into Calibre, it would have been easier if I'd done it sooner, but I'm glad it's done now.