Free Software-running e-book reader now made possible
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(Rather than revive several old threads, where people were asking, in here, if this was possible...)
I'm just making this post to warn everyone that, as far as I can understand, it's now already possible to have an e-book reader running only Free Software.
There was a Polish hacker who managed to make the Kobo readers - that are sold in Europe and North America, at least - run a modified version of Debian that, from what I understand, doesn't include any proprietary blobs.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222123
(It's an already 2-month-old piece of news, and, I'm sorry for only posting this now - since, I've known about this since a few days after it was announced - but, I've had a lot of other things in my mind, lately...)
The mini version of Kobo is sold (in my country, at least) for as low as 40 euros.
Happy hacking. :)
Great find! Thanks for posting
> I'm just making this post to warn everyone that, as far as I can
> understand, it's now already possible to have an e-book reader running
> only Free Software.
It was possible before with OpenInkpot. Bebook/Hanlin v3 has a nonfree
(?) bootloader and no loaded firmware, I don't know how free were other
devices that it supports.
> There was a Polish hacker who managed to make the Kobo readers - that
> are sold in Europe and North America, at least - run a modified
> version of Debian that, from what I understand, doesn't include any
> proprietary blobs.
>
> http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222123
Any installation from source instructions? All that I've found refers
to using an already built image.
Well, I'm very glad to know that. I didn't know it was possible to only use Free Software, on an e-book reader, before. (And don't remember that being said in the previous threads, that I read, in here.)
Concerning this option that I linked to, I only know what was said in that forum, unfortunately.
(I guess you can try contacting the guy who did that, through that forum...)
While I am happy that there is a new free software in the neighborhood, I have to ask... what is the point exactly? Does it turn a e-book reader into a "tablet" running debian? I am sorry, but the informations were a little confusing in that forum.
Also, what is the hardware on that ebook reader? I will take a look at it if it seems to be good :P
Yes, it turns the e-book reader into a tablet running Debian.
But, the main interest of doing so, from my point of view, is not to start using the e-book reader as a tablet. But, to free your e-book reader of proprietary software, so that you can read your e-books without having to worry about your reading habits being recorded.
(http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304870304577490950051438304)
Concerning the hardware, I can't remember now the specs of the different Kobo readers. But, you can find them online.
Thanks for the reply. I know that the main interest is to get rid of the proprietary software, but in the end it's a good thing that you can get a "tablet" for 40 bucks or so.... Under normal circumstances a real tablet is much more expensive and it will require proprietary software to work. So, getting a ebook reader for 40 bucks and turning it into a tablet with free software, is indeed a good thing. Of course, that depends on the specs... lol, anyway it's a good thing.
GPL-violating tablets with AllWinner SoCs have comparable prices.
(There is much work on free software for other devices using that SoCs.)
I don't know how well epaper displays work for tablets, the one in
Bebook has very slow refresh.
(Bebook had no network connection other than (with OI only) via USB.
I'm interested in free software support for newer devices, since it
started to disconnect quickly after being connected, so the USB
connection now works only for charging only if it's powered off.)
40 euros are, actually, more equivalent to almost 55 dollars, these days...
(But, I don't know at which prices are Kobo readers sold in North America.)
And, it's like Michał says...
The screens of e-book readers are horrible for any other use, other than to read e-books.
If what you want is a Free Software-running tablet, there are some very cheap tablets, that use the rather well supported Allwinner SOC technology (http://linux-sunxi.org/), that are sold at those prices, and that can also run Debian, already.
There was a French guy who was able to make two of the cheaper tablet models run Debian on them - and, for one of those, he even talks about "native" support for the touch screen and WiFi.
1) http://www.gregwar.com/old/?p=274
2) http://www.gregwar.com/old/?p=287 / http://www.gregwar.com/old/?p=324 / http://www.gregwar.com/posts/debian-on-a-low-cost-tablet-50
I've even ordered one of these last mentioned ones, for myself, and am now waiting to receive one, so that I can try it out, running only Free Software. :)
Thanks guys.
I was under the impression that tablets were still some very expensive thing... Like 100 and 200 bucks a piece.
Not that I am thinking about buying one, but I am happy that free software is conquering it all :D
One question: are tablets like smartphones, in the sense that even if you replace the "stock OS" with a "custom OS" you can still get spied on (through the hardware and firmware...) ?
There are all kinds of different tablets, with different price ranges...
Tablets are essentially, smartphones, without the "phone" part, for the cheap models. And, I guess, small computers, of a type similar to "netbooks" and notebooks, for the expensive ones. (But, with touch screens, instead of keyboards.)
I don't know anything about any firmwares (or even a BIOS, for the cheap models) besides the firmware blobs that come embedded in the non-free OSs (Android versions) that come pre-installed on the tablets - and, that you can get rid of, when you install Debian, for example.
(But, I haven't tried them myself, yet. So, I'm not sure about this...)
Concerning the hardware,
Since the Allwinner SOCs and the motherboards are not "Free Hardware"... We can't know how they work, inside.
And, although I seriously doubt that someone would bother spending costly resources putting "spychip" components inside such cheap models, of the type that interest me (in order to create parallel circuits to access the Internet, or the 3G network, without my knowledge)... I can never be sure of that.
Anyway, that's one of the reasons why I ordered a Chinese model... So that, if it's possible (which I very much doubt that it is) it should be only the Chinese Big Brother that is capable of such. :)
(Through the Western telecoms?!... :) ehehe)
> One question: are tablets like smartphones, in the sense that even if
> you replace the "stock OS" with a "custom OS" you can still get spied
> on (through the hardware and firmware...) ?
There are tablets with 3G modems, they are just like bigger phones,
maybe with software disabling the support for phone calls.
Other tablets have no modems, hence less ways to spy. Wifi is in
isolated chips (SDIO?), so its firmware shouldn't spy on the user.
Some have signed and nonfree bootloaders, depending on the SoC.
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