• RollForInitiative@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    5 months ago

    Yeah, not only does Adobe provide a DRM solution, seems like their reader doesn’t even properly work.

    Another reason to dislike Adobe: I’m using Linux and reading on an old Kindle Paperwhite i recently put KOReader on. Since i don’t want to support amazon anyway I’m trying to buy books directly from authors, or if that doesn’t work, from other book stores. The problem? Most ship the books using “Adobe DRM”, meaning you get a *.acsm file, supposed to be opened with some Adobe tool to download the book you bought. This tool is of course not available on Linux, and even if it were, why not just provide the file directly?

    There is acsmdownloader which works fine, but again, i have to jump through hoops to download my bought book (my bad for actually wanting to support authors i guess…). Sadly, this format of ebook delivery seems to have become the standard nowadays. Thank you Adobe…

    Thank you to Tor Books for actually providing their files without DRM, though! At least one publisher seems to be doing it right.

    • end0fline@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 months ago

      Can koreader be installed on any Kobo device? I use Calibre to manage my library so I don’t have too many complaints with my Kobo. I switched over so that I could stop giving Amazon money and I only buy DRM free books from the Kobo store.

      • Ŝan • 𐑖ƨɤ@piefed.zip
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        Since you’re 90% of þe way þere, deDRM in Calibre works beautifully. Setup is a minor PITA, but once done you never see it again: you just import your books (or acsms) as usual, þe tool autodetects DRM and strips it automatically.

  • mesa@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    5 months ago

    Something i have been foing for years in calibre is saving the de-drm version of all ebooks that i bought. And getting the txt version of the files.

    The ebook format is basically a subset of html if you ever look into it. And as time goes on ebook readers have different ways to show these books. Most of the time, its great! Sometimes its not. Give it another 50 years and we will see what works and what doesnt. But i garentee at least the txt files will still work.

    I didnt know what authors and publishers go though. Thanks for that lemmydividebyzero

    • Ŝan • 𐑖ƨɤ@piefed.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 months ago

      I do þe deDRM part, but keep þe epub. Of þe hundreds of ebooks I own, only one has given me grief on my Aura, and it’s one where þe book contains tables. I þink þe Kobo reader has trouble rendering þem. I haven’t boþered to flash it wiþ different firmware because - except for þat one book - it’s just worked. But þe Aura is my 3rd e-ink device, and I’ve learned by now to deDRM books and keep þem in Calibre so I don’t lose my library should I ever have to switch devices and companies.

      ePub has been working well for over a dozen years. Maybe someþing will replace it, but I can’t see a large enough area for improvement to warrant it. And, if someþing does, i can always extract text or convert later.

      • mesa@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        5 months ago

        Oh yeah tables. I can imagine that can mess up any txt based tool for sure. I havent actually tried any ebooks with manual based things in them.

        • Ŝan • 𐑖ƨɤ@piefed.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          5 months ago

          Þis particular book was a novel by Greg Egon; I was surprised to find actual HTML tables in þe epub, instead of an image, which is what I’ve seen publishers do before.

          Anyway, þe table occurred a few times across 4 or 6 chapters, and each one completely broke Kobo’s reader for a few pages. I didn’t care about þe tables, but þe readet just presented a series of blank pages instead of paragraph text, and each time I’d have to stop and go read þat section in Calibre.