That was actually a fun read, and if we lived in a just society, Adobe would be forced to care about making shitty software. But alas.
At least there’s some easy workarounds.
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
Conversion from epub to txt is a highly lossy process, there’s a lot of formatting that gets thrown away.
Regardless of how individual ebook readers may display epubs a little differently, epub is an open format so I would recommend keeping it in that form at least for archival purposes.
Does DeDRM still work? The last time I tried under Linux I was unable to get it to run. If I remember correctly, ADE was the culprit.
I banged my head on this four many hours and couldn’t get it to work directly in Linux. The key issue seemed to be that ADE and Kobo had to be installed on the same device, so I’ve resorted to using a Windows VM (VirtualBox). It works fine enough.
I’ve used libgourou successfully many times in the past year to remove DRM using my ADE key.
I angrily started doing this for every book I buy after changing reading device to a newer Kobo, and discovering that all the download links for .acsm files that my book store provides will expire after two years. I.e. after those two years it’s impossible to move them to a new device unless I remove DRM.
How do you get your ADE key?
It works for non amazon books at least last i tried. Works on library books…but that feels wierd. I have enough money to buy books now, so sometimes i just op for the real thing.
I have had luck reaching out to authors in the past. One even recommended yoho so that was funny.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Baen library was one of the first (older than amazon!) To let you buy and add ebooks drm free. And any format too.
I had some of thier books on an old palmpilot.
Never heard of it, i’ll check it out, thank you!
Yeah hate that problem. Tend to just get the epub from “somewhere” and then buy the book and never download it (or donate to the author directly if they have that option). Saves a lot of time, but is ridiculous. I just want to read the book i just bought…
Do people have suggestions other than Kobo for a color ereader? I am trying to avoid feeling too locked down/in and thought Kobo was that. I’m still rocking an old nook I got for a few bucks at a thrift store years ago. I was led to believe Kobo was the most open option while still having access to local libraries.
I enjoy Kobo after switching from Kindle 2 years ago.
I originally bought it to stop giving Bezos money and because Kobo promised bookshop.org support (money goes to local bookshops). This is still pending and extremely disappointing. It is easy to get books from Libraries (Libby), Kobo store, or add them through the cloud like Google Drive and other options. Libby support is pretty important to me. I basically only pay for 10% of my books now, but the library rentals still support the authors.
There are a few Android based ones and there’s one alternative that just uses Koreader by default lol, Kobo is the probably most cost effective and accessible though.
I use an Android tablet, full color, fast page loading.
First thing I’ve done after buying kobo installed koreader on it.
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.
It can be installed on almost any kobo e-reader, I think, there were some problems with newest devices from last year or so (not sure if they still persist).
Not all. Some of the very old ones you will have issues. I know i did on a old one. But it does work on android!
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.
Only if they run Android. Not sure if all of them do. You’ll have to check your specific device.
That’s wrong? Most of them work, from koreader wiki
this is a great article, actually. i didn’t realize what a process it was for compatibility between devices.
and damn adobe is annoying.
Adobe? Kobo? I just drop epubs on Books.app and they show up on my iPhone. Never had an issue. /shrug
Very different reading experience with e-ink devices vs tablets/smartphones.
