Kobo Desktop eReader

[Pinguy]

I have been thinking about adding a eReader to Pinguy OS as a default program but haven't come across a good one.
Kobo have released a Ubuntu version today and it seems like a really good reader.
You can find out more about it here.

Download Link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2183775/kobo-desktop.deb

Its only for 32-bit at the moment but it can be installed on a 64-bit system by right clicking in the folder you downloaded it to and selecting "Open in Terminal" then copying and pasting this:

Code: [Select]

sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture kobo-desktop.deb

[fatgiant]

A few worries about this...

1- What formats does it support?
2- Privacy settings?
3- Support for other eBook stores?
4- DRM on bought eBooks?

I know it's not up to you, and certainly NOT your fault, but this is the kind of apps that polluted Windows, and are now trying to do it to Linux.

Looks great, it may work really well, if you are willing to cope with the facts that the books you bought can never be read anywhere but on their app, and, they don't allow competition.

I have MILLIONS of eBooks. On almost every format, doc, rtf, html, pdf, lit, txt, epub, etc..... I haven't found anything able to read all of them, neither in Windows, nor in Linux. This one certainly isn't.

So I thank you, but, sorry, this I will NOT install.

[Pinguy]

I will do some more research on Kobo to see what it can do and what it cant. There are restrictions in using the Kobo software that I am not to happy about, like only being able to use there software to read the books you bought from them, but they do have there app for all smart phones and Android devices. Because of the restrictions I will leave the program out of the default install but I will try and make it easy for people to install that want to use it.

If you want a eReader that works with almost every book format you could give FBreader ago.



I just found it very basic and didn't like the look of it.

[fatgiant]

Yes, it is very basic, I already tried it, and didn't like the results at all.

I don't have a Windows installation anymore, so, I'm looking for solutions for Linux, and, there isn't any, that I've been able to find, that does what I need. Maybe with the rise in importance of the eBook market, somebody will give some attention to this.

But, the solution can't be a locked app, that you can only use with DRM'd files, and only from one origin. I don't much care about the format in which it works, as long as a converter for other formats is possible and available.

But, the application MUST be nice to look at, provide tools for bookmarking, library indexing, have a configurable reading interface, allow automatic page scroll (configurable), support for large and small monitors, and also high and low resolutions.

Ok, I know this is probably unreasonable, but, if Linux wants to be an alternative, applications must step out of the functionality closet and embrace a larger view. It doesn't have to start PERFECT, but, have that has a goal. For an app like that, I don't mind to pay, I would insist actually. But, I don't think there is developers in Linux interested on that, they prefer to reinvent the wheel and make redundant media players, forgetting that eBooks, it's also Media, like eMusic & eVideo.

So, test it has much has you want, but, the video on the presentation of Kobo, says it all. You can sync it to phone, but only with their own app. They only support their own bookstore, and I saw no access anywhere for external files. That, for me kills it.

[yugnip]

perhaps this comment will be the first to be flagged as 'so yugnip', but I find the comic readers to work well, and Comix:  http://comix.sourceforge.net/  seems to be a decent one for example.  All these ebooks are just different images no? So they should all work with a viewer like Comix. And it supports the stuff you want, like bookmarks, library, etc.  Or am I missing something that these other 'readers' have that the comics readers don't?

Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating for Comix to be included in the distro, just pointing out an alternative for ebook readers.

[Pinguy]

Comix is just an image viewer that has been optimised for comic book reading. An eReader is more like a PDF reader but designed for reading books, News papers and magazines on tablets and PC's.

At the moment its still a pretty new technology but will be something as common as mp3s soon. At the moment they are dealing with the same problems as mp3s did when it was first introduced. I do believe that Kobo will be the ones that will come out on top. They do want an open standard for eBooks and eReaders. There app for smart phones do have the ability  to import ePub or PDF files but the Linux desktop version hasn't got this feature yet.

You can read more about Kobo here:
http://tinyurl.com/2wob62y
http://tinyurl.com/2utpfqf
http://tinyurl.com/24sm8th

But for now I think the best option to go for is calibre, its already in the repo so all you need to install it is:

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install calibreHere's a Video of what it can do.

One feature that I do really like a lot with calibre is the ability to download the news from your favourite News outlet and it will turn it into a News paper for you.

[fatgiant]

Thanks for Calibre.

It's not perfect yet, but, it will do for now.

Just imported 1000 books to it, there are a few problems, but, I installed an old version.

Later on I'll uninstall it, install the latest and see if what was giving me problems is better by now.

So far, I do like it, I always avoided installing it, because it looked like KDE, and I avoid that.

Will update my opinion later.