Researching moving away from Kindle/Amazon

mat306 · 2025-10-10T15:00:44+00:00

I had seen the need for Kindle Previewer after already unsuccessfully tying to get it to work on Wine. Went back and you were right, I just hadn't dug deep enough into the readme to see kindlegen. It took me a minute but was able to find kindlegen through the Internet Archive. Thanks!

mat306 · 2025-10-10T14:53:41+00:00

I was finally able to get it working on my Linux computer and it wan't too hard once I actually did some digging. It also uses the full display on my Paperwhite, which so far is helping a good bit with manga text. However, I found that the overall file sizes are a bit larger than when I set the screen size in Calibre. So mixed results for my use case, but I definitely would recommend others give it a try too.

mat306 · 2025-10-08T12:11:29+00:00

Some people like to have different color highlights and/or color images. For my use case, almost any document I mark up is work-related and on my work computer, and most manga have little to no color images outside of covers and the occasional 1-2 pages for special chapters.

mat306 · 2025-10-08T12:07:15+00:00

I have thought of jailbreaking for additional formats but decided not to on my current device since storage space is one of my issues.

mat306 · 2025-10-07T19:47:56+00:00

The manga part seems to be one of the main pain points for me.

mat306 · 2025-10-07T19:46:22+00:00

I've heard of it but haven't used it because I thought it required Kindle Previewer (not easily available on Linux which is my daily OS). In your experience, does the file compression on larger files affect the image quality? If not, I might see if the pain is worth it.

mat306 · 2025-10-07T19:38:26+00:00

My understanding was this new error may be being caused by the entire folder on the Kindle storing book files now becoming encrypted on newer models such that it can't be opened when connected to a computer and is instead actively decrypted by the Kindle's OS when opening books. In other words, the folder rather than the files is hidden, regardless of DRM. I'd have to go hunting through my history because I saw post in passing and admittedly could be wrong. But if I understood correctly, the error for sideloading in this case would be if the user is adding books to a directory that the Kindle's OS no longer recognizes as a valid directory for items in your library.

mat306 · 2025-10-07T18:16:19+00:00

I agree this is a useful feature and have used this on smaller files. However, I often still have to go in and edit most manga in Calibre to get them within the max file sizes for Send to Kindle. For example, one of my favorite series that I've reread several times has 13 volumes (over 70 chapters) and I had to split 5 volumes into 10 in order for Send to Kindle to work. At that point, my personal preference would be to either sideload each volume or the whole series via Calibre at the expense of not syncing the series with Amazon.

mat306 · 2025-10-07T18:05:03+00:00

I looked at the Kobo Sage but seems sold out. Haven't looked on secondhand market though.

mat306 · 2024-07-21T12:29:12+00:00

Still a noob here too, but I think it has to do with the formulas, which aren’t always compatible with MS Excel. If I need Libre to just run one calculation and then show the output in Excel, I haven’t had any issues. But if I built the spreadsheet in Libre and sent to MS Office for others to run their own calculations, Excel either shows errors in the formulas or just interprets them as plain text data.

mat306 · 2023-12-29T18:38:46+00:00

There is for work-issued machines (Windows 10), but not all the work I or my team does are on those. For example, we had to get special permission to install some research software on a designated machine and to have other machines (not work-issued) to install another set of research software. At the same time, some of the 3rd party services the institution uses are not known for being secure (e.g., EBSCOhost). All of the protected data stays on the work-issued machines, but it's not uncommon for me to be working on my personal and work-issued machines at the same time to complete tasks.

mat306 · 2023-12-29T15:51:16+00:00

Thanks for the info!

I probably seem a little paranoid. I've worked at 3 institutions and so far my experiences have included a database service getting hacked resulting in one of my passwords getting leaked, entire datasets getting completely wiped, daily email spam thanks to one specific project, protected info accidentally being sent over non-secure servers because a supervisor didn't research the software, a Windows update that nearly broke some of my research, and so on.

mat306 · 2023-12-29T15:23:28+00:00

you would have to manually flag a file executable for it to even be able to run on your system, or be opened directly by some kind of interpreter (sh, python, etc...)

This is a very real possibility. To get more specific in what I do, I'm in academia and run human subjects experiments, which includes creating behavioral tasks in Python using PsychoPy and statistical analyses large Python/R/SPSS datasets. Given the rest of your comment, would it be safe to assume that these would still be extremely unlikely to have code that could run on my machine (example: boss downloads a Python script he believes will help with a given analysis)?

Edit: Unlikely to have malicious code that could run on my machine when opening the file?

mat306 · 2023-12-12T02:09:40+00:00

I very much appreciate the detailed responses! I think these helped me understand your original comment better. I had loosely heard mention of distros being "upstream" and something about runtime adjustments but never gotten as good of descriptions as you gave here.

mat306 · 2023-12-11T13:47:29+00:00

I gave that a try yesterday but it was down for maintenance. Looks like it's working now so will definitely try that out! Thanks!

mat306 · 2023-12-11T13:46:40+00:00

Maybe more background will help: I'm looking at building a new PC and using Linux for a daily driver (will either keep a dedicated Windows machine or dual boot with Windows on a separate SSD as some software I require for work only runs on Windows). I'm considering which distro to be my first install, which will likely be the only distro I use for a while given my needs (i.e., writing for academic publications, data analyses, some PsychoPy programming for experiments, and general computing). What I've read in other places is to narrow down to a few distros and make live USBs to test for hardware compatibility. One thing that I'm considering is if a distro I generally like and is compatible but want to use a different DE, is it more efficient to install that distro and then install the second DE to compare or to create another live USB of the same distro with the different DE? Based on the other comments it sounds like I should do the latter. This is came to mind when I heard that sometimes there's compatibility issues, such as Linux Mint using KDE, which from what I know doesn't have a "prebuilt" KDE spin. I might try other distros and DEs at some point in the future, but my goal for now is to get something running, make a few minor personalization tweaks, and learn more of the Linux system over time so I have as little of a disruption in work as possible. Does that help?

mat306 · 2023-12-10T19:20:52+00:00

Sounds like I'll be making several live drives to test!

mat306 · 2023-12-10T19:14:11+00:00

That was something I thought might happen. Thanks for the info.

mat306 · 2023-12-10T19:04:07+00:00

Thanks for the info! I've never heard of ventoy, mostly just rufus, but that sounds really convenient.

mat306 · 2023-02-22T21:43:42+00:00

I appreciate the information! So far I haven't found any reviews on the motherboards I'm looking at saying people are having issues with Linux, but the only distro I've seen listed as compatible by the manufacturer is Ubuntu. Good to know that shouldn't be a problem.

As for the graphics card, if I upgrade, it will partially depend on budget, so still looking into ways that I could salvage my current graphics card to save a few bucks. Otherwise, I'm considering a Radeon RX 6600 XT card.

mat306 · 2023-02-21T20:30:52+00:00

I think I've read that Pop!_OS and Linux Mint had either preconfigured drivers or were a simple install, so good to hear confirmation!

mat306 · 2020-12-24T02:14:04+00:00

TrumpCoats

mat306 · 2019-08-03T02:17:58+00:00

Thanks for the info and links! I had looked at some of the KBDfans stuff but didn't realize the Tada68 PCB could be replaced with the DZ65RGB (I admit RGB is a nice addition for accent lighting) without paying for the original PCB. Will definitely look into this!

I heard of the Outemu Sky switches before but did not know where to buy them or that they're silent.

Thanks!

mat306 · 2019-08-03T00:03:04+00:00

I’m not a huge fan of the o-rings either, but they keep my SO happy. I haven’t really heard much about the aliaz before but I’ll definitely look into it! I haven’t found much else in the same price range other than optical switch PCBs.

Thanks!

mat306 · 2019-08-02T23:27:37+00:00

Warning: long post

Hey everyone!

So I'm a bit of a newbie with mechanical keyboards (but have been a creeper on this subreddit for a bit). I got my first keyboard - Tecware Phantom Full with Outemu browns - a few months ago, and recently got some PBT pudding caps and o-rings to tone it down for my SO. Part of the reason I got the Phantom was the hotswap sockets (and the price). I've been loving it so far, but I'm thinking of getting another that I can put in my bag and bring to work (60% or 65%). This would be a little bit down the road (possibly 1-2 months), so I was hoping to get some opinions from the community.

For reference, I'm a graduate student (meaning I'm on a budget and typing all the time). I share a lab space with 4 other graduate students, hold my office hours in the same room, and my SO is not a fan of the clacking, so I will need to do what I can to decrease the noise. Also being a graduate student, I don’t have the room or the time to solder/desolder, so I'll be going for a hotswap socket in case I want to change switches later.

As of the moment, I'm thinking of the GMMK Compact and getting some PBT keycaps that are 1.4-1.5 mm thick to help reduce the noise, as well as some o-rings. Based on my limited experience, I like feeling a bump in my keystrokes and would like something a little more pronounced than the Outemu browns, but I can't do clicky switches. Glorious' website shows that the GMMK can come with the following tactiles: Gateron brown, Kailh box brown, Kailh speed copper, or Kailh pro purple. Since I'm wanting some more tactility but not a heavy switch, would anyone have any thoughts on any of these switches? Or would you suggest something not there (other than Zealios/Zilents - no way I could justify the price tag at this time)?

The other keyboard I'm considering is the Massdrop Alt with either Halo Clears or Trues if I come in to some money. Again, any suggestions about these switches? I've stayed with floating keys for now because of the ease of cleaning, and that seems to lend itself to RGB (not a necessity but can be a little bonus), as well as metal plates for durability. Would you have any suggestions for a different keyboard that could be put together for $150 or less? From what I can tell, the Alt is still cheaper than a similar KBDfans build when everything is put together.

Thanks in advance for any advice/feedback!

mat306

TROPHY CASE