Okay I have about 900 Kindle books that I've paid for.

[gcvsa@mstdn.plus]

@afewbugs the DRM stripping is done externally, by copying the files from the Kindle to a PC, so it doesn't have anything to do with any of the files on the Kindle. There's no way for Amazon to know.

[gavin57@toot.wales]

@afewbugs Bookshop.org do ebooks now, but there is also Kobo.

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@gcvsa I was just a bit concerned they would have something set up to compare files on the Kindle with what I've bought and know I'd done it. I do connect it to wifi to transfer books and sync with the kindle app on my phone and will stop doing that, but the app reports my "reading streak" which I find incredibly creepy and invasive so tehy're clearly tracking what i do on there

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@otherryn thank you!

[gcvsa@mstdn.plus]

@afewbugs But when you strip the DRM from the files, it doesn't remove the DRM from the files on the Kindle. Nothing changes on the Kindle. You just make a copy of the files on you computer, and strip the DRM from the copies.

[sheepnik@toot.wales]

@gavin57 @afewbugs I use Kobo mostly. I've not used Bookshop.org as it seems you can only use their app for reading, unless the book is sold as DRM-free.

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@gcvsa I was just worried Amazon would see the files on my Kindle when I put them back on my Kindle and compare them to ones I'd bought with DRM

[douginamug@mastodon.xyz]

@afewbugs ... it looks like KOReader supports all Kindles

Installation on Kindle devices

An ebook reader application supporting PDF, DjVu, EPUB, FB2 and many more formats, running on Cervantes, Kindle, Kobo, PocketBook and Android devices - Installation on Kindle devices · koreader/koreader Wiki

GitHub (github.com)

Gosh, it is only a half-recommendation though. It really does seem a bit nerds-for-nerds with the instructions for setting up.

[gcvsa@mstdn.plus]

@afewbugs But you won't be putting the files back on your Kindle, because the files are already on the Kindle and don't get removed when you copy them, and the Kindle will continue to work with the copies of the files on it that have the DRM intact.

[otherryn@sunny.garden]

@afewbugs It's so frustrating when the terms suddenly change, which is why I've stripped DRM and we now self-host all our media (movies, TV shows, music, ebooks, audiobooks, etc.).

The only problem is with the rise of AI datacenters, the price of hard drives has increased drastically so we're keeping an eye on prices because we're starting to run out of space. (And we need to move things into a new case with available space. When we remove the oil boiler and the fuel tank to put in the heat pump, we might set up a wall mounted server in the basement.)

[sheepnik@toot.wales]

@afewbugs There are Android ereaders that allow you to use apps for almost any source of books. Something like the Boox Go 6 might be a good device for you. I've had a Boox Leaf for 4 years and have been very happy with it, but I'd recommend doing a bit of reading about the devices so you know what the limitations are.
https://euroshop.boox.com/products/boox-go-6

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@gcvsa gotcha, sorry. You're talking about the de-drm'd versions as a backup but nothing with drm actually comes off my kindle. My problem is my kindle doesn't actually have enough storage to hold all my books, so I was planning on having all drm free files and just rotating them in and out, but you're right it would make more sense to just keep the drm free ones as a backup

[aegir@toot.wales]

@afewbugs I’ve recently got a Boox Go 7. I was very unsure about what to get, haunting review sites and so on. It’s good, the screen is amazing. I’ve got all my kindle and kobo books on there as well as loads of Gutenberg (standard ebooks versions) on there. I won’t ever get a restricted one like kobo or kindle ever again.

[leonid@norden.social]

@afewbugs Kobo is great. Tolino is the same hardware, but the software is worse.

I have the "Kobo Clara BW", kind of "Kindle Paperwhite". You can copy ePubs directly via USB.

[redthewizard@wandering.shop]

@afewbugs @sotolf I haven't connected my kindle to the internet in over half a decade now, not even sure when/if my model of kindle stopped being supported. Works just the way I want it to.

[sheepnik@toot.wales]

@afewbugs Another option to look at is Pocketbook, which is a European brand more like Kobo, but not tied to any one book store. Some of the newer models have access to Libby included, which is useful if your library service offers ebooks that way.
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/pocketbook-era-7-ereader-16-gb-silver-10275893.html

[kkarhan@jorts.horse]

@afewbugs #Sony's PRS line is good if you want an eInk reader.

• Generally, once you got the de-DRM'd files, you can use #Calibre to convert to #ePub which any other reader can handle.