KOBO ebooks (drm protected) readers for linux

Soviet_Mario

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Aug 10, 2022, 8:05:26 PM8/10/22

to

I am willing to purchase some ebooks, but I find them only
in the "KOBO" reader (drm protected) file format.

Since I've never used them, does anybody know if there is a
foss READER for linux (no kindle, smartphone or else) ?

Or even better : would some other reader (okular, djvu) be
able to dodge the DRM and read them ?

I'd not want to buy sth I could possibly be unable to read :\

tnx in advance

--
1) Resistere, resistere, resistere.
2) Se tutti pagano le tasse, le tasse le pagano tutti
Soviet_Mario - (aka Gatto_Vizzato)

corvid

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Aug 10, 2022, 9:07:38 PM8/10/22

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On 8/10/22 08:22, Soviet_Mario wrote:
>
> I am willing to purchase some ebooks, but I find them only in the
> "KOBO" reader (drm protected) file format.
>
> Since I've never used them, does anybody know if there is a foss
> READER for linux (no kindle, smartphone or else) ?
>
> Or even better : would some other reader (okular, djvu) be able to
> dodge the DRM and read them ?
>
>
> I'd not want to buy sth I could possibly be unable to read :\
>
> tnx in advance

Not something I've ever used, but I found Calibre.

<https://calibre-ebook.com/whats-new>
Release: 5.44 [17 Jun, 2022] says
* Kobo driver: Support for updated firmware

Marco Moock

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Aug 11, 2022, 3:20:57 AM8/11/22

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On Wed, 10 Aug 2022 17:22:03 +0200
Soviet_Mario <Sovie...@CCCP.MIR> wrote:

> I am willing to purchase some ebooks, but I find them only
> in the "KOBO" reader (drm protected) file format.

I do not recommend it. DRM is security by obscurity and therefore the
publishers will not publish how their DRM works, so other programs
can't implement it correctly until they know how it works.
The probability that it will work is very low.

--
kind regards
Marco

Soviet_Mario

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Aug 11, 2022, 9:54:54 AM8/11/22

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On 11/08/22 03:07, corvid wrote:
> On 8/10/22 08:22, Soviet_Mario wrote:
>>
>> I am willing to purchase some ebooks, but I find them only
>> in the
>> "KOBO" reader (drm protected) file format.
>>
>> Since I've never used them, does anybody know if there is
>> a foss
>> READER for linux (no kindle, smartphone or else) ?
>>
>> Or even better : would some other reader (okular, djvu) be
>> able to
>> dodge the DRM and read them ?
>>
>>
>> I'd not want to buy sth I could possibly be unable to read :\
>>
>> tnx in advance
>
> Not something I've ever used, but I found Calibre.

I have got it .... but I'm not sure it would crack open some
sort of drm protection (I'm speaking of regularly purchased
ebooks, not pirate ones ... if relevant, dunno)

>
> <https://calibre-ebook.com/whats-new>
> Release: 5.44 [17 Jun, 2022] says
> * Kobo driver: Support for updated firmware

Soviet_Mario

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Aug 11, 2022, 9:55:54 AM8/11/22

to

Oh tnx, I'll try to buy only "paper" books then

Marco Moock

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Aug 11, 2022, 10:33:26 AM8/11/22

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On Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:55:51 +0200
Soviet_Mario <Sovie...@CCCP.MIR> wrote:

> Oh tnx, I'll try to buy only "paper" books then

ebooks are ok if they provide them in a common format, like PDF, but
without DRM. Read more about the disadvantages of DRM here:
https://www.defectivebydesign.org/
DRM makes it very hard to open a file in the reader you want because
the DRM programmers need to keep the DRM code secret. If they publish
it, DRM would be worthless, because everybody could then see how they
decrypt it.

Soviet_Mario

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Aug 11, 2022, 3:36:55 PM8/11/22

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in fact, I was skeptical enough as to ask in the ng (since
I've had no previous experiences)

pinnerite

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Dec 14, 2022, 1:48:26 PM12/14/22

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On Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:54:53 +0200
Soviet_Mario <Sovie...@CCCP.MIR> wrote:

> On 11/08/22 03:07, corvid wrote:
> > On 8/10/22 08:22, Soviet_Mario wrote:
> >>
> >> I am willing to purchase some ebooks, but I find them only
> >> in the
> >> "KOBO" reader (drm protected) file format.
> >>
> >> Since I've never used them, does anybody know if there is
> >> a foss
> >> READER for linux (no kindle, smartphone or else) ?
> >>
> >> Or even better : would some other reader (okular, djvu) be
> >> able to
> >> dodge the DRM and read them ?
> >>
> >>
> >> I'd not want to buy sth I could possibly be unable to read :\
> >>
> >> tnx in advance
> >
> > Not something I've ever used, but I found Calibre.
>
> I have got it .... but I'm not sure it would crack open some
> sort of drm protection (I'm speaking of regularly purchased
> ebooks, not pirate ones ... if relevant, dunno)
>
> >
> > <https://calibre-ebook.com/whats-new>
> > Release: 5.44 [17 Jun, 2022] says
> > * Kobo driver: Support for updated firmware
>
>

Years ago I bought a book only to find it was in the wrong format.
I downloaded Calibre and ran through the conversion procedure
(including removing DRM).
It worked fine.
I wouldn't want to use it regularly though.
Too much hassle.

> --
> 1) Resistere, resistere, resistere.
> 2) Se tutti pagano le tasse, le tasse le pagano tutti
> Soviet_Mario - (aka Gatto_Vizzato)

I

--
Mint 20.3, kernel 5.4.0-132-generic, Cinnamon 5.2.7
running on an AMD Phenom II X4 Black edition processor with 16GB of
DRAM.

rek2 hispagatos

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Dec 18, 2022, 1:22:16 PM12/18/22

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Yeah same here I use Calibre to remove DRM

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https://hispagatos.space/@rek2