On 14-04-13 06:57 AM, Thinker Rix wrote:
Yes, but I generally prefer to buy a printed and bonded hard copy as
"primary reading book" which I read from "front to back".
I generally dislike ebooks for various reasons (such as: desktop
screen reading sucks; handheld devices such as tablets, ebook-readers,
smartphones are non-liberated; most ebooks are "DRM - digital
restrictions managed", etc.). The reason that I was asking for a PDF
version above was that I am currently somewhere else than my hard copy
and just wanted to quickly look up something again that I had already
read in my hard copy.
0. Sign up for the Gold support package.
1. buy a Kobo e-reader, don't sign up or update the firmware. Turn off
WiFi.
2. sideload the DRM-free pfSense ePub file over USB (or optionally load
it onto the Kobo using Calibre).
...done.
You now have a hand-held e-reader (running Linux, and hackable) with
*no* active DRM whatsoever, with a best-in-class e-Ink (front-lit if you
bought the Kobo Aura) screen.
Or:
0. Sign up for the Gold support package.
1. download the DRM-free pfSense PDF file.
2. spend about as much, or slightly more, money as above to get it
printed and bound. Most major cities now have a bookseller with a
self-publishing unit that can do single-copy runs. For that matter,
print it on your own laser printer and just take it to a bindery.
I agree that reading on a monitor sucks, but if you only needed to look
something up, I don't understand your problem. The world isn't perfect.
Increasingly, "most" ebooks are DRM-free. Current market surveys
suggest we've just crossed the 50% mark, with less DRM happening every
day. Random House, IIRC, being the notable holdout (*grumble*). I
currently own (have paid for, or otherwise legally acquired) over 800
eBooks, of which precisely one is DRM-encumbered. (None of the local
bookstores had that book in stock.)
As to the "liberated" comment, let us know when you've figured out how
to make a completely open eReader that doesn't sell for >$1000. Kobo
has done a damn good job of adhering to both the spirit and the letter
of the GPL, and although you're strongly encouraged to stay within their
walled garden, you aren't forced to do so. A majority of their own
titles are now DRM-free, anyway.
(Weird: all the mailing lists I subscribe to seem to be suffering from a
re-occurrence of the September That Never Ended, over the last few
months - what's up with that??)
--
-Adam Thompson
[email protected]
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