20$ isn't much so affordability is not a problem. The author also mentions on his website that he is able to discuss alternative payment methods on a case-by-case basis if you don't like PayPal.
Might as well be the opposite. :) I added full FOSS support to Linux kernel for one of the PocketBook e-book readers, including a custom driver for the e-ink display. Gave away all the reverse engineered information about the reader for free. After a year, community size is 0.
For this person, having a paywall might even work better psychologically, to get some interested people hooked.
The biggest friction as always, is actually creating something useful in userspace, writing apps, etc. That's waaay more than $20.
Hello, I'm "this person." :) Parabola-rM already has a few users. I think charging for the convenience of pre-built images, and offering support/gratis updates for some time, helps people be comfortable with playing "in the deep-end" so-to-speak. That, along with high-quality documentation and a plain, no-bullshit way of being.
That sounds amazing! Which one is it? Do you have a link?
I'd really like to experiment with all the new mobile Linux software on an e-reader. I can't guarantee anything, but the community may just grow a little :-)
Would you mind sharing some details about how you implemented the driver? I happen to have an ED097OC1 (possibly excess stock from the Kindle DX) on my hands and would like to drive it from a Linux system.
>20$ isn't much so affordability is not a problem.
It is, for me. I'd be willing to donate a smaller amount, though, but not an imposed fee over free software. That's my personal point of view--others, perhaps many, might think differently, sure.
No, it is. I decide what's affordable or acceptable for me. In any case, are you really implying that one's economic situation is invariable? That owning a certain piece of hardware automatically makes you economically buoyant? Too many wrong presuppositions. On top of that, I find it expensive based on other factors, especially it being "something that you can do by yourself with just a bit more effort."
> That owning a certain piece of software automatically makes you economically buoyant?
The point they were making wasn't about the software's objective cost but it's subjective one compared to the ~$500 pdf reader and not taking device which can't really be called a necessity. You're being obstinate.
>No, it is. I decide what's affordable or acceptable for me. In any case, are you really implying that one's economic situation is invariable? That owning a certain piece of hardware automatically makes you economically buoyant? Too many wrong presuppositions. On top of that, I find it expensive based on other factors, especially it being "something that you can do by yourself with just a bit more effort."
I'll reproduce the comment here. It's incredible it's been flagged. But, well, that's HN for you: lots of aggressive comments full of fallacies, censorship through downvotes and flagging, and almost no arguments, only ferocious defenses of firm personal ideologies.
The "author" is in his right to put a price tag on an OS--or on anything that he so desires--that is in any case heavily incompatible with the device it's been ported to, but that will make it more difficult for others to make it actually useful through improving on it and adapting it to the ReMarkable--which has a good hobbyist community behind it that puts out very good software (https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable) for free, even when it's usually much more thought out and vastly more useful than that Parabola port. I would've put it out for free and accepted voluntary donations, as I always do, but that's me.
You decide what's acceptable to you, yes. But in this case you deemed a $300 hardware device worth the money but you think this software product isn't even worth $20? Mind you, you're not just paying for the build here (which you can do yourself). You're paying for the development and porting work (which you can't easily do yourself and probably costs a lot more than $20).
Hi, I'm the guy behind Parabola-rM. If the cost is a problem, you can find other people and each chip in a small amount and share the files. This is your _right_ under the free software license.
Or, you may follow the instructions at no charge and have the same product in the end. The builds I provide are merely a convenience for those who don't want to follow the guide.
This doesn't seem like hindering anything. There's no legal block, there's no stopping you from RTFM and following the steps, it's not as if the author is even hiding the steps.
Paying for convenience isn't
a hinderance.
You just want the convenience at zero price.
I was confused about this. There is no repo, because what the person selling the kit is selling is a tarball that is a shortcut for his (well-researched and tested, of course) instruction manual for installing an OS that is available elsewhere. The manual itself is also available free of charge. It looks to be a bit of a pain to assemble the tarball by hand, not by design, by necessity.
I have no problem with the developer / author charging any amount for the tarball and following the licenses of the software. It's absolutely his right and the comments complaining really miss the point, if you can't afford / don't like it, read the instructions, download the source and do it yourself, you have that right
I was initially hoping for an e-paper optimized OS, which is what is still missing (luckily KOReader does a lot of what you need).
If you're generally interested in Linux on e-readers you might like that the people at Mobileread have managed to install Debian and Alpine Linux [0] on various Kindle models.
It seems worth mention that actually using a desktop OS UI on your ReMarkable will wear out the screen in no time flat. You need to minimize limit the number of rewrites to the same spot.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 77.8 ms ] threadNo, thanks. Way to hinder community development and tinkering.
I don't mind paying for good work.
For this person, having a paywall might even work better psychologically, to get some interested people hooked.
The biggest friction as always, is actually creating something useful in userspace, writing apps, etc. That's waaay more than $20.
I'd really like to experiment with all the new mobile Linux software on an e-reader. I can't guarantee anything, but the community may just grow a little :-)
Would you mind sharing some details about how you implemented the driver? I happen to have an ED097OC1 (possibly excess stock from the Kindle DX) on my hands and would like to drive it from a Linux system.
It is, for me. I'd be willing to donate a smaller amount, though, but not an imposed fee over free software. That's my personal point of view--others, perhaps many, might think differently, sure.
No, it is. I decide what's affordable or acceptable for me. In any case, are you really implying that one's economic situation is invariable? That owning a certain piece of hardware automatically makes you economically buoyant? Too many wrong presuppositions. On top of that, I find it expensive based on other factors, especially it being "something that you can do by yourself with just a bit more effort."
The point they were making wasn't about the software's objective cost but it's subjective one compared to the ~$500 pdf reader and not taking device which can't really be called a necessity. You're being obstinate.
>No, it is. I decide what's affordable or acceptable for me. In any case, are you really implying that one's economic situation is invariable? That owning a certain piece of hardware automatically makes you economically buoyant? Too many wrong presuppositions. On top of that, I find it expensive based on other factors, especially it being "something that you can do by yourself with just a bit more effort."
I'll reproduce the comment here. It's incredible it's been flagged. But, well, that's HN for you: lots of aggressive comments full of fallacies, censorship through downvotes and flagging, and almost no arguments, only ferocious defenses of firm personal ideologies.
The "author" is in his right to put a price tag on an OS--or on anything that he so desires--that is in any case heavily incompatible with the device it's been ported to, but that will make it more difficult for others to make it actually useful through improving on it and adapting it to the ReMarkable--which has a good hobbyist community behind it that puts out very good software (https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable) for free, even when it's usually much more thought out and vastly more useful than that Parabola port. I would've put it out for free and accepted voluntary donations, as I always do, but that's me.
Or, you may follow the instructions at no charge and have the same product in the end. The builds I provide are merely a convenience for those who don't want to follow the guide.
Paying for convenience isn't a hinderance. You just want the convenience at zero price.
If you're generally interested in Linux on e-readers you might like that the people at Mobileread have managed to install Debian and Alpine Linux [0] on various Kindle models.
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcZiVo1z4Eg