I want to take it as a tool for reading/writing/studying and super basic browsing. My phone just broke, chat control just got approved and I’m sick of proprietary shit: I decided I’m not gonna buy anything which doesn’t hold free software anymore.

I love e-ink and I love Linux, but how usable is the pinenote with Linux? How hard is the install process? Can an average Linux user/self hoster use it daily? How’s battery? Couldn’t find many reviews online…

  • CrackedLinuxISO@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    3·
    21 hours ago

    I lile my pinenote a lot. I mostly use it for reading.

    As long as I’m reading or doing any touch-screen-y things (taking notes, viewing images, etc) it’s great! For anything that involves writing/copying/pasting text, it’s not very usable with just the on-screen keyboard, you really need an external bluetooth interface. I find web browsing very tedious if I have to type anything in the url bar without a physical keyboard.

    Also, it’s still very much a WIP. The version of Debian it shipped with had a bug where I couldn’t install any software updates without deleting some random lib64 directory. Once I did that, everything was fine. The device has no security by default, so I created a new user with an encrypted HOME.

    With import tariffs to the US, I ended up paying $500 for it, which really got me down. As a $400 open hardware machine, it would have been easier to look past the rougher edges. And I wish it had more RAM.

    But overall it’s worth it to me because I’ve wanted a more libre e-reader for a long time. It’s gotten me back into reading books, which has been a lot of fun. Plus, because it’s an actual computer, I set it up as a tablet-like interface to my home automations.