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Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by cpach on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:44AM (#24271242)
What formats does it handle? Can it handle EPUB for example?
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by alongreyber on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:49AM (#24271296)
For this I recommend Calibre: https://calibre-ebook.com/

It will convert any format of E-Book to a compatible format for the Kindle (usually MOBI) and allows you to upload it directly. I use it often and it's an amazing piece of software!

Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by umvi on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:54AM (#24271359)
I actually prefer KindleGen[0] to convert EPUB to MOBI - I find it produces a superior e-book.

Edit: Oh no, Amazon removed KindleGen! When did that happen? I still have x86 copies for Linux and windows if anyone wants it. Supposedly "Kindle Previewer" can do the same thing, but a cursory glance looks like it no longer supports Linux...

[0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000765...

Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by sreevisakh on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @10:04AM (#24271453)
> Edit: Oh no, Amazon removed KindleGen! When did that happen?

We know where this is going, don't we? Offering interoperability in the beginning and then gradually taking it away - the old bait and switch trick. We consumers fall for it again and again.

Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by wjdp on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @08:30PM (#24277838)
Aghh, I have (had?) a project that relied on downloading kindlegen as part of the CI/CD step. I just downloaded it from Amazon each time.

I doubt I have a copy of it somewhere. Does anyone have / know of a copy of kindlegen for Linux anywhere?

Edit: Wayback machine has it, thank god. Had a very real sense of loss there. Unsure why it's a project I've hardly touched for years. https://github.com/wjdp/gotdict for the interested.

Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by mobilio on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @10:17AM (#24271567)
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by umvi on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @10:39AM (#24271777)
Again though, KindleGen had Linux support, it looks like this doesn't...
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by Tijdreiziger on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @03:34PM (#24275119)
Damn, they removed KindleGen?! What a bummer!
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by criddell on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @10:49AM (#24271882)
It works pretty well except for the latest generation of Kindle DRM. AFAIK, it hasn't been cracked yet. There are workarounds but the workaround result in a lower quality book.
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by me_me_me on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @11:20AM (#24272243)
I second that, I have older Paper Kindle with only wifi. And I never connect to wifi, Calibre is excellent for managing kindle archive without amazon's breathing down my neck.

Highly recommend.

Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by UncleSam on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:48AM (#24271292)
No it cannot. It only supports Amazon's proprietary ebook formats: AZW and MOBI. I love the paperwhite, but the limited format support led me to choose a different ereader when I last bought a new one.

Edit: I know I could convert between formats, but that process is not always perfect and can lose important formatting.

Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by crashocaster on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:47AM (#24271275)
Loading books using programs like calibre [1] allows you to covert EPUB to MOBI (the kindle format) seamlessly before transferring. In my experience this works perfectly.

[1] https://calibre-ebook.com/

Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by Mediterraneo10 on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:46AM (#24271266)
The Kindle handles .mobi and .azw3. It is trivial to convert EPUB to MOBI before you send the book to the device over USB (it can even be done as part of a command-line script, for example).
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by anilakar on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:48AM (#24271294)
Having to deal with the .epub conversion was the main reason I ditched my Voyage and got a Kobo Aura One instead.
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by Mediterraneo10 on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:52AM (#24271328)
Why ditch a device just for that reason? Again, the OP assumes that one will transfer books to the device over USB for privacy’s sake. In this case, creating a shell wrapper around cp to automatically convert any EPUB to MOBI upon copying the file (naming the command, say, kindlecp) is trivial.
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by AlotOfReading on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @11:31AM (#24272375)
Conversion can occasionally barf and completely screw up the formatting. It's annoying to have to go back and re-convert with different settings for a problem that's non-existent when native support exists.
Re:Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of data by benologist on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @09:45AM (#24271259)
There are online converters for it all, the process is a little annoying but works fine and you can do it locally too with various tools:

https://www.epubconverter.com/epub-to-mobi-converter/