this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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Kobo devices work out of the box, and they are very hacker friendly, a good middle ground. They run mainline Linux with a custom UI, but you can change that to other systems, e.g. PostmarketOS (an alpine based linux distro) or install more fully featured reader programs like Koreader. With some hacking you can use the devices without a Kobo account. Some devices run from a simple sd card, so you can easily grow storage size, and easily backup the whole system. Most devices have hidden a serial port inside, with some soldering you can connect peripherials!
I have a clara hd, I use it as a tactical glide computer with xcsoar,, with an external serial gps and barometer
I'm not going to lie. A lot of that went right over my head. But I see a fair amount of praise for Kobo. I looked at them in the past but I can't remember why I didn't pull the trigger and get one.
Ok, elevator pitch for muggles:
They are good devices, and there is a huge hacker community behind them. Having a hacker community means, that they are not locked down, and when the manufacturer will disappear you can still use them with some tricks. You really own them, you can do whatever you want with them.
Any kobos with an sd slot currently? I can't find any with anything about that
Libra 2 and Clara 2E both have internal micro sd, from the currently available models. You have to remove the back cover of the reader to replace them. Wiki lists all features of all readers, check the "Storage" column: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobo_eReader