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Posted by Curiositry 12/16/2025

Quill OS: An open-source OS for Kobo's eReaders(quill-os.org)
467 points | 152 commentspage 3
habosa 12/16/2025|
I’m trying to leave the Kindle world. I’ve already stopped buying books on Amazon, instead getting them elsewhere and using Calibre to strip the DRM and sideload them.

What I really want is a physical eink reader that can load books from the bookshop.org ebook store. Then I can support both authors and bookstores.

Their website claims that they have an integration with Kobo on the way, but it’s said this for about a year now with no progress.

mesaoptimizer 12/16/2025||
Reminds me of Project Oberon: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38892164 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9847955
Schlagbohrer 12/16/2025||
Considering the Kobo ereaders have bluetooth antennas, it is really too bad that they cant be put on the FindMy network to find a lost ebook. Open source firmware should enable that though since the FindMy protocol has been reverse engineered.
cromka 12/16/2025|
So you mean it's not _currently_ possible, not that they _can't_ be put on the network?
didacusc 12/16/2025||
If they ever make a Kobo like the Kindle Oasis, I'll switch. Until then, I'm holding onto the best e-reader experience I've ever had.
ulfw 12/16/2025||
Why would i need another OS for ... an e-reader? Are people just so bored? Who would keep this up-to-date? And why?
Western0 12/16/2025||
I need ssh+mc+cc+git

not for real coding but for sometimes writing a patch and meybe creating a small script

EbNar 12/16/2025||
I'd try it but sadly disassembling an IP68 device is a no go for me. :(
caratamba 12/19/2025||
The design of Quill is terrible. It runs on marginal hardware, so you have to give the user clear and consistent feedback of what is happening. I want to see a textual boot with a lot of explanations of the interminable delays. I want to know what is happening when I press a button. It launches to a screen that says "InkBox" and sits there. Will it eventually do something? What? Is it hung? Is it broken?

The UX is absolutely awful. Do better. Score is -10 until you think of the user experience.

caratamba 12/19/2025|
Edit: this is the worst ui/ux I have ever seen. You click something. It is working? Is it doing something? Who knows?

People who are too narcissistic or too selfish to think of others and their expereience should not be designing a ui/ux.

Update the progress bar under "InkBox" fo god's sake. It looks like it's sitting there frozen for minutes at a time. Are you a sadist?

And then the progress bar goes away and it just sits there. What is happening? A traditional linux boot log screen would be better. Are you trying to make us miserable?

Than I click on a book and the screen changes a bit but it just sits there. You're presumably a sadistic person who just wants to make everyone miserable. WHAT IS HAPPENING?

tuananh 12/16/2025||
what's the recommended ereaders now aday? with an open OS?
listenfaster 12/16/2025|
Rakuten, the company behind kobo, has always tolerated hacking their devices, so there are several options, including KOReader, Plato and the subject here, Quill. Personally I think Kobo is your best option, if i understand your ‘open OS’ requirement.
wkat4242 12/16/2025||
Not anymore! They've recently moved to closing their devices with signed firmware
systems 12/16/2025|
is it a linux?
voxadam 12/16/2025|
https://github.com/Quill-OS/rootfs

Yep.