Hacker News Reader

Comment by fny | Hacker News Reader

If there is a remarkable person that sees this, please embrace the hacker community. It is a huge asset to have us by your side, and it's a huge differentiator from all the other tablets which have walled off developers.

Also, it would be pretty sweet some part of the API was documented.

View on HN

They just recently released their toolchain for the reMarkable 2 https://github.com/reMarkable/linux/issues/7 The toolchain for the rM1 has been out for a long time. Since it's just a linux device, there is a ton of existing documentation on how to work with it.

Wow! I've had their tablets since the first launch, and I had no idea had an active Github. This is a great first step.

My view of embrace is goes further than releasing an operating system. For some, it's a little intimidating for a dev to start with. :)

unfortunately, the sdk doesn't work with hi applications yet. the way the screen works has changed significantly. There are community projects that make it work though: https://github.com/ddvk/remarkable2-framebuffer

Yup, been throwing this link throughout the thread as well.

They already embrace the hacker community. You can ssh right into the device, which runs Linux. And it has USB OTG pogo pins on the side, so you can slap any extra hardware onto it if you like.

Aren't their devices already really hack-friendly?

They are pretty hacker firendly, but it's always good to show that this is something that people like

Just saying on the website or somewhere else officially that being able to ssh in is a feature and not something they just left there and may remove later would make the device a lot more attractive.

It's not a accident that ssh is enabled. It is mentioned in official documentation (https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/36000266255...) and also part of their promise to be compliant with GPLv3. Would be weird if they suddenly decided it was OK to break GPL and remove ssh access. Not only would the people who bought it because it's so open (like me) try to return it, I'm sure bunch of people would try to sue them for removing features post-launch as well.

It's quite nice. I own a R1 and it's a good ereader and notepad. It brings back memories about the Nokia N700-N9 series, a class of devices I really miss.

The Nokia N9 is my all time favourite gadget. Best phone I’ve ever owned.

Are none of the other eBook readers "hackable", and/or running a mostly-plain-vanilla Linux distribution?

Well the reMarkable isn't an eBook reader. That is something it can do, but it's more aimed at note taking. You also have root access out of box, which is not something that eBook readers give you.

A lot of eReaders nowadays have Wacom touchscreens, run android, and have an unlocked bootloader.

Unless you limit yourself to mainstream Western eReaders, it's not really the case anymore.

What are some models you recommend?

I quite like my Likebook, but I have the Mars model which doesn't have a pen input.

Wacom touchscreen or pen input? I don't know of any eReaders that have pen input.

Also, are these devices properly GPL compliant?

They do have Wacom pen inputs, plus a normal capacitive touchscreen, and are also compatible with third party pens.

I haven't inquired about GPL compliance.

What is the huge differentiator by having hackers on their side?

You should explain when you ask.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com