Hacker News Reader

Comment by LeoPanthera | Hacker News Reader

Kiwix offers downloadable material (including the full Wikipedia), in a format specifically designed for offline browsing.

https://wiki.kiwix.org/wiki/Content

Their Wikipedia bundle wasn't being updated for a while and had fallen out of date, but that seems to have been fixed now.

View on HN

This is what makes the 256GB iPad worth it, you can carry the entire Wikipedia (with pictures) around with you. It’s fantastic when on a plane or if you need to entertain yourself without Wi-Fi.

I "upgraded" the internal storage of my Kobo Glo HD (which is in fact using a 4GB MicroSD card as its onboard storage) to a 128GB. I can store the "all maxi" 82GB ZIM file on it. The Kobo firmware includes (but doesn't advertise) ZIM support, so I can browse Wikipedia on an eInk display and great battery life without Internet connectivity.

That would be a great post-apocalyptic knowledge archive, and it would be easy enough to recharge using a USB solar panel.

I've been wanting something like this for ages. I always thought the Kindle not having the full Wikipedia archive as an optional install was a massive missed opportunity, especially back when the Kindle had the keyboard at the bottom. It would have literally been the Hitchhikers Guide as explained in the books.

> The Kobo firmware includes (but doesn't advertise) ZIM support

This is one of the nicest hidden features/easter eggs I've ever come across. Thanks for sharing this!

Time to update XKCD: https://xkcd.com/548/

This comment convinced me to buy a kobo.

How's the search functionality in wikipedia when used like this?

You open the ZIM file as if it was an eBook, then you can use the search feature within it.

Example: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=276219

This sounds like an amazing idea. Thanks for the tip!

Or a Kobo with an external SD slot!

The link for this post has the full wikipedia, just not in a very readable form. I believe the grandparent comment was saying that wikipedia is a summary of original material such as books and scholarly articles.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com