mesa
Ebook Readers and Book MachinesThe Xteink X4 is a cheap, locked-down pocket e-reader. CrossPoint, a community open-source firmware, turns it into the reader it should have shipped as, and installing it takes one click in a browser, provided you buy the right unit.
I loaded crosspoint on my locked down reader via microsd.
That's awesome! Thanks for the link!
I'm loving my little Xteink X4
It's quite something that owning your own stuff feels like a revelation. It should always have been open and governments are asleep at the wheel.
Open all the things!
Seriously, edit the post... It's not locked-down! It just ships with basic firmware.
The Chinese ones are indeed locked down, they have a burnt efuse preventing USB flashing. There are however workarounds, but it's still recommended to buy the non locked versions of these instead.
There’s nothing “locked down” about these. They just had underwhelming factory firmware. I’m pretty sure user-replaceable firmware was sold as a feature.
The "locked down" aspect is actually just warning not to buy from 3rd parties on ali express... they lock the firmware.
The stock device from source is fine. Its a bad headline.
Where's the source?
https://www.xteink.com/
That there is a really active open source community for ebook readers now is really awesome. Haven't gotten around to it, but now I can finally set up something self-hosted to sync notes and reading prices between devices and my laptop where I can actually do something with my notes.
Not a word mentioning that Crosspoint is vibed. Sure I'll flash hardware with that...
Vibed or not, it works great. I love Crosspoint. I give zero fucks about how it was designed, because it works.
yeah fuck ethics as long as I can get things I like!
You have a funny definition of "ethics." Pre-AI we had plenty of closed, proprietary e-reader software that locked books, pushed forced shitty updates, and treated users like cash cows.
This is free, open-source MIT firmware that doesn’t do any of that and actually works. But hey man, here are some fake purity points for ya for refusing anything that might have touched an AI. Feel better?
I’m a Kopimist. I believe information, knowledge, and ideas should be freely shared, copied, and built upon, not treated as private property. I don't pay for AI either; I only use free versions. So arguments about AI "stealing" training data or owing royalties don't carry any weight with me. I believe knowledge should be shared, not owned.
Nothing you said bothers me at all, and none of that makes free, open-source, non-extractive firmware that works better than the closed alternative ethically radioactive just because an LLM might have been used somewhere in development. Brother, if that’s the only axis you’re scoring, the golf clap is mutual.
People walk into buildings every day that were designed and built by workers who got paid for their jobs while working on them, then the pay stopped when they were done. Those workers don’t collect a fee from every subsequent user, and other people are free to put up similar buildings based on the same layout. The fact that the original work happened doesn’t turn every later use into theft or an ethical violation.
The “how was some of the code written” objection doesn’t magically convert it into something that screws people over. I don’t give a shit how AI was trained, because I don’t think someone is allowed to own an idea. If I build a house and you like it, and then you follow the same exact method and tools to build your own, it wouldn’t bother me at all.
I don't give a fuck if AI is reading what I write right now and being trained on it. Doesn't bother me at all.
I write and publish plenty of original works, and then make them public domain and I've been doing that for 20 years now. AI is free to train on everything I've ever created if it wants to.
AI isn’t going away. You can keep purity testing everything all day. You’ll have to start living an Amish lifestyle though, because it’ll be incorporated into everything. And you're free to stop using products, but before long you won’t be able to tell what products use AI. Then what are you gonna do?
So AI bothers you? Ok, cool. It doesn't bother me. We don't have to agree. Move on and don't let it ruin your day.
I see you chose to answer my first question with a bold inclusive yes... I am just happy that I don't have to walk a mile in your shoes, the endless honking would have driven me crazy. But don't let me break your stride
Like I said, none of your arguments have swayed me at all. I’m a Kopimist, and I believe information, knowledge, and ideas should be freely shared, copied, and built upon, not treated as private property. I don’t pay for AI either; I only use free versions. So arguments about AI “stealing” training data or owing royalties don’t carry any weight with me. I believe knowledge should be shared, not owned.
So no, you're not breaking my stride at all. I love Crosspoint, and I continue to use it on my ereader. :)
I don’t believe it is a vibe coded project in the sense of “let the AI code the whole thing, no questions asked”. This software has a stable release cycle with a healthy amount of contributors.
Sure, some things might be AI assisted, but to be realistic, which project is not these days?
The pro-pollution, pro-cognitive-atrophy, pro-corporation community - in other words, the pro-AI community - are doing their best to convince people that AI is the new normal. Don't believe it.
I am glad you asked!
https://codeberg.org/ethical-foss/ai-free-foss-alternatives
https://noailist.org/
There are plenty LLM-free alternatives to cover most things, it kinda depends on your requirements. I am not gonna lie, some things are an outright hassle to replace if you prefer your stack slopfree, but you can get far without compromising too much imo.
