Is Kindle Compatible With Linux?
In most ways the Kindle is Linux-compatible. Linux users can still manage the files on the Kindle manually via USB cord, and may be able to manage music files on their Kindle using their music player. Some e-book converters for Linux work perfectly with the Kindle, though the Kindle for PC application may or may not work depending on your distribution.
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File Management
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You can open the Kindle in your file manager on Linux -- the e-reader does not have any limitations in letting you access your files. You can manually drop your e-books into the "Documents" folder, as well as access the file where you store notes and clippings in order to copy the notes to your computer. Keep in mind that the document will have to be compatible with the Kindle (AZW, PDF, HTML, TXT, RTF, DOC, MOBI and PRC).
Music Management
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The Kindle offers experimental support for MP3 files, allowing you to listen to music while you read. Users with Rhythmbox -- a GNOME-compliant music player that comes with Ubuntu -- and the "Portable Players - MTP" plugin enabled will be able to add and remove music from their Kindle directly from Rhythmbox. However, if your music player does not recognize the Kindle, you can still open it in the file manager and add files manually to the "Music" folder.
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Kindle for PC
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The Kindle reading and e-book management program for the PC -- simply called Kindle for PC -- does not offer a Linux-friendly version, and the application is hit-or-miss using the Windows emulation program, Wine. The Wine Application database shows it as working with Ubuntu 9.10 (released October 2009) and Arch Linux, but no other data appears for other Linux distributions.
E-book Conversion
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While you cannot read your e-books using the Kindle PC software, you can still manage and convert your ebook library on your Linux machine using the eBook management software Calibre. Calibre can convert most e-book formats to MOBI (a non-DRM Kindle-compatible format), and even email those documents to your Kindle address, making it easy to manage e-books you downloaded from sources other than Amazon, such as Project Gutenberg or Archive of Our Own.
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References
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