A good alternative seems to be Onyx Boox Max2 which seems to be more open (android based and can use all the normal apps including sync etc), have similar functionality and can also work as an external hdmi screen.
I wouldn't recommend any of the Onyx Boox products. Sure they may run android, but:
* They run an ancient version of android (Android 6 or Android 5, I don't remember)
* This ancient version of android runs a kernel that is susceptible to multiple vulnerabilities (like DirtyCOW)[0], and the developers have disabled selinux
* Kernel sources are not released, in violation of the GPL and the last time I checked, it seemed like there was evidence of ripped off applications/IP theft in bundled but hidden applications.
* The bootloader is locked
* Access to the wacom digitizer is only possible through a proprietary blob, which has to be incorporated into an application that wishes to use it. Therefore, the stylus support has a tremendous lag for any application that is not an onyx-made application.
* Handwriting recognition requires connection to their cloud services
Their forums are down right now, but people have been begging them to at least comply with the GPL and release kernel sources for years now [1,2]. The last time I checked, there were 3 separate threads about this on their front page.
It's a really tragic situation for such nice hardware. I can't think of any reasons why the company wouldn't want to open the source unless they were hiding something or were afraid of getting ripped off by other OEMs. The only thing that the onyx devices had over the ReMarkable is storage, but seeing as how the RM can be modded to accept an SD card[3] and has first-class linux support, it's the better choice IMO.
All of what you say is true, but I'd still recommend the devices. The nova pro has been the best ereader device I've had. The software has gotten quite good as well. They said they will release android 9 for other devices than the Max3 but I believe it when I see it.
I know that they actually submitted requests to incorporate changes into third party apps like evernote to support better rendering for their devices, which was denied. I think this is a limitation of android which they work around with their "SDK", but I could be wrong.
The GPL thing, judging from the forum discussion to me seems like whoever is responding is a middle man. And the Leadership quite literally doesn't understand it. IP theft doesn't really matter for China in the way it does for the US anyway. And it doesn't really matter for the kernel anyway. Actually it doesn't matter in most places unless you're big enough to have big license issues and even then even when strings match historically it was hard to make a case in court. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think they're hiding it because of IP theft but rather because they don't understand the GPL or the value of open source. The flip side is that you can easily root the device because of the exploits.
I've used the Max 2 both with termux and vim to ssh outdoor and as a monitor for a one mix 2s laptop I had at the time. 2GB Ram(the original max 2) wasn't really enough for my emacs setup so it would crash emacs when I was using org mode. I think the Max 3 is probably nice, but at the same time it's not really that big an upgrade that I would pay for it.
> Access to the wacom digitizer is only possible through a proprietary blob, which has to be incorporated into an application that wishes to use it. Therefore, the stylus support has a tremendous lag for any application that is not an onyx-made application.
Don't know what the technical details are, but I have an Onyx device and this is not true. I use other apps with a stylus and there is no lag. If there is some technical lag, perceptually it is not there.
Regarding the old version of the kernel, I would obviously not use such a device as an internet-facing server, but for reading ebooks and sketching and syncing files? What attack surface are we afraid of here?
This really sad. I was about to get an onyx 2 (or 3) - but gpl violations, locked boot loader and no asop support...
On the other hand reMarkable seems to have open boot/kernel - but proprietary gui. Maybe it's possible to port a android to it?
Really feels odd to invest in a computing device without a good developer experience - at least for the onyx i could just write an android app to scratch an itch.. :-/
I use this for reading and annotating papers. It's great for that use case thanks to the large screen and auto-crop feature of the PDF reader, but the writing experience, while very good, isn't good enough to replace a real notebook.
Also it's a bit too heavy to hold one-handed while reading on a couch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSv0g-pYMAk