awesome-reMarkable VS netsurf-reMarkable

Yeah, running Linux and having SSH are a massive plus for me too. I can use them as substitute Wacom tablets for basic drawing (design diagrams, sketches on calls etc) and check https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable every so often to see what cool new things I can do with them. :)

I think there may be a misunderstanding of my point.

The fact that GNOME works well on typical tablets isn't really relevant here. The PineNote is an E-ink device with very specific hardware constraints and use cases. It's primarily meant for reading and writing, and these tasks require software specifically optimized for E-ink displays and low-power operation.

I've personally experimented with desktop environments like XFCE and i3 on a reMarkable 2. While it was an interesting technical exercise, the experience wasn't practical for daily use. For comparison, look at the reMarkable's ecosystem (https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable) - it's full of applications and utilities specifically designed for E-ink displays and writing/reading workflows.

This is why I'm hesitant about the "community device" designation. Simply saying "it runs GNOME" doesn't tell us anything about the actual user experience for reading and writing on E-ink. To be clear, my concern isn't that it runs GNOME - it's that this seems to be the only information available about the software experience.

> As much as I love the hacker spirit of cracking open hardware and software and bending it to your will (whether or not it was designed towards that end), I enjoy my reMarkable precisely because I can get away from the ubiquity of computing and needing to constantly tinker with and repair software.

Personally I completely agree with you, and could have written almost exactly that paragraph - I too have a ReMarkable (the 2nd / current version), and love using it as it ships for both note taking and especially for reading ebooks/PDFs ("especially" just because it's what I use it for more, not because that's what it's better at - in fact, it's UI for reading documents is among its weaker points and I hope they improve it in future software updates).

However it's worth pointing out that you can SSH into it, and there are a fair few 3rd party tools and hacks for it - so far I've avoided trying any of them as there's nothing that I want enough to have even a 1% risk of bricking it to worry about. But I'm tempted to start playing around with it someday.

This is the best list of stuff for the ReMarkable that I'm aware of, though I don't know how complete it is / how many released tools or guides there might be that aren't included here:

https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable

There are options for USB/wifi syncing and lots of other community mods if you're handy with a terminal: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable

If you follow the instructions and you are fine to turn automatic updates off, you may have a lool at awesome-remarkable https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable

This sentence doesn't make sense. People apply hacks because they want to make full use of their device. reMarkable has shortcomings, yes, but they can be overcome with the software that others have written. The Awesome reMarkable link the sidebar was basically a founding document of this very subreddit.

More info can be found at awesome-ReMarkable: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable

Use a software to manage your templates automatically. See the Awesome reMarkable list, and Ctrl-F "templates".

You can also take backups using easy, convenient, community-written software, like RCU (which I'm the author of), reMy, reMarkable HyUtilities, rmExplorer, rmAPI, and many others found in the Awesome reMarkable list.

I didn't test it yet, but it's possible that it can work. You install Toltec (packet manager), and than you can download https://github.com/alex0809/netsurf-reMarkable