Turning an Old Amazon Kindle Into a Eink Development Platform (2021)
Key topics
Tinkering with old Amazon Kindles has sparked a fascinating discussion about repurposing them as eInk development platforms, with enthusiasts praising the device's surprisingly accessible Linux-based UI and unobfuscated shell scripts. While some commenters, like Jemm, worry that the limited hardware holds it back, others, such as ktallett, argue that these constraints are actually a useful reality check for developing e-ink apps. As xx_ns and others demonstrate, it's even possible to run a full Linux desktop environment on these devices, showcasing their hidden potential. The thread reveals a community eager to breathe new life into discarded e-readers.
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Based on 13 loaded comments
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- 01Story posted
Dec 26, 2025 at 7:42 AM EST
12 days ago
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Dec 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM EST
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10 comments in 96-108h
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Dec 30, 2025 at 4:22 PM EST
7 days ago
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One thing I‘d love would to find a way to make it wake up every once in a while to turn it into an auto-refreshing display. I haven’t found a way to do so without external hardware (which could save a lot of power by not having to wake the whole system, but I think the wakeup can’t be triggered via the serial port and other contacts aren’t as easily accessible).
https://github.com/pascalw/kindle-dash/blob/c83842e7561340e9...
Recently, doing it with Claude Code was a breeze. If you are more interested in the outcome than the process, then I'd say it's a great time to buy a few old Kindles and see what you can create with them.
You also might want to turn off some background scripts in /etc/init.rc/ such as the screensaver, unload the audio/mic, stop the window manager if you're not using it, and stop the webreader.
https://github.com/pascalw/kindle-dash/blob/main/src/dash.sh
In 2022 (159 points, 24 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32293238
The boox palma with android + (obsidian | termux + tailscale) when I need it has actually worked out well for me for writing | programming with a portable keyboard (nuphy). I even did this year's Advent of Code on it. (https://knlb.dev/logs/aoc25 has some photos)