A convenient approach to finding the right e-book
Online Library
Google Drive lacks a mechanism for tagging files, so we look at two APIs that scripts can use to store metadata on Evernote, allowing searches of e-books by category or property.
As I mentioned two months ago in my column [1], my collection of paper books is now a collection of PDFs on Google Drive. It is easy to browse through the list of my digital tomes on the PC screen. However, if I'm sitting in front of my mobile reader and want to browse the online library, the long text list (Figure 1) is impractical. What is missing is a mechanism that lets me display title pages and assign books to categories --for example, to mark the books I've already read.
Figure 1: Mike Schilli's library on Google Drive currently only appears as a gray PDF list of scanned paper books.
I additionally would like to be able to tag large-format books. Science literature with long program listings, for example, can be hard to read on mobile phones. If I'm standing in line at the supermarket checkout, I prefer to see just smaller works like scanned paperbacks on my smartphone – the kind of thing the small display can deal with best.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Dutch Government Turns to Open Source for Digital Sovereignty
Following in the footsteps of European countries, the Netherlands is looking to increase its sovereign digital infrastructure with open source software.
-
Linux May Soon Work on Snapdragon X2-Based PCs
If you're thinking about buying a Snapdragon X2-based desktop or laptop, Linux may soon be an option.
-
KDE for People Initiative Calls for AI Ban in Plasma
A new community of KDE wants the project to adopt a strict no-AI policy for KDE Plasma.
-
KDE Sets Ambitious Goals for 2026 and Beyond
KDE Connect reveals the goals for the Linux desktop darling, with one of those goals long overdue.
-
It’s Time to Test Fedora 45 Beta
Fedora 45 beta has been released with updated Gnome, KDE Plasma, and kernel.
-
Ubuntu Stonking Stingray Gets Even Rustier
Ubuntu 26.10 has completed its migration to the Rust-based coreutils.
-
AI Fixes Linux Bottlenecks Using “Hideous” Code
A Linux developer used AI to fix bottlenecks that caused problems when building the kernel. The resulting AI-generated code needed a lot of work.
-
Advanced Video Coding Still Under Patent
Brazilian patent BRPI0109962B1 has expired, which means that DivX and Xvid are no longer problematic for Linux, but it doesn’t mean that video is all of a sudden fully unleashed.
-
2,000 Vulnerabilities per Linux Release
Thanks to AI bug hunters, the Linux kernel is seeing record numbers of vulnerabilities, and it's overwhelming developers.
-
Linux Exempt from California’s Age Verification Law
So long as Linux is distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses, the OS is exempt from being required to verify the age of its users in California.