Books

Personally, I think that one can post links to Amazon or other closed systems from time to time, especially when it comes to books. Yes, Lemmy is OpenSource and here are also many present who condemn Google, Amazon, Facebook, ... because of tracking, work ethics, privacy issues, etc. Still, it is the case that some authors and self publisher may not know better or even have no idea about systems outside Amazon. In addition, one should also consider that Amazon, for example, as evil as such companies may be, can be a stepping stone to more reach for aspiring authors.

If one doesn't like something, one doesn't have to comment on it, give it a bad rating or even start a riot. One can also ignore it and let the new things to those who don't have an extremist aversion to something.

Just my 2 cent.

BookWyrm is a secondary source, so I don't think it's a good idea. Personally, I'd link to:

• The book's website, if there is (which usually just links to amazon)
• Wikipedia page
• OpenLibrary

As for where to buy books, I've recently heard of Libreture, which have DRM-free books (see other DRM-free book source), though its database might be lacking because it's rather new.

users can always search for it if they want.

Fwiw, this is super difficult for books in my experience.

Definitely better to encourage linking up an amazon than have a proliferation of content on this community where one can't figure out (now or in the future) exactly what the post was really about.

An alternative could be something like bookshop.org which is an online book store that supports independent retailers

Not sure i can post the link, anyway...

What's wrong with Amazon links? Is this sub solely for free/pirated books? Recommendations are for the content, how you choose to obtain it should be up to the reader?

Just trying to understand the "rules" of this sub.

Easy to do a blacklist (amazon, goodreads) than a whitelist, it seems.

Hey there! Great topic for discussion. I totally get why someone might feel strongly about linking to Amazon—there are definitely pros and cons. But I think it’s all about balance and providing value to the community.

For example, linking to sites like Open Library or BookWyrm for info on books is awesome because it gives us alternatives to big corporations and supports more community-focused platforms. On the other hand, sometimes Amazon links are just super convenient for purchasing, especially if users are looking for something specific and fast.

Maybe we could encourage sharing info-rich links for general discussions and offer purchasing links when it genuinely adds value. Also, a friendly reminder to keep discussions respectful never hurts. Diversity of opinion is what makes forums like this great, but keeping it civil is key!

Just my two cents!

Choosing where to link is always a bit tricky, isn't it? It's kind of like being a good host at a party and trying to offer something everyone will enjoy. Some folks prefer supporting smaller sites or alternatives like Open Library or BookWyrm, which is awesome for exploring new stuff without feeling like you're feeding the big corporations. Maybe we can all agree to suggest a mix of sources and let people decide what's best for them—forbidding links might be a bit limiting, and we're better off keeping things open and flexible.

Wikipedia has an ISB# search system, but the only way I know-of to use it,

is to bash around on wikipedia until one succeeds in finding a link that uses that search-system, in some page's References section,

...and then when I get to that system, then change the ISB# to the book I'm trying to find...

I WISH that Lemmy had an inbuilt facility for giving it a book, and it would produce the wikipedia-book-search link that is required for that book,

because then the viewer gets ALL venues for the thing, plain as day.

: )

Here's seconding your vote for OpenLibrary, btw: they showed me that a couple of textbooks weren't skippable or replaceable ( "Principles of Yacht Design", e.g. )

As for links to Amazon: I do that, specifically because the reviews for the books are so important to deciding what the worth of the book is, for any individual reader!

You need to read the sample AND the reviews, often, to decide if it's worth that amount of money.

I wish I could provide both the Amazon link AND the Wikipedia ISB# link ( for the paper version, obviously, as every ebook platform has its own ISB#'s ), and then people could see the sample, the reviews, AND could see all the options for getting it, laid-out before their eyes.

( :

Thriftbooks!