this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2025
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You know, what I really, really want? A good EPUB/CBZ/PDF viewer. Simple, with scrolling mode that works seamlessly for all three filetypes (yes, including between EPUB chapters), and that doesn't pretend to be some sort of library or bookmarks system or whatever. It should do that one thing — to show the contents of my ebook — and do it well.
The nearest of that I got was Okular. It would be amazing... if not by a certain little bug, that makes all EPUB/PDF pictures look like arse.
But no, we can't have that in 2025. Instead we have a bloody book "manager" that was already bloated before the AI bubble, becoming even more bloated so you can ask it what to read next. *sigh*
Koreader maybe? Calibre is intended for library / e-reader device management, the viewer it has is mostly just for a quick preview look and not really intended for actually reading.
I tried it some time ago, and I didn't like it. Dictionary lookup, Wikipedia lookup, calendar, reading statistics, news downloader, it litters the directory of the file with a subdirectory for "metadata"... too kitchen-sinky.
And as usual, a completely different interface from everything else, that sticks out like a sore thumb, and looks more like something you'd use in a cell phone than in an actual computer. Even Qt plays nicer in GTK DEs and vice versa.
The best one I've found was the one Jako³13 recommended, Zathura. Not perfect, but good. But that's only because Okular is rendering images really bad.
(I guess it's time I stop being a lazy arse and make my own reader. With blackjack and hookers!)