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Calibre & Handbrake have big new releases
Open source, DRM-Free media management continues to improve
Bryan Lunduke
November 20, 2023
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Last week was a good week for folks who use Linux to enjoy off-line, DRM-free digital media -- with significant releases of Calibre (the eBook manager and reader) and HandBrake (the video converter).

Calibre 7.0

I've been using Calibre to organize my collection of eBooks for longer than I can remember.  Not only does it support almost every eBook format you can imagine (ePub, PDF, AZW, MOBI, the works) but it also seems to be able to handle use about any eBook reading device out there.

The big new features in 7.0, in my opinion, have to do with adding supplementary data to books in your collection.

  • You can now add notes to any book, author, or tag.  All searchable.
  • And you can attach any arbitrary files you like to a book.  While this doesn't impact the book reading experience, this can be used for supplementary material.  Alternate covers, research papers, audio clips, interview PDFs, or the like.

If you've never tried Calibre for your book organizing, I highly recommend it.  While the UI has some rough spots here and there, the features can truly make working with eBooks a far more pleasant experience.  Being able to convert between all of the eBook-related formats is incredibly handy.

Plus, it's available for Linux, Windows, and macOS.  All under the GPL license.  Also a bonus.

HandBrake 1.7

Where Calibre is the Swiss Army Knife of dealing with eBook formats, HandBrake fills some of the same "convert between formats" needs for digital video formats.

The new version, 1.7.0, adds a number of presets and support for a few additional encoding options:

HandBrake may not have all the organization and viewing features of Calibre... but I rather like the "do one thing and do it well" approach.  HandBrake converts and re-encodes video files.  That's it.

Builds available for Linux, Windows, & macOS.  Source available.  Thumbs up.

Open source digital media software is rad

I love seeing these sorts of steady improvements to open source tools -- allowing us increasing amounts of freedom and flexibility in how we handle our digital books and videos.

These tools have allowed Linux to become an absolutely splendid platform for organizing, working with, and enjoying digital, DRM-free media.  Looking forward to what they bring to the table in future releases.

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
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Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
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Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
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This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044
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leebase@leebase
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Filip@zekica
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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
January 25, 2026
$89 Lifetime Lunduke Subs ends this week!

Quick heads up, that the $89 Lifetime Subscription to The Lunduke Journal discount ends… at the end of this week!

Discounting Lifetime Subscriptions by over 70% was an absolute blast. So many of you took advantage of the offer that we’re now up to four Lifetime Subscriber walls at the end of every video. Crazy!

But something that awesome can’t last forever. Which means that, in just a few days, Lifetime Subscriptions will return to their regular price of $300.

With no plans to do another wild discount like that any time soon.

So.

  1. If you haven’t already, snag an $89 (via Bitcoin) or $99 (via Substack or Locals) Lifetime Subscription.

  2. Then let me know if you’d like to be added to the Lifetime Wall of Shame Awesomeness.

My guess is, a the current rate, that 4th Lifetime Wall will be full by Friday.

Bonkers.

And, once again, thank you to each and every subscriber. The Lunduke Journal would not be possible without you.

-Lunduke

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
January 16, 2026
Lunduke Journal Week In Review - Jan 16th, 2025

Whew! It’s been another wild week for Tech News!

Here’s a crazy stat for ya:

We are currently 16 days into 2026, and The Lunduke Journal has already recorded 19 shows (17 of which have been published on every platform, and 2 others to be published this weekend everywhere… but are already available via the MP4 download page). And that’s with taking New Year’s Day off (and getting the flu this week).

It’s a heck of a lot of Tech News, to be sure.

Lunduke’s Top Stories for the Week

If you only have time to watch a few of shows, I recommend these 3 as being the most interesting (or important… or just… strange) from the last week:

In other words: A pretty gosh-darned crazy week for Linux.

(Those links are to Lunduke.Substack.com, but you can watch all of those shows on any other platform. As always.)

Other Tidbits of Awesomeness

A few other notes on this, most excellent, Friday!

And, with that, I leave you with a screenshot of the MP4 listing of the shows so far in 2026. Bonkers.

 

-Lunduke

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
January 14, 2026
Lunduke's Lifetime Subscriber Wall 3 is almost full!

Holy moly.

This afternoon I sat down to update the 3rd Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber wall — adding in all of you who sent in requests over the last week or so.

And, boy howdy, were there a lot of you! So many, in fact, that the 3rd Lifetime Wall only has room for around 6 or 7 more names (depending on the name lengths)! That’s crazy!

If you want to make it onto “The Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber” Wall number 3… send me an email (bryan at lunduke.com) with the way you would like your name to be displayed.

Or, if you’re not already a Lifetime Subscriber, remedy that for $89. (Which, you know, is a pretty gosh darned good value.) … Then send me that email requesting to be added to the wall.

Once Wall 3 is full, we’ll start in on Wall number 4 (that’s nuts). At the current rate, I expect Wall 4 to debut this week.

And, as always, thank you for your support. Whatever kind of subscription you have, it is deeply appreciated. Monthly, Yearly, or Lifetime. All are amazing. You make The Lunduke Journal possible.

You rule.

-Lunduke

 
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