Good Online Sources for Free Books? 64
hydopower asks: "I recently stumbled upon a collection of online libraries. This was fascinating to me, but too many of them cost money or offer Google Print-like limited functionality. I decided to put together a list of sites that offer free books in a format that would allow a person to actually read through them. As Slashdot readers are known for being well read and for enjoying free things, I figured I'd tap into the knowledge pool here. Any suggestions?"
specific (Score:5, Informative)
the FreeBSD Handbook... (Score:2)
http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/ [freebsd.org]
There's one (Score:5, Informative)
Obvious: Project Gutenberg (Score:5, Informative)
Lots of literature. And most are just straight text so you can read them with anything.
Don't forget (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ [gutenberg.org]
gus
Baen Books (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Baen Books (Score:4, Informative)
This site [dnsalias.org] and this site [ghostwheel.com] both host the first 6 cds as web browsable books.
This site [zlynx.org] contains torrents for all 7 cds.
Re:Baen Books (Score:1, Informative)
I think it is the next best thing to free as in beer and free as in speech, while still compensating the publisher and the authors.
As with the free library you are limited to what Baen books publishes (typically military Sci-fi) but you get what you pay for. Also excerpts are available for all the book so you can get a feel for the writers style and if you will like the book before you pay.
Free programming and computer science books (Score:2, Informative)
Linux Device Drivers: ahref=http://www.xml.com/ldd/chapter/book/index.h
Also some for Samba, Subversion, CVS, etc.
Re:Free programming and computer science books (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Free programming and computer science books (Score:3, Funny)
free books (Score:5, Informative)
Re:free books (Score:1)
One of those lists makes me feel kinda weird though. I have four of those out-of-print books on my bookshelf. Time to update I guess.
Creative Commons (Score:5, Informative)
Free e-books? (Score:0)
Duh... (Score:0)
Perseus Project (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ [tufts.edu]
If true classics are your thing.
Re:Perseus Project (Score:2)
For those who've already got their Latin down and want a quicker-loading experience, however, I recommend The Latin Library [thelatinlibrary.com].
I think that you'll like (Score:3, Informative)
OBI (Score:4, Informative)
Online Books Page [upenn.edu] From UPenn.
THE most complete listing I have seen.
IRC (Score:0)
irc.nullus.net #bw, #bookwarez, #sci-fi,#techbooks etc etc.
Blackmask (Score:1)
HTML, PDF, Mobipocket, MS Reader, rocket eBook, iSilo, and EasyRead
While you're at it (Score:0)
Re:While you're at it (Score:0)
Re:While you're at it (Score:0)
Re:While you're at it (Score:1)
The Hun is a free online portal to sources of free porn:
The Hun's Thumbs-Up [thumbs-up.net]
The Hun's Yellow Pages [thehun.net]
Happy Hunning!
-- TTK
Porn links (not work safe) (Score:0)
For other stuff, use Google to search for "Jenna Jameson anal", etc. Most sites have links to other sites. Anywhere between 0% and 90% of these links will actually be useful.
Finally, if you have access to USENET, there's lots of free porn (but also lots of SPAM) of varying quality in the alt.binaries.erotica groups for pictures (look for posts by "Matilda"; they're generally pretty good), and alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica groups for videos.
Re:Porn links (not work safe) (Score:0)
If you're not feeling particularly righteous... (Score:0)
library and irc (Score:1)
My local library has been expanding its ebook offerings, and I've read several on my pda. They use drm'ed mobipocket and pdf formats which allow you to check out books for three weeks, after which they expire.
I would suggest pestering your local library district to ramp up its collection. It's the cheapest and most ethical way to read copyrighted works.
Random suggestions (Score:5, Informative)
Eastern Standard Tribe [craphound.com] (CC)
A Place So Foreign (and eight more) [craphound.com] (CC)
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom [craphound.com] (CC)
Lawrence Lessig:
Free Culture [free-culture.org]
Tech and science books:
Version Control with Subversion [red-bean.com] (CC)
An open source math book [caltech.edu]
Light and Matter [lightandmatter.com], a series of physics texts by Ben Crowell [slashdot.org]
Lists:
The Assayer [theassayer.org] is a place to find and review open books.
Re:Random suggestions (Score:4, Informative)
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect [kuro5hin.org]
Money well spent on books (Score:0)
Re:Money well spent on books (Score:2, Insightful)
Its amazing how some people, who won't even post in the open, are willing to flame people that they don't even know who are attempting to learn.
Re:Money well spent on books (Score:1)
Sometimes books aren't practical. Reading a hardcover on the subway, with sharp corners on the book and sharp turns in the track, is an exercise in arousing hatred. My Clie lets me keep one hand on the pole at all times. No falling down while flipping pages! It also takes up much less space during rush hour.
DN
Re:Money well spent on books (Score:1)
Hi there mister Dinosaur. I quoted you in full, because yours is one of the best examples of old-world, conservative, anal-retentive, vested-interests thinking I have seen in a long time.
OK, so you want to do the math? Lets do the math.
Geeks will buy gadgets. It's part of what defines them.
Now, geeks have gadgets and the internet has free books. Why not connect the two? You cannot give me a single reason for that, I am sure.
Oh, and as long as you spend your days looking back, please consider that those hallowed books you so revere were once considered a heresy. "Why buy books?" your ilk would cry in righteous indignation. "Wake up and smell the coffee! Live in the real world! Story tellers are not just much cheaper, they also enhance their stories by their telling. When you buy a book, you rob story tellers from their income. Why do you hate Greece?" ("Why do you hate America?" wasn't as popular in those days.)
Well, we know what happened to those people. They refused to read the pamflet that told them that the maximum speed for chariots had been raised from 15 to 30 kph, and got killed trying to cross the road.
wikibooks (Score:0)
zerg (Score:2)
BookRags (Score:1)
Free books? (Score:3, Funny)
The real advantage is the books you get can be read with no special equipment. (Some people use special glasses, but I've never needed them)
It's called a library.
Or did you mean books you can keep, and only in electronic format?
Esoteric texts (Score:2, Interesting)
Bruce Peren's Open Source Series (Score:2)
Another nice spot to bookmark (which is updated as new books in the series are released) is Bruce Peren's Open Source Series:
[informit.com]
http://www.informit.com/promotions/promotion.asp?
The books are published in print by Prentice Hall PTR, but are also released after a few months freely under the Open Publiction License (more about the license in the link below).
http://www.informit.com/content/downloads/perens/
-geoff313
My university uses this (Score:1)
The Assayer (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The Assayer (Score:1)
eserver.org (Score:2)
A few options (Score:3, Interesting)
Adobe offers a few free ebooks, both fiction [adobe.com] and non-fiction [adobe.com]. However, let me warn you, they are DRM'd.
Then there is also the Gutenberg Project [gutenberg.org] as many others have already mentioned.
If you are using MS Reader, then Microsoft offers some free books [mslit.com] as well.
Wikibooks. (Score:0)
6 sources of some free ebooks and audiobooks (Score:3, Informative)
Fictionwise [fictionwise.com] sells ebooks, but they also have free novels, short stories and audio books from time to time. Currently they have 26 items available for free, including a lot of sci-fi.
Audible
Audible sells audio books, but they have some free items also. There is a new free item every week or so for subscribers.
ereader
ereader [ereader.com] has a few free ebooks [ereader.com]. During December last year, they had a different free ebook each day for a few weeks.
Audio Books for Free
AudioBooksForFree has free audio books, but in a very compressed format. You have to pay to get better quality, but for $100 you can buy everything.
Baen Books
Baen Books has a free library [baen.com] with sci-fi books.
Project Gutenberg
This one has been pointed out a few times, but it is the biggest. It is here [gutenberg.org] and here [promo.net]. I think the first one is the official site.
manybooks.net (Score:2)
Bookcrossing.com (Score:3, Interesting)
CCEL (Score:2)
Interestingly, the site converts books to various formats from a source version coded in Theological Markup Language [ccel.org].
The Internet Archive has free books (Score:2)
The Internet Archive's Texts [archive.org] collection has about 25,000 books online, and is working with many partners to get more.
I have a list of about 1300 interesting texts hosted by The Archive, here [archive.org], which has links to The Archive's details pages for those books.
Enjoy!
-- TTK
Images (Score:3, Interesting)
Two Words: (Score:1)
some tech/science books (Score:2)
archive.org (Score:0)
not mentioned yet (Score:1)
All sorts of reference, fiction, nonfiction, even poetry.
Some links (Score:0)
http://www.classicbookshelf.com/
www
http://www.htmlbible.com
www.bibliomania.com/
www.e-bo
http://onlinebooks.librar
http://c-library.um.ac.ir/
http://www.netlibrary.net/
http:
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/
Memoware (Score:0)
E-Book Directory (Score:0)
How about... (Score:2)
Darned RIAA. :)
International Children's Digital Library (Score:0)
Palm Pilot ebooks (Score:1)
So I created a webpage, Free Palm ebooks [xs4all.nl], that tells owners of Palm Pilots where to find the free ebooks in native Palm formats, the reader software, and more.