Mr. Picklesworth
February 20th, 2009, 07:58 AM
I would be saddened if not everyone knew the saga of El Tunes: The little piece of software which allowed ex-iTunes users to play the DRMed music they payed for in iTunes. It did so completely in place, without putting anyone's property at risk; it just played the content like iTunes did, staying comfortably away from Apple's personal space. It behaved more like an extension of iTunes than a reverse engineered music recovery tool.
Or so they thought. (http://vadi-blog.com/2008/07/30/apple-tries-to-shut-down-el-tunes-viva-la-el-tunes/)
Barely a mention was passed before Apple sent a cease and decist notice to the original web host and had the project's entire web site pulled.
They found a less wimpy web host, where the project lived for a little while, got improved, then had the files pulled again (http://vadi-blog.com/2008/08/01/apple-drm-vs-el-tunes-and-you/)...
Then iTunes 8. Under the guise of "upcoming DRM-free content," it had new functionality to further exclude people who 'think different'. The result is that El Tunes still has a web site (http://www.el-tunes.com/), but apparently its original intent is doomed. (The developers live on. They're still awesome).
Now this situation isn't exactly abnormal. We all know today's DRM sucks, especially with companies like Apple which are really really ridiculous about their property (that is, they don't know where their property ends and yours begins). The software was also awesome; El Tunes was one of our various holy grails for making Linux adoption easy. Accessing iTunes content no longer impossible! And further, it plugged in to GStreamer and works natively in Ubuntu!
The important thing, though - the thing that gets on my nerves here - is that NOBODY NOTICED. This is largely because Apple managed to put so much pressure on the distribution channels that El Tunes was barely visible for its short little life.
I felt like posting this because I was reminded of El Tunes today and the skeletal remains make me very mad.
Or so they thought. (http://vadi-blog.com/2008/07/30/apple-tries-to-shut-down-el-tunes-viva-la-el-tunes/)
Barely a mention was passed before Apple sent a cease and decist notice to the original web host and had the project's entire web site pulled.
They found a less wimpy web host, where the project lived for a little while, got improved, then had the files pulled again (http://vadi-blog.com/2008/08/01/apple-drm-vs-el-tunes-and-you/)...
Then iTunes 8. Under the guise of "upcoming DRM-free content," it had new functionality to further exclude people who 'think different'. The result is that El Tunes still has a web site (http://www.el-tunes.com/), but apparently its original intent is doomed. (The developers live on. They're still awesome).
Now this situation isn't exactly abnormal. We all know today's DRM sucks, especially with companies like Apple which are really really ridiculous about their property (that is, they don't know where their property ends and yours begins). The software was also awesome; El Tunes was one of our various holy grails for making Linux adoption easy. Accessing iTunes content no longer impossible! And further, it plugged in to GStreamer and works natively in Ubuntu!
The important thing, though - the thing that gets on my nerves here - is that NOBODY NOTICED. This is largely because Apple managed to put so much pressure on the distribution channels that El Tunes was barely visible for its short little life.
I felt like posting this because I was reminded of El Tunes today and the skeletal remains make me very mad.