Why no iTunes for Linux?

[newagelink]

If I can read/write from my windows partition and use my iPod with Linux, I'll have no desire or reason to use Windows. (You hear that, Apple? Freaking release iTunes for Linux and you'll have one less person using Windows! Stupid jerks. You'll run all those ads bashing Windows, but will release software for them but not Linux.)
... I, ... have had no success [using my iPod in Linux], and I've been trying for three days, now. I did what that sticky said to do with gtkpod, and then, screw me with a rake, at the VERY ASODIFASDF END of the post, he says "oh, if you use your iPod with both Windows and gtkpod, you may corrupt your iTunesDB." GEE THANKS! Could've told me that BEFORE I tried it ... luckily nothing happened. So I can't use gtkpod, either. [The topic of the original thread was, when playing a playlist from iPod in Rhythmbox, it'll speed through the list saying "internal data flow error".]

I've pretty much given up using my iPod with Linux, and if I can't listen to my music while I'm computing in Linux, I might as well use Windows and wait for an iTunes-equivalent program to come out for Linux. (Unless I can listen to my iPod with amaroK, and rate, remove, and import songs with it? I do NOT want it to "sync" my iPod and delete all the music off of it -- the entire reason I got an iPod was so I wouldn't have to keep my 55 GB music library on my 60 GB hard drive. [Is it possible to use the iPod with amaroK without it deleting music and "syncing" to a local directory? Last time I connected it in amaroK it immediately said "syncing" and I felt like it nearly deleted all my music -- I'd quickly unplugged it.])Why hasn't Apple released iTunes for Linux? Surely it's not a technical problem? (After all, Google's released Google Earth for Linux, and iTunes is far simpler.)

One argument I've heard is that Apple wouldn't make a significant amount of money from their Music Store from Linux users, and therefore there is no monetary incentive for such a release. Surely this isn't the case?!

Releasing software (or at least iTunes) for Linux would give people one more alternative to Windows (thus hurting their main competition at least a little), AND increase the market for the iPod ...

[user1397]

Why hasn't Apple released iTunes for Linux? Surely it's not a technical problem? (After all, Google's released Google Earth for Linux, and iTunes is far simpler.)

One argument I've heard is that Apple wouldn't make a significant amount of money from their Music Store from Linux users, and therefore there is no monetary incentive for such a release. Surely this isn't the case?!

Releasing software (or at least iTunes) for Linux would give people one more alternative to Windows (thus hurting their main competition at least a little), AND increase the market for the iPod ...well you gotta remember, that the percentage of linux users is really small, but the percentage of people aware of linux is really really small.

[aysiu]

Releasing iTunes for Linux acknowledges that Linux exists, which I don't think Apple wants to do publicly.

And even though it's "not that difficult," it does, in fact, take some porting over and developer power to both create and maintain a Linux version for every subsequent release of iTunes. Every new version would also have to be tested extensively. Then Apple would have to decide how many binaries to create for each Linux distribution in addition to providing the source code (which, again, Apple would probably not want to do) so people could compile it from source for the less popular distros.

Is all that developer power worth the effort for a population of users that tends to hate DRM, bypass DRM, and generally not embrace proprietary software? If I were Apple, I wouldn't port iTunes to Linux.

[user1397]

Then Apple would have to decide how many binaries to create for each Linux distribution in addition to providing the source code (which, again, Apple would probably not want to do) so people could compile it from source for the less popular distros.well couldn't they just have a .bin file like google earth? that seemed to solve their problem of having to release distribution-specific files.

[aysiu]

Someone who develops software or programs may be able to answer this better than I can, but I would imagine it's because Google Earth is complicated internally but externally needs basically only your graphics.

iTunes, on the other hand, accesses the internet, your sound card, your devices (mount/unmounting/ejecting). It has to be a bit more tightly integrated into your system.

[newagelink]

Releasing iTunes for Linux acknowledges that Linux exists, which I don't think Apple wants to do publicly.That's a low-blow ... :( I didn't think of that. That alone kills my optimism of it ever happening, as they're like Windows in that they want to ... yeah ... *deep sigh* Why can't Linux break out from the underground, and "officially" compete publicly with the other two? The *only* coverage I've ever seen of Linux has been from web forums. I've never seen a commercial for a distribution (why is the abbreviation for it "distro"?), I've never even seen Linux mentioned on television before. (Then again, I rarely ever watch television these days. American TV is pure crap, with nothing but advertisement.)

If Linux could publicly compete, that would 1) greatly increase activity for Linux and 2) greatly improve the quality of Apple/Microsoft, wouldn't it?

And even though it's "not that difficult," it does, in fact, take some porting over and developer power to both create and maintain a Linux version for every subsequent release of iTunes. Every new version would also have to be tested extensively.Why couldn't they just port the latest version of iTunes to Linux, and then release the source code for it to SourceForge and an interested group there maintain it? That would also enable them to shutdown CodeWeavers; I'm sure they don't appreciate others capitalizing on their product.

Then Apple would have to decide how many binaries to create for each Linux distribution in addition to providing the source code (which, again, Apple would probably not want to do) so people could compile it from source for the less popular distros.Eesh, what's a DRM? (And what's a .bin, which erik brought up ... I downloaded Google's GoogleEarthLinux.bin, but I don't know how to install it ... must search forums a bit more ...)

[FredB]

DRM ? The crappiest technology ever made by man. It forces you to use the player the seller wants you to use, and not other one.

And if the seller goes out of business, you cannot read anymore the files you paid for !

[LettuceandPickles]

Why no iTunes for Linux?

QuickTime. iTunes hooks into QuickTime. They'd need to do a lot of work for no return to speak of.

Maybe we can stop imputing motives to people. Is there an MS Office for Linux?

[aysiu]

Is there an MS Office for Linux? No, and there probably never will be.

[ChiendeRue]

Who would want iTunes on Linux?

amaroK:KS is far superior! Connect your iPod and amaroK will do all you desire, including copying off the iPod to your computer.

Who would want to make efforts to make an inferior product work on Linux?

[XAsmodeanX]

well you gotta remember, that the percentage of linux users is really small, but the percentage of people aware of linux is really really small.

I believe Linux has more market share then Mac. When are people going to stop ignoring us? When Apple and Microsoft are both beneath 10% user base?

[aysiu]

Who would want iTunes on Linux?

amaroK:KS is far superior! Connect your iPod and amaroK will do all you desire, including copying off the iPod to your computer.

Who would want to make efforts to make an inferior product work on Linux? Well, first of all, iTunes isn't an inferior product. It's just different. Seriously. I haven't found anything wrong with iTunes. I like that AmaroK has lyrics fetching and global keyboard shortcuts, but for full integration with the iPod, you can't beat iTunes. I mean, when the newest iPod comes out (whatever's after Nano and Video), it'll take AmaroK at least a few weeks to catch up and integrate that new iPod with its interface. With iTunes it's instantaneous.

AmaroK also doesn't doing music sharing with iTunes (Banshee does).

You shouldn't deny people choice just because you believe your choice is superior to that of others. If people like iTunes, they have a right to like it.
I believe Linux has more market share then Mac. When are people going to stop ignoring us? When Apple and Microsoft are both beneath 10% user base? Microsoft is beneath 10%? Huh? I thought most computer users used Windows...

[XAsmodeanX]

No, I mean when Apple and Microsoft have less than 10% user base in the future because of Linux, we MIGHT get support then.

[MrHorus]

well couldn't they just have a .bin file like google earth? that seemed to solve their problem of having to release distribution-specific files.

That's besides the point.

The issue is that it costs lots of developer time to create ANY sort of platform specific release let alone a platform independant one and of course, developer time costs money - money which is unlikely to be recouped from the tiny ammount of revenue that the additional sales a Linux version of iTunes would generate.

[FredB]

Why no iTunes for Linux?

QuickTime. iTunes hooks into QuickTime. They'd need to do a lot of work for no return to speak of.

Maybe we can stop imputing motives to people. Is there an MS Office for Linux?

On MacOS-X (used it for nearly a year), iTunes is far better than on Windows. Of course, it depends on QuickTime.

But I've heard about a project, called SharpMusique (http://www.nanocrew.net/?page_id=63), but I don't try it, so...

But if you want free music (like for free software), look at jamendo (http://www.jamendo.com/).

MS-Office for linux ? Do you want me to go to the bathroom and throw up ? [-X

[newagelink]

Is there an MS Office for Linux?There's no need for one, since the advent of OpenOffice.org ... replaces it entirely, and then some ...

[aysiu]

SharpMusique is instability and lack of polish galore...

[kttrina]

what do you think about Listen? it's nice and also i-pod friendly, try it

erm... i think is only for dapper if im not wrong

[jordilin]

I've used Itunes in Window$ and to be sincere it's just a piece of crap. I even consider that window$ media player is better. In any case there are no competitors for rhythmbox and amarok.

[MarkSheely]

I believe that someday, the folks at Songbird will give everyone a run for their money. Granted, that day is still pretty far off in the future....

http://www.songbirdnest.com/

--Mark

[DSn0wMan]

I think that people have to remember that in the eyes of the mainstream Linux is a server operating system. It's only recently been thought of as a desktop system. Eventually it will have a broad user base, and will be the target of many consumer products.

[FredB]

SharpMusique is instability and lack of polish galore...

I saw that. And it seems to be left off :(


I've used Itunes in Window$ and to be sincere it's just a piece of crap. I even consider that window$ media player is better. In any case there are no competitors for rhythmbox and amarok.

Windows version is good to be copied to /dev/null

But the MacOS-X one...

[tseliot]

You can use iTunes (for Windows) in Linux thanks to Crossover Office.

[Horizon]

Well, they could always rewrite iTunes in Java, right? I don't think anyone would notice :twisted:

[DSn0wMan]

arghh! Java = slow

I am sure you would notice.

[newagelink]

amaroK:KS is far superior! Connect your iPod and amaroK will do all you desire, including copying off the iPod to your computer.Last time I connected my iPod and used amaroK, it immediately began "synching the iPod", and I was under the impression that meant deleting all my music to synchronize it to a music folder with nothing in it.

Is that not the case? It also seems amaroK doesn't let you delete tracks from the iPod or import more to it, that I must use gtkpod for that?

[newagelink]

You can use iTunes (for Windows) in Linux thanks to Crossover Office.That requires purchasing stuff, to use a free program. I'm a poor college student. Saving up for a car.

[Horizon]

Is that not the case? It also seems amaroK doesn't let you delete tracks from the iPod or import more to it, that I must use gtkpod for that? Yeah, last I checked amarok's "portable devices" interface and features were unintuitive to say the least. I had to resort to guessing where the stupidest, hardest to find place they could hide the feature I was looking would be. And anyone would think the menu bar was just for show.

[ChiendeRue]

Well then, maybe I got very lucky for once...:mrgreen:

I connected my iPod
Next thing, a nice menu appears asking me to connect my "media device" and kindly asks me what sort of media device?
OK, I say iPod of course. Thank you very much.

Next thing, I have a tab with media device there at the bottom of my library. see screenshot

Deleting a song?
Right-click the song and delete is there in the menu...

Sorry, for once I'm not the one to have problems.

I have tried iTunes on Mac & windows
I preferred Musicmatch jukebox on windows

Now I adore amaroK 1.4.1
Why?
iPod fully integrated, copy to and from HDD
fetches lyrics, covers
no DRM nonsense as in iTunes
free equaliser
It looks great too
I've probably only discovered half of the goodies...

I can see aysiu's point that new iPods will take a while to be recognised but my nano does well and so does my G2 iPod

[Luggy]

(After all, Google's released Google Earth for Linux, and iTunes is far simpler.)

I remember hearing that Google Earth ( windows edition ) was created using QT, thus porting it to Linux wouldn't have been that much of a streach.

[linuxuser28]

I've been using Rythmbox to listen to music (I don't have an iPod). Is there a better program?

[aysiu]

I've been using Rythmbox to listen to music (I don't have an iPod). Is there a better program?
Depends on what you feel the shortcomings of Rhythmbox are.

[Lord Illidan]

I've been using Rythmbox to listen to music (I don't have an iPod). Is there a better program?

Amarok should satisfy your requirements. It is a KDE program, though.. but it runs perfectly in GNOME!

[linuxuser28]

Depends on what you feel the shortcomings of Rhythmbox are.

So far the only thing I find missing is the equalizer. I've only been using Ubuntu for a few days now and Rhythmbox is the closest thing I found to iTunes.

[Lord Illidan]

Just for curiosity, what makes it close to Itunes? I've used Itunes on Windows, and Rythmbox on Linux, and I can't see any similarity..

[aysiu]

I don't know... the light and white alternating stripes?

[linuxuser28]

Just for curiosity, what makes it close to Itunes? I've used Itunes on Windows, and Rythmbox on Linux, and I can't see any similarity..
Well a scaled down version of iTunes anyway. Just downloaded amaroK. So far I like it.

[Lord Illidan]

I don't know... the light and white alternating stripes?
Amarok has them too...
Is it because it is simplistic?

[aysiu]

I don't find iTunes simplistic. I'm not sure why it claims to be similar to iTunes.

[Skia_42]

iTunes was nice because it listed the artists and albums in a table up in the top off the screen, Rythembox has the same funtion. I found that very convinient but you should give amaroK a try, it is amazing...

[drosophyllum]

I use amarok and it always works for me.

[newagelink]

Sorry for leaving this thread for so long and just now coming back to it ...

After all the replies, I've decided to just plug my iPod in -- yay, it automatically mounts -- and will try Amarok and see how it goes, again. If I lose 55 GB, it really sucks to be me, but it seems that I won't, as no one else has had that problem, and designing it to be that way would be counterintuitive anyway (which suggests that it's not.)

Also, if my iPod *is* wiped clean, I already have a fraction of my music catalogued (http://wmts.danielbridges.info/joomla/content/view/12/26/).

'n' I said Rhythmbox was similar to iTunes because that's how it struck me. Same design, same function, same annoying lack-of organization forcing the use of the Browse function ... Only the lack of podcasts and superfluous click-me-accidentally music store, and absence of webstreaming radio make it different, off the top of my head.

[Horizon]

'Only the lack of podcasts and superfluous click-me-accidentally music store, and absence of webstreaming radio make it different, off the top of my head. You can find the podcasting stuff in the playlist tab (or whatever the tab is called which has your playlists etc.).

Amarok is a great app...in KDE. The interface design just doesn't work in gnome...it takes up a whole workspace!! And the mp3 player support seems completely backward and unusable to me...and it's not that I'm not used to the interface because I used it for a month. I think it's just because I'm using it in gnome and if I used it in KDE it'd maybe feel/work better and fit in more. For now I'm using banshee. It has all the functionality you would expect (album art, smart playlists, music store, podcasting support, internet radio etc.) and a ton of others that kickass (like music recommendations) except it doesn't have that fat browser thingy above the library which you think is crazy but then with that fast search-as-you-type bar you don't even notice the lack of...it's actually faster even...when you're just browsing.

[Who]

I've been using Rythmbox to listen to music (I don't have an iPod). Is there a better program?

I love listen (www.listengnome.free.fr)

Does almost everything amarok does, and still looks pretty with Gnome

I should give teh Quod Libet guys a mention here too, as I believe a lot of Listen is based on their code :)

Enjoy

[whitegorilla]

I love listen (www.listengnome.free.fr)



I think the address is:
http://listengnome.free.fr/

[Uncle Spellbinder]

I love listen (www.listengnome.free.fr)

Does almost everything amarok does, and still looks pretty with Gnome.

I tried Listen. It does look very nice, good functionality. The only drawback, in my case, was the time it took to add my library. A sizable library at 25,500+ music files. It took Listen nearly 8 hours. It took Amarok 20 minutes.

[Lord Illidan]

I tried Listen. It does look very nice, good functionality. The only drawback, in my case, was the time it took to add my library. A sizable library at 25,500+ music files. It took Listen nearly 8 hours. It took Amarok 20 minutes.

Perhaps python is too slow?

[newagelink]

Yeah, last I checked amarok's "portable devices" interface and features were unintuitive to say the least.Actually, I don't have that. I have Media Devices, and a window that only lists them by Artist > Album, which really is cumbersome. (Can amaroK sort it like iTunes?)

And then, when I do play it, it's RFTU or some other four-random letters, with no other info. I know Apple's evil for doing that, but if I add info, will it corrupt the track?

Right now I'm "Scanning the folder recursively" -- /media/ipod -- adding it to my Collection?

And the Menu Bar doesn't help all that much ...

It also keeps freezing, and I have to Force Quit. I'm using v1.3.9 or something but it says there's a v1.4.1 out at http://amarok.kde.org/ -- should I upgrade? Maybe this version's not compatible with my video ipod?

[Horizon]

Actually, I don't have that. I have Media Devices, and a window that only lists them by Artist > Album, which really is cumbersome. (Can amaroK sort it like iTunes?)

And then, when I do play it, it's RFTU or some other four-random letters, with no other info. I know Apple's evil for doing that, but if I add info, will it corrupt the track?

Right now I'm "Scanning the folder recursively" -- /media/ipod -- adding it to my Collection?

And the Menu Bar doesn't help all that much ...

It also keeps freezing, and I have to Force Quit. I'm using v1.3.9 or something but it says there's a v1.4.1 out at http://amarok.kde.org/ -- should I upgrade? Maybe this version's not compatible with my video ipod?Yeah, I'd recommend upgrading to see if that helps although crashing is something KDE apps have always been good at. There's a howto for the latest amarok in the wiki here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Amarok

With the apple thing...are you talking about their drm'ed music from their music store? sorry, I wouldn't know about that. I've never used it to buy music...I just used to use it to search for podcasts sometimes.

[newagelink]

Yeah, I'd recommend upgrading to see if that helps .... [H]ere's a howto for the latest amarok in the wiki: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Amarok
To keep up-to-date on the latest version of Amarok, you should add the Kubuntu.org AmaroK repository to your sources.list. To do this, enter the following at the command line.

sudo echo "deb http://kubuntu.org/packages/amarok-latest dapper main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo echo "deb-src http://kubuntu.org/packages/amarok-latest dapper main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list



daniel@daniel-laptop:~$ sudo echo "deb http://kubuntu.org/packages/amarok-latest dapper main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
bash: /etc/apt/sources.list: Permission denied
daniel@daniel-laptop:~$ sudo echo "deb-src http://kubuntu.org/packages/amarok-latest dapper main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
bash: /etc/apt/sources.list: Permission denied
erm ... ? I already did the wget and sudo commands listed at http://kubuntu.org/announcements/amarok-1.4.1.php (although it didn't say what to do afterward.)

[benuski]

I've used all sorts of music programs on linux, and the one that, so far, I've found to work the best for me, and one that no one ever talks about, is Banshee. For me at least, it works just as well, if not better, than Rythmbox, and something about amaroK has always bothered me. But with the plugins, Banshee is great, and it will automatically convert all your ogg files to mp3 when you burn them onto a cd or put them on your ipod.

[Horizon]

erm ... ? I already did the wget and sudo commands listed at http://kubuntu.org/announcements/amarok-1.4.1.php (although it didn't say what to do afterward.)

If echo doesn't work just use synaptic to add a "custom" repository. and paste the lines into the dialogue box (i.e. "deb http://kubuntu.org/packages/amarok-latest dapper main" etc.). Then just install amarok like normal. I haven't checked but from what I can gather it should just be "sudo apt-get install amarok amarok-engines".

[3rdalbum]

I don't know whether it's because I run Gnome or what, but parts of AmaroK kept crashing on me.

Having said that, I tried to load my mother's iPod using iTunes on Windows, and guess what? iTunes copied some of the songs over, pretended to copy the other songs, and pretended to update the database. The iPod couldn't find any of the tracks.

After reformatting the pod, I decided to use GTKpod to load it. Result: My mother now listens to music.

[Uncle Spellbinder]

Added these manually, then did sudo apt-get update.


deb http://kubuntu.org/packages/amarok-latest dapper main
deb-src http://kubuntu.org/packages/amarok-latest dapper main

Checked for updates, showed update to Amarok 1.4.1. Installed, works perfectly. I didn't check iPod compatibility though, as I don't own one (don't really want one either).

[newagelink]

Banshee is great, and it will automatically convert all your ogg files to mp3 when you burn them onto a cd or put them on your ipod.For me it said "no iPod-encoders available" or something...?:confused:

[newagelink]

Then just install amarok like normal.I'm wanting to start over. So I figure with my Windows mentality, that first I need to completely uninstall amaroK.

I go to Add/Remove Applications and it says:

Cannot remove 'amarok'

One more more applications depend on [it.] To remove 'amarok' and the dependent applications, please switch to the advanced software manager. ...

[Horizon]

I'm wanting to start over. So I figure with my Windows mentality, that first I need to completely uninstall amaroK.

I go to Add/Remove Applications and it says:
...
Start synaptic and do a search for amarok. Then right-click completely remove it from there...it will tell you what depends on it and you can decide whether you can remove whatever depends on it >_<

The command for removing amarok should be

sudo aptitude purge amarok amarok-engines as far as I can gather...if there is anything else that depends on amarok then aptitude will tell you and you can decide if you need whatever is depending on it. Although I can't see a reason to remove the old amarok unless you built it from source?

[Lord Illidan]

I've used all sorts of music programs on linux, and the one that, so far, I've found to work the best for me, and one that no one ever talks about, is Banshee. For me at least, it works just as well, if not better, than Rythmbox, and something about amaroK has always bothered me. But with the plugins, Banshee is great, and it will automatically convert all your ogg files to mp3 when you burn them onto a cd or put them on your ipod.

I tried Banshee...but compared to Amarok it is slow.

[aysiu]

When I first started Ubuntu, some of you may recall that the only thing I dual-booted for was iTunes. I maintained that it was an application that had no equal in Linux.

Even after I stopped dual-booting for iTunes, I still maintained that attitude--noting every shortcoming I could see in JuK, XMMS, Rhythmbox, Banshee, AmaroK, etc. Unlike some people here, I haven't found iTunes to be buggy or unstable, even in Windows.

Now that I've gotten really used to Linux players (my player of choice is Rhythmbox right now), my mindset has completely shifted.

I'm trying to get my iTunes at work to behave the way my Linux players behave at home! Why can't I queue up songs by right-clicking them? Where are my global keyboard shortcuts? Last week I installed a helper application on my work computer called iTunesKeys (http://www.mattberube.com/software/ituneskeys/) to get that global keyboard shortcut functionality in there. I'll have to look for something that helps me queue up songs, too.

Yes, it would be cool if Rhythmbox had working sharing capabilities or inline tag editing. Yes, it would be cool if Banshee actually rescanned my music folder when I restarted it. Yes, it would be cool if AmaroK let me queue songs across multiple play lists or sort by add date. I'd love it if JuK could keep play counts. But ultimately I'm a Linux boy now when it comes to music players.

[koshari]

amarok is by far my farorite interface, look, feel ect ect,

the dynamic playlist function is fantastic, web integration is second to none,

however i find it quite buggy, it crashes quite frequently, and the crossfade doesnt always work properly,

if it was a bit less flakey i would use it 100% however if i are at the terminal i will still use if and just coax it through the bad times,

if i are working out the back (so i dont have to occasionally go back in to restat amarok)i will use "listen" which is almost as good but seems a lot more stable.

i think the listen dynamic playlist doesnt seem to be quite as random as the amarok one either (which i would preter to be more random).

beep or xmms are very good for previewing songs as they open up almost instantly,

i think winamp on windows 2.8 and lower are on a par with beep and xmmx,

as for iTunes , its reasonably easy to use, looks OK, and semms to work most of the time, the way you cant transfer stuff back to the hdd is disapointing but they have ITMS sales to protect. anyway sharepod, is a fantastic companion to have on your ipod so you can manage your files on the go when your somewhere that dont have a *nix box.

[Clay85]

I like the way iTunes looks, but I could never get it to work. On Windows it will start a song, then five seconds into the song it starts the song again, but doesn't stop playing it from the first time. Then five seconds after that it starts the song again, without stopping the first two times. So, within 15 seconds I have a cannon going on. Cool for 'row row row your boat', not cool for Imogen Heap.

I haven't found anything I like in Linux, but that Bird Nest thing for Firefox looks very cool. I'd probably love amaroK if I could play a couple songs from this folder and a couple songs from that folder and then stop. I've made a really cool color-scheme with amaroK and Gnome so they mesh well (why do people say it looks funny in Gnome? Just change the colors). I love my 'earth tones' gnome desktop. Of course... my name is Clay, so maybe I'm biased.

[newagelink]

Although I can't see a reason to remove the old amarok unless you built it from source?It kept crashing whenever I tried using my iPod with it, so I figured I must have messed something up under Settings or "Configure amaroK ..." or something, although I have no clue what I could've done ... Is amaroK known to have problems with 5th generation black 60 GB iPod videos?

[numb401]

not for me at last, my black 30gb ipod video works just fine with amarok, better than gtkpod!

[newagelink]

Hm, and I don't think there's much difference from the 30 GB and 60 GB ...

[Old Jimma]

Hi Guys:

ChienduRue is connrect... ipods work well with Amarok.

There are a few problems however... when you add new albums to your "Amarok" collection, they will need to be mp3s, I think.

There are other iPod-like things out there that are more linux friendly and will read many other formats, like ogg. Rio Karma is one of them.

Phil Smith
Duluth, GA

[a.Bird]

I just installed Ubuntu today and I've been playing around with it for a while. I want to install Juk. What folder should I store my music in? Thx.

[aysiu]

You can store it anywhere you like--just let JuK know when you launch it the first time.

[Sabayenda]

Hi, I'm new to Ubuntu, and I really love it for all of it's awesomeness (my dad has Vista, and a much more powerful system, and my three year old dell laptop blows it out of the water, visually and speed) but I hate the iPod support. Sure, it auto mounts it, and it's on my desktop and all that, and it wants to sync with rhythmbox or whatnot, but it messes up my iPod...this is the second time I've done Ubuntu, and I've only plugged my iPod in once, (yesterday) and it did the same thing it did last time I was running Ubuntu feisty, with all the updates.
Here are my problems:
1. For some reason, I am not able to put my iPod (5th gen, not 5.5) into sleep mode. This is really irritating, cause battery life is real important to me, so I like to be able to put it to sleep when I want it to, not leave it on and wait for it to decide to go to sleep on it's own. Even after restarting it (toggle hold switch, press menu and center button simultaniously for 6-10secs) it still won't let me put it to sleep, not even through the menu.
2. Playlists...................SO FRUSTRATING!!!!! I know there are linux music players that support these, but they don't do it well. Random playlists of mine are blank, i go to look at them on my iPod, and it's just a blank list. And smart playlists don't work either............................................ ..........grrrrr!
3. Stars. This is somewhat related to smart playlists... But after plugging the iPod into Ubuntu, it deleted all of my ratings! Do you know how frustrating this is? I am so upset....!!!!!!!!!!! I use the stars as an organization tool to better narrow down what I want to listen to based on my mood, (or something like that) I WANT MY STARS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Play counts are gone...same frustration as the others....related to smart playlists.......

I have a large library, and I rely heavily on smart playlists, so...yeah.

I know you're all like, "Amarok is teh best, you have to use it!" (yes, I put 'teh' in there, because you're all nerds, and, *shock* I'm not nearly as much a nerd as you, yet I'm able to run and, for the most part, enjoy Ubuntu, which is pretty amazing)
Since you're all fantastic coders and stuff...instead of making patches to other programs, or programs that have tacked on features, why not make a NEW media player that runs on Ubuntu that is specifically designed to work with iPods? Would this be very hard? I don't know, because I've never written a program and would never know were to begin, but Ubuntu is all about being user freindly and approachable, and there are Millions of iPod users out there, and if they were able to use it with their iPod hassle free, there would be a potential huge growth in Ubuntu users...plus, with each new release Ubuntu gets better......I know it probably won't happen, but I feel like the only one with this problem, and everyone else seems like they don't really know what they are talking about in this area i.e. they don't even own an iPod and/or have never used one with iTunes, and I'm talking about Current iPods, and Current iTunes...they've come a ways since you people used them back in the dark ages.....
P.S. I'm sorry if I offend anyone, and I'm not trying to, it's just that I'm so frustrated about this one thing.....music is important to me, and being able to listen to it hassle free would be a big plus, I don't want to boot back into windows(so slow and gross), but I guess I'll have to, just so I can use iTunes..........
.I'm crying.

[jleaman]

SO i've read a little through this thread, me wanting to run my new Ipod Video on Ubuntu, i can see my music via amaroK but can't add to it. suckie.

Any solutions for this ?

[zeller]

Is it possible for someone to port SharePod (http://www.sturm.net.nz/website.php?Section=iPod+Programs&Page=SharePod) to Ubuntu?

This program doesn't even require an installation of iTunes to work. It does use the .Net framework from what I've read, but is there a way to port that? I'm no coder.

[Colro]

It's pretty simple to use ITunes with Linux. Simply install XP with Virtualbox, set it up to share USB devices, share your music folder with the guest OS, and bam. It's not convenient, no, but it's also not the most difficult thing in the world to do. I would hardly consider it worthy of being a sole reason for using Windows. Why use an IPod anyway, though? There's a dozen different 'off-brand' MP3/video devices that work just fine with Linux and are generally cheaper for the same functionality of an IPod. You don't always have to buy the big fancy name brand to get quality.

[zeller]

You're absolutely right about that. But, consider, I didn't by my iPod. It was a gift, so the choice was not mine. "Yeah, but you could always take it back to the store and get something different!!" Yes, but I didn't.

Also, I prefer the layout of the menus in the iPod. It isn't the name brand that makes me like it. Do Creative Zens work with Linux?

...and I have no money to go purchasing additional products. That's one of the reasons Linux is supposed to be appealing, free software.

I couldn't figure out VMware or Wine. I'm brand new so it WAS tough for me.

[dfreer]

@Sabayenda -

I know you're all like, "Amarok is teh best, you have to use it!" (yes, I put 'teh' in there, because you're all nerds, and, *shock* I'm not nearly as much a nerd as you, yet I'm able to run and, for the most part, enjoy Ubuntu, which is pretty amazing)
...
P.S. I'm sorry if I offend anyone, and I'm not trying to, it's just that I'm so frustrated about this one thing.....music is important to me, and being able to listen to it hassle free would be a big plus, I don't want to boot back into windows(so slow and gross), but I guess I'll have to, just so I can use iTunes..........
.I'm crying.


Ah, evidently it's ok to insult people if you apologize for it after words in the postscript. All is forgiven then.



Since you're all fantastic coders and stuff...instead of making patches to other programs, or programs that have tacked on features, why not make a NEW media player that runs on Ubuntu that is specifically designed to work with iPods? Would this be very hard? I don't know, because I've never written a program and would never know were to begin...

You're absolutely right, instead of working on more important things, like real jobs to feed their families or bugs in the Kernel/OS, programmer's should focus on getting your fancy ipod working. Even though you could spend the time figuring out how to get it working yourself, or take 2 minutes to reboot into windows since you can't be bothered to read a how-to like these:
http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/04/how-to-use-amarok-to-manage-your-ipod-in-ubuntu/
http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_amarok_ipod
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/205947/managing_an_ipod_in_linux_using_amarok.html
http://www.gtkpod.org/README
http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/07/how-to-use-gtkpod-to-manage-your-ipod-in-ubuntu/
http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_gtkpod_ipod


there are Millions of iPod users out there, and if they were able to use it with their iPod hassle free, there would be a potential huge growth in Ubuntu users
...
I'm talking about Current iPods, and Current iTunes...they've come a ways since you people used them back in the dark ages.....


Evidently ipod's have been around forever. And the only thing holding people back from using linux is hassle-free ipod support?! For srsly OMG? Obviously us nerds are conspiring together, because we don't want popular people like the great Sabayenda using our OS.

P.S. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I'm not trying to, it's just frustrating for me to see people who think it's acceptable to insult others and complain about how terrible the operating system is, and then expect those same people to drop everything else and help them.

EDIT: BTW, I have a iPod Video (5 Gen 30GB model), and it works great with amarok. Ratings are synced between the two, and I'm not experiencing random skips like I did when syncing music in windows w/iTunes. Have you tried (1) reseting the ipod then (2) syncing the ipod to amarok only?

[Kamikaze117]

...Why can't Linux break out from the underground, and "officially" compete publicly with the other two? The *only* coverage I've ever seen of Linux has been from web forums.

Dell is now selling computers with Ubuntu on them, although, I've only seen it on there site.

On another note, I'm note sure if I want Ubuntu to be a mainstream OS. It might turn into another "windows" at some point and we will have to find a new OS to turn to.

[Kamikaze117]

I believe that someday, the folks at Songbird will give everyone a run for their money. Granted, that day is still pretty far off in the future....

http://www.songbirdnest.com/

I couldn't agree more. They still need to get sharing working too.

Edit: Hehe. Forgot I had a post above this one and can't get rid of this one.

[matchstich]

i would like to have one song off the elton john honky chateau record.

searched on here to see if i could use itunes. i guess not.

y'all are talking about these other deals that do work with linux.

can i use one of them to get the one song i want?

normally i don't do music. have no collection. no ipod.


only have a cheap $5 radio/alarm. want that one song to use as my ringtone.

thanks

[aysiu]

i would like to have one song off the elton john honky chateau record.

searched on here to see if i could use itunes. i guess not.

y'all are talking about these other deals that do work with linux.

can i use one of them to get the one song i want? Try Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_i_2?ie=UTF8&rs=&keywords=honky%20chateau&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ahonky%20chateau%2Ci%3Adigital-music

[d.kusummmanth@gmail.com]

Releasing iTunes for Linux acknowledges that Linux exists, which I don't think Apple wants to do publicly.


I completely agree with u. Apple basically targets Windows customers and tries to convince them to switch MAC OS for reasons like No viruses!, Stable!, No crashing!, etc., which are features of UNIX and UNIX-like OSs.
I felt no great interest when I visited an Apple Store in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad and the salesman was telling me about features which are available for FREE:):) in Linux.

He should hv asked me at the beginning itself, about my current OS. And when I would have said (Ubuntu) Linux, his reply should hv been, "We'll..I don't think there is a reason for u to switch from a better OS to a good ONE"!!:):) ( Did u get the joke?)

[matchstich]

Try Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_i_2?ie=UTF8&rs=&keywords=honky%20chateau&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ahonky%20chateau%2Ci%3Adigital-music

thanks for that. my song is on there.

[theumang]

What do PpL with an iPhone & iPod touch do?

[Tibuda]

What do PpL with an iPhone & iPod touch do?

iFuse: http://matt.colyer.name/projects/iphone-linux

[starcannon]

Why hasn't Apple released iTunes for Linux? Surely it's not a technical problem? (After all, Google's released Google Earth for Linux, and iTunes is far simpler.)

One argument I've heard is that Apple wouldn't make a significant amount of money from their Music Store from Linux users, and therefore there is no monetary incentive for such a release. Surely this isn't the case?!

Releasing software (or at least iTunes) for Linux would give people one more alternative to Windows (thus hurting their main competition at least a little), AND increase the market for the iPod ...

I imagine Apple only grudgingly has iTunes for Windows; the Apple game plan is to lock users into the iLifestyle and milk its users like an ant on aphids. Currently they need to co-operate with MS, if they ever get a heavy enough bulk of the market though, MS would be kicked to the curb with malice.

[Chronon]

On the rare occasions that I change the music on my iPod Touch I fire up XP as a guest in VirtualBox and use iTunes in that environment to sync media. By sharing my music folder I can easily drag and drop music to the iPod Touch.


(Honestly, I find the iPod Touch to be a very mediocre music player and prefer dedicated DAPs instead.)

[Chronon]

iFuse: http://matt.colyer.name/projects/iphone-linux

IIUC that allows people to use their iPhones as UMS devices. This doesn't directly give a way to sync media, does it?

[alakazam]

In OSX Quicktime and iTunes are amazing because they were originally made for the Apple platform, on other platforms it feels utterly naff.

Even if iTunes were ported to Linux judging on the Windows port I would not use it, never.

[HappinessNow]

Why no iTunes for Linux?
Why no gasoline for mouthwash?
:lolflag:

[Sef]

Locked. Necromancing.