Wake-up call: Apple won’t port iTunes to Linux

[praka123]

Wake-up call: Apple won’t port iTunes to Linux (http://ubuntucat.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/wake-up-call-apple-wont-port-itunes-to-linux/)

May 23, 2008


Introduction

I want to bring iTunes-loving Linux users back to reality. As you can see from the following Ubuntu Forums threads, some Ubuntu-ites are deluded about the idea of Apple porting iTunes to Linux:

Why Apple doesn’t want to release iTunes for Linux (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=220167)
Petition - iTunes for Ubuntu (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=432151)
Should Apple port iTunes to Linux? (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=634186)
The iTunes Linux Project (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=780995)

If you’re too lazy to read those links, I can sum up how the iTunes discussion usually goes among Linux users:Hi. I’m new to Linux. How do I install iTunes on it?
iTunes is a bloated piece of crap. Use a real music application like AmaroK.
I really like iTunes, though.
I installed iTunes on Ubuntu with Wine.
iTunes installs with Wine, but it isn’t fully functional. Don’t bother.
Why do you have an iPod anyway? Use a Cowon player instead. It’s more Linux-friendly.
I kind of like the iTunes music store. Will the songs I bought from there be able to play on a Cowon player?
No. Pop music sucks these days. Don’t support the big labels. Support independent artists.
But I like pop music. Can’t we convince Apple to port iTunes to Linux?
I’ve put together a petition for it. Go to this link to sign it.
I hate iTunes, but I signed the petition because it’ll help bring more users over to Linux.
Apple can keep its proprietary applications. We have better iPod-management software on Linux anyway. I think I got all the major arguments in there.

Philanthropic Apple porting iTunes?

Now imagine you’re an executive at Apple—Steve Jobs or somebody else. If you read that kind of back-and-forth, would you (even if you were more philanthropic- than profit-oriented) port iTunes to Linux? I know I wouldn’t. Even if I didn’t care about profit, I wouldn’t, because there are too many anti-proprietary software and/or anti-Apple elements in the Linux community. With the number of Linux users not buying iPods, buying iPods and installing Rockbox onto them, and using non-iTunes Music Store services like Jamendo, eMusic, or Amazon, I wouldn’t see a very compelling case for putting any resources into porting iTunes to Linux.




Read the complete article here:
http://ubuntucat.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/wake-up-call-apple-wont-port-itunes-to-linux/

[Dark Star]

WHy I would use iTunes ? I just don't like.. when player like Amarok is present who really cares about Itunes :p

[praka123]

you know,apple is really furious about Linux penetration and open source ofcourse!
reason :FOSS rocks and Linux is the nearest competitor in OS market :))

[j1n M@tt]

hmm dat ws a long story praka........but I don't care abt Apple products, they r for some people with large, long pockets :D

[MetalheadGautham]

the real reason is this:

The moment apple ports a bloatware like iTunes that steals every setting of yours to itself, people WONT try to install it.

Look at what happened to real player. People asked real to port real player to linux, got pissed off that their beautiful looking Crystal icons were being replaced with ugly real icons and all file associations handed over to real. So they just grabbed the real linux-native codecs and coded some stuff into xine to make it use them. There are even workarounds for Real Mozilla plugin.

Then imagine what would happen to iTunes. The nessassary features and ipod sync tools, etc will be extracted from the iTunes install, and used to power a mod for AmaroK, Banshee or some other better media player and iTunes removed and purged.

[BBThumbHealer]

WHy I would use iTunes ? I just don't like.. when player like Amarok is present who really cares about Itunes :p

exacty ... ;)

[sourav123]

I hate Apple products. I think they’re overrated and overpriced. Apple locks users in more than Microsoft does. Down with DRM! Down with proprietary software!

This looks like me! :)

[Hitboxx]

Er., why would you want any Apple products on Linux? I don't get it. Personally I have no need or even care if a company called Apple exists. Sure if Windows goes away I will miss it but why Apple? It's all a crazy monology of these so called Ubuntians.

[MetalheadGautham]

Er., why would you want any Apple products on Linux? I don't get it. Personally I have no need or even care if a company called Apple exists. Sure if Windows goes away I will miss it but why Apple? It's all a crazy monology of these so called Ubuntians.

perfectly true.
ubuntu makes linux look like a joke many times.

[Krazy_About_Technology]

the real reason is this:

The moment apple ports a bloatware like iTunes that steals every setting of yours to itself, people WONT try to install it.

Look at what happened to real player. People asked real to port real player to linux, got pissed off that their beautiful looking Crystal icons were being replaced with ugly real icons and all file associations handed over to real. So they just grabbed the real linux-native codecs and coded some stuff into xine to make it use them. There are even workarounds for Real Mozilla plugin.

Then imagine what would happen to iTunes. The nessassary features and ipod sync tools, etc will be extracted from the iTunes install, and used to power a mod for AmaroK, Banshee or some other better media player and iTunes removed and purged.

+1. very well said :-)

[desiibond]

Thank god. I can continue using Amarok. iTunes sucks big time. Who knows, you might even see a BSOD in linux due to iTunes :)

[Pat]

perfectly true.
ubuntu makes linux look like a joke many times.

Care to explain ? :confused:

[hellknight]

Who needs iTunes when we have AmaroK, Banshee, Exaile and Rhythmbox on Linux..
AmaroK and Exaile are far superb players than iTunes..

[ray|raven]

I dont think people care , if Apple does port iTunes or not.
For me , I am more than content with mpd and mplayer.

Why exactly would people go after iTunes when there's better stuff out there that does that already is beyond me.

[gxsaurav]

iTunes is not just about iPod management. Even WMP11 can do it, it is also about iTunes Music Store.

[ray|raven]

WMP manages iPod's? Since When?

[aditya.shevade]

iTunes is not just about iPod management. Even WMP11 can do it, it is also about iTunes Music Store.

+1... I think this is the main reason for 80% of the people who want it on linux. I mean, people who actually do not have windows on their machine are supposed to be good with linux. (supposed to be.. I am not saying that they always are). And if they know that much, then managing iPod from banshee, amarok is also possible.

[gxsaurav]

WMP manages iPod's? Since When?

http://www.mgtek.com/dopisp/

[ray|raven]

^Sweet. Thanx for the Info.

[iMav]

did any1 read this
I kind of like the iTunes music store. Will the songs I bought from there be able to play on a Cowon player?
No. Pop music sucks these days. Don’t support the big labels. Support independent artists.
But I like pop music. Can’t we convince Apple to port iTunes to Linux? Quite indicative of Ubuntu support :lol: the guy wants him to change his music taste for the OS :lol:

coming on topic, for iPod management Linux has a great iPod management software, I forgot which application, but it was an already bundled music player in Ubuntu.

For the iTunes store, well it's Apple's wish, their market is not Linux users. Never was.

[ray|raven]

^gtkPod is a good iPod management app, But it isnt bundled with ubuntu.
Rhythmbox comes with ubuntu and can sync with iPod's.

[MetalheadGautham]

did any1 read this
Quite indicative of Ubuntu support :lol: the guy wants him to change his music taste for the OS :lol:

coming on topic, for iPod management Linux has a great iPod management software, I forgot which application, but it was an already bundled music player in Ubuntu.

For the iTunes store, well it's Apple's wish, their market is not Linux users. Never was.
how the hell can music taste affect choice of OS ?
Its not as if Ubuntu or Windows comes with Metallica theme by defualt, is it ? :lol:

And yes, both linux AND windows have great alternate iPod management software. Either you have those dll forking light weight apps for windows, or you have those reverse engineered intergrated apps for linux.

I think Media Management software is sonething which shows your own ineffitiency - I prefer organising them myself, because no software can take into concideration the rules I use to sort music.

iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc often disgust me because while they are really slow, they have no good use. Infact, on windows, I think the sleekest media player is that mplayer2.exe, the mortal remains of WMP6.4 which still rocks.

There are music stores other than iTunes music stores as well. Besides, iTunes music store and almost 99.9999% if the music stores in the business rip people off. The audio quality is not lossless, but still we need to pay more than we do for the CD. Sheesh. Its better to buy CDs or if no CD is available, you get a reason to justify piracy.

[iMav]

Rhythmbox comes with ubuntu and can sync with iPod's.yes Rythmbox it was, I enjoyed it. It is one really nice application for iPod owners who are on Linux.

how the hell can music taste affect choice of OS ?
Its not as if Ubuntu or Windows comes with Metallica theme by defualt, is it ? :lol:

I was referring to where the guy tells the other person to stop listening to pop & switch to independent artists :D

[MetalheadGautham]

yes Rythmbox it was, I enjoyed it. It is one really nice application for iPod owners who are on Linux.
Rhythembox is sick, bloated and ugly. Banshee and AmaroK are better.

[hellknight]

True.. AmaroK has default equalizer presets... Rhythmbox and Banshee doesn't.. iTunes has become a system hog over the years..

[ray|raven]

^You call an app useless just coz it has default equalizer presets? Sheesh.

[praka123]

Rhythmbox works great for me :) I like Exaile in Gnome than amarok though.heck,both are the same. :D

there is one new player called Listen.I think it got some integrated ipod sync function?

[iMav]

At one point of time I started booting into Ubuntu only for Rythmbox & it's iPod sync facility which IMO is better than iTunes when you have not synced your iPod and are manually managing your library.

[hellknight]

^You call an app useless just coz it has default equalizer presets? Sheesh.

Nah.. its not like that... Use AmaroK and then use the other two, you'll feel the difference and superiority of AmaroK

[gxsaurav]

how the hell can music taste affect choice of OS ?
Its not as if Ubuntu or Windows comes with Metallica theme by defualt, is it ?

Lolz...you don't understand anything do u? Or is it some psycological flaw in u?

The support guy told him to change his music taste cos his iPod wasn't working with Ubuntu, how LAME is that :D

we need to pay more than we do for the CD. Sheesh. Its better to buy CDs or if no CD is available, you get a reason to justify piracy.

Wrong. In an album suppose there are 10 songs for Rs 100 but i only like 2 of them, so why buy the whole album at Rs 100 & why not just 2 songs for Rs 20.

[Pat]

Lolz...you don't understand anything do u? Or is it some psycological flaw in u?
The support guy told him to change his music taste cos his iPod wasn't working with Ubuntu, how LAME is that


Ever heard of something called as sense of humour ? :rolleyes:

[sourav123]

Wrong. In an album suppose there are 10 songs for Rs 100 but i only like 2 of them, so why buy the whole album at Rs 100 & why not just 2 songs for Rs 20.

Who is offering songs @Rs. 10/-. Definitely its not Apple. They will ask at least Rs. 50/- per song. Robbers!!!

[MetalheadGautham]

Who is offering songs @Rs. 10/-. Definitely its not Apple. They will ask at least Rs. 50/- per song. Robbers!!!
If albums were Rs. 100.- in India, I would be hoarding them :lol:

[aryayush]

@praka123,
“ubuntucat”, whoever he/she is, spent a lot of time and effort to write that article. It’s a lengthy, well written article—the sort that you have to invest a lot into to be able to get just right. And he didn’t do it just so that someone could hit Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C and paste it all over the Internet. He did it because he wants people to visit his website and read it there.

Posting it here, the full article as it is, is downright thievery. Intellectual property carries a lot of intangible value—a Linux user should be the last person disrespecting that. As an author myself, and on behalf of all other authors in the world, I request you to only post excerpts with a link to the full article in future. You read it and liked it—the least you can do is have the author benefit a little for the great article he has penned down.

Thank you!

---------------------

P.S.: I haven’t read all the discussion going on in this thread because it’s based on a pointless premise. Apple is never porting iTunes over to Linux—you know that, I know that and everyone who knows anything about business knows that. What’s the point of bickering over it?

[praka123]

^dude!I havent posted the complete article ! :lol: go see my first post!

[aryayush]

You have posted the full article. What the Hell are you talking about!

[MetalheadGautham]

P.S.: I haven’t read all the discussion going on in this thread because it’s based on a pointless premise. Apple is never porting iTunes over to Linux—you know that, I know that and everyone who knows anything about business knows that. What’s the point of bickering over it?
The next time you post, please try to read everything. There is no point in adding "PS: I haven't read a thing because it aint useful for me", because its obvious from what you post. In threads in this forum, we don't just barge in and comment something looking at the title. There are other places (http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57559) to do that.

Please keep your big over-zealous head thats shaped like an apple in Some Other Thread (http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57559) and leave us alone.

[praka123]

well,I am sorry :( I have edited first post.

[mail2and]

The next time you post, please try to read everything. There is no point in adding "PS: I haven't read a thing because it aint useful for me", because its obvious from what you post. In threads in this forum, we don't just barge in and comment something looking at the title. There are other places (http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57559) to do that.

Please keep your big over-zealous head thats shaped like an apple in Some Other Thread (http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57559) and leave us alone.

I'd suggest not commenting on people's body shapes, sizes or looks. :)

[gxsaurav]

Yeah, we all know Arya needs to switch to Kabab Parathey :D

[MetalheadGautham]

I'd suggest not commenting on people's body shapes, sizes or looks. :)
sorry there. couldn't help it.
Yeah, we all know Arya needs to switch to Kabab Parathey :D

gautham runs to the toilet to piss the hell off


Apple fruit is GOD. don't insult it. You may however, continue insulting Apple the company.

[goobimama]

Why are Linux users whining about this? iTunes is not meant for Linux users anyway. A typical linux user likes to customise stuff and iTunes is just the opposite of that.

[mail2and]

Yeah, we all know Arya needs to switch to Kabab Parathey :D

Discounting vegetarianism, eh?

[aryayush]

The next time you post, please try to read everything. There is no point in adding "PS: I haven't read a thing because it aint useful for me", because its obvious from what you post. In threads in this forum, we don't just barge in and comment something looking at the title. There are other places (http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57559) to do that.

Please keep your big over-zealous head thats shaped like an apple in Some Other Thread (http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57559) and leave us alone.That was just an explanation for why I wasn’t commenting on the actual content of the thread. My post was only intended to correct praka123’s behaviour and, as you can see, he listened to me and obliged. Thanks to him for that! :)

Mission complete. I don’t care what’s going on in the rest of the thread and it’s not necessary that I do. I’m not spamming or anything. The postscript was just to repel posts like yours but, obviously, it has proved ineffective.

[MetalheadGautham]

Why are Linux users whining about this? iTunes is not meant for Linux users anyway. A typical linux user likes to customise stuff and iTunes is just the opposite of that.
linux users are not at all whining about this. Its the windows users who want to try linux who are whining about this. Experienced Linux Users are trying to stay as far far away from iTunes as possible, with some like me loathing bloated media management software and instead prefering the likes of Foobar2000, but it stil makes a good item of discussion when we concider marketing stratagies and how products can be expected to perform in different environments, etc.

This thread is more for speculatory if-this-may-happen-then-what style posts. This serves no practical perpose indeed, but it satisfies our lust for hypothetical situations.

[T159]

real player = badware
iTunes = Nothing spectacular

Exaile = heaven (gnome)
Amarok = heaven (KDE)

Cowon PMP ftw
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/12/cowon-a3-review/
http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/cowon/a3/

Incredible video compatibility, extreme codec support, OMG it really pawns:D

http://www.cowonamerica.com/images/products/d2/cowon_d2/tbar11.gif

[Dark Star]

Banshee to emerged as a gr8 media player http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080527-rock-out-on-linux-with-the-banshee-1-0-beta-2-media-player.html .. The second Media player to surpass its release till version 1:P

[x3060]

oh god, who really cares for itunes, there are many other good players than itunes....

[Maverick340]

linux users are not at all whining about this. Its the windows users who want to try linux who are whining about this. Experienced Linux Users are trying to stay as far far away from iTunes as possible, with some like me loathing bloated media management software and instead prefering the likes of Foobar2000, but it stil makes a good item of discussion when we concider marketing stratagies and how products can be expected to perform in different environments, etc.

This thread is more for speculatory if-this-may-happen-then-what style posts. This serves no practical perpose indeed, but it satisfies our lust for hypothetical situations.

+1
Agree with you ..
I got friends using windows who will try Linux , but they all ask me if their ipods will "run" with Linux. And as soon as you tell them "Umm.. yea.but you may experience a few hitches " , they turn around and walk away. So yea- iTunes need not be ported to linux just as amarok need'nt be ported to windows ( but they are still doing it ) Just make a stable app for syncing your ipod with Linux.