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Codeweaver's Crossover 4.0 Adds iTunes Support

nbahi15 writes "Codeweavers has released v4 of its Wine implementation with the addition of support for iTunes. To quote their web site, 'iTunes works, and can do everything we thought was important; play music, access the store, and sync with an iPod. It can't burn CDs right now, and it has some fairly serious warts (sound is tricky, particularly with 2.6 kernels, and getting the iPod going is hard), but we think it's usable.' Finally I can use the single most important 'productivity' application on Linux."

271 comments

  1. Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    We're shocked I say! Shocked! iShocked even!

    1. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by p4ul13 · · Score: 1

      Funny, though it's more an advertisement for Codeweavers.

      --
      Paul Lenhart writes words!
    2. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Codeweavers doesn't have its own Slashdot section and isn't repeatedly featured and fawned over on the front page.

    3. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The whole point of this "article" is to show that iTunes runs on Codeweavers. It's more Slashdot manually masturbating Steve Jobs. Also, as inventor of the "pee pee/poo poo" troll, I thank you for reminding me of it (via your other posts in this thread). You sir are a God among men (or at least slashbots).

    4. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, because announcing the functional version of a project to run Apple software is just like handing them free money. Except the software is free to start with. But it does allow people to buy things from Apple. Except, Apple is not really making any money off of the sales. All this does is encourage people to buy ipods from Apple, and discourage them from buying computers from Apple. I can't really see how this is advertising for Apple. Especially given the semi-functional nature of the release. If anything, this probably annoys Apple, since it gives Linux users the ability to run one of their flagship pieces of software in a broken and semi-functional sort of way.

    5. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously have trouble with comprehension. I said "free advertising", not "handing them free money". You said it yourself, "is encourage people to buy ipods from Apple", so what part of my post don't you get?

    6. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All this does is encourage people to buy ipods from Apple...

      Sorry it's not as much as a computer, but isn't it still a sale for Apple?

    7. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Mod+Me+God+Four · · Score: 0, Troll

      Sir, the creator of pee pee/poo poo is truely a god among the CLIT.

    8. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by sean23007 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So then why wouldn't it encourage Apple to fix the problem? As in, people obviously want to run iTunes in Linux and use their iPods in Linux, so why not release a Linux version of iTunes? It would solve the semi-functional problem, and open up the iPod market to gadget-loving geeks just a little more.

      --

      Lack of eloquence does not denote lack of intelligence, though they often coincide.
    9. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "If anything, this probably annoys Apple, since it gives Linux users the ability to run one of their flagship pieces of software in a broken and semi-functional sort of way."

      You mean Linux PC users?
      Linux Mac users can simply run iTunes in OS X via Mac-on-Linux. Though running OS X does consume memory.

      iTux

    10. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I meant, Linux PowerPC users. Mac-on-Linux works on non-Mac PowerPC hardware too. Though it is illegal to run OS X on non-Mac hardware.

      iTux

    11. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by AstroDrabb · · Score: 0, Troll
      Hmm, I am surprised that Apple Zealots(tm) haven't swarmed over your post and modded you down. Apple actually allowing interoperability? Never! The only reason that iTunes runs on MS Windows is because Apple _knew_ they wouldn't have a market without it. Apple doesn't really care what their users want to use unless is it Max OS X running on some Mac hardware.

      Insert Apple Zealot(tm) post about how Apple uses Open Source stuff and how the kernel is open. Umm, but don't mention how all the important stuff that makes a Mac a Mac is closed and locked away by Apple, because that would ruin the Mac Zealot(tm) argument (and put Mac on a level playing field with MS). Then insert counter point that Apple _needs_ to keep somethings proprietary in order to compete. Then ingnore the fact how Apple loves Open source code they can take and use to save millions in development costs and then take ages to return changes to the community (cough, safari, cough).

      I have plenty karma to burn baby >: P

      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
    12. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by .com+b4+.storm · · Score: 1

      it gives Linux users the ability to run one of their flagship pieces of software in a broken and semi-functional sort of way.

      And this is different from it running on Windows... how? ;)

      --
      "Wow, you're like some kind of superhero able to ward off happiness and success at every turn."
      -- Ryan Stiles
    13. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by PsychoSid · · Score: 1

      It's because at least they have a semi-standard toolset to develop against. With Linux do you use QT, GTK etc ?

    14. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why not release a Linux version of iTunes?

      Money.


      It costs a lot of money to port itunes, and quicktime (required for actually playing anything) to linux. Personally, I think it might be a good idea for them to do it as a promotional piece, to try to convert linux users. But, then again, most of the people I know that are actually willing to pony up money for software, have already bought a mac to use as a workstation.

    15. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by steeviant · · Score: 1

      Who cares? As long as it works it doesn't matter one bit, especially since most of iTunes uses custom widgets, it's not like that brushed metal interface is going to integrate with standard QT or GTK themes.

    16. Re:Yet more free advertising for Apple on Slashdot by sean23007 · · Score: 1

      Um, they wouldn't be asking anyone to pony up money for software. iTunes and Quicktime are free (unless you want to get the Pro version of QT, which is unnecessary). They'd be opening their market for the iTMS to Linux users, allowing many people who claim to be willing to pay for music to do so, and also allowing those same people who may be buying music from Apple on their Windows or Mac machines to play it on their Linux machines as well, and let them sync their iPods with Linux. It's about good will, and it also increases the size of their market. And, while Linux users might not all be chomping at the bit to pay for software, they definitely pay for hardware. And that's what Apple is selling here ... hardware, not software.

      --

      Lack of eloquence does not denote lack of intelligence, though they often coincide.
  2. itunes is a monster! by ilyanep · · Score: 0, Insightful

    I wonder if Apple knew that iTunes would become such a big hit when they released it.

    --
    ~Ilyanep
    To get message, take amount of carrier pigeons at each stage mod 2. Then decode binary.
    1. Re:itunes is a monster! by Metryq · · Score: 1

      Perhaps it was a test bed for Tiger's "Spotlight" feature? The iTunes library search looks a lot like Spotlight (from a purely interface point of view) -- but what the heck do I know? I'm not a coder.

    2. Re:itunes is a monster! by eln · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well if they did, you would think they would have tied up the loose ends with Apple Records before launching it.

    3. Re:itunes is a monster! by Hatta · · Score: 1, Informative

      I can't figure out what the big deal is with it. Some really fundamental operations are a pain in the ass with itunes. For instance, if I drop a .m3u on an audio player, I expect it to open the m3u and play the files in order. With itunes, it adds the songs to the library and scatters them around with the other songs. You have to manually create a new playlist and drop the .m3u in there, and it still gets the songs out of order. I'll stick with mplayer.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    4. Re:itunes is a monster! by ilyanep · · Score: 0

      The main thing about iTunes is the Music Store. Where else can you get songs for 99 cents a pop? Also, I don't generally use m3u's and the AAC loseless format is hard to beat.

      --
      ~Ilyanep
      To get message, take amount of carrier pigeons at each stage mod 2. Then decode binary.
    5. Re:itunes is a monster! by Hatta · · Score: 1

      The main thing about iTunes is the Music Store. Where else can you get songs for 99 cents a pop?

      The record store?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    6. Re:itunes is a monster! by ilyanep · · Score: 0

      I've never seen singles sold for 99 cents... Lemme rephrase, Where else online

      --
      ~Ilyanep
      To get message, take amount of carrier pigeons at each stage mod 2. Then decode binary.
    7. Re:itunes is a monster! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course...
      Whaddya think, Jobs does this for fun?

    8. Re:itunes is a monster! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      allofmp3.com.

      Sure, it's run by the Russian mob and isn't legal at all in America, but some people enjoy paying money for what they are legally entitled to get for free.

    9. Re:itunes is a monster! by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Emusic.com has 40 downloads for $10. Magnatune has a sliding scale, and gives away 128kbit encodes. Allofmp3 charges $10 per gig. And archive.org gives the shit away. I'm sure I'm missing some, there's no shortage of cheap high quality(in terms of fidelity and musicianship), legal music available online.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    10. Re:itunes is a monster! by loquacious+d · · Score: 2, Informative

      Try dragging the .m3u into the playlist pane. It should create a new playlist containing those songs (as well as add them to the library).

    11. Re:itunes is a monster! by ilyanep · · Score: 0

      I'm not sure about the first two, but I believe allofmp3 is based in russia, and nothing that gives free songs away can possibly be legal. And, iTunes can encode stuff in AAC loseless. My only problem with it is that it takes a while to load.

      --
      ~Ilyanep
      To get message, take amount of carrier pigeons at each stage mod 2. Then decode binary.
    12. Re:itunes is a monster! by Hatta · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure about the first two, but I believe allofmp3 is based in russia

      So?

      nothing that gives free songs away can possibly be legal.

      Don't be rediculous

      And, iTunes can encode stuff in AAC loseless.

      When we already have FLAC, I don't see that this is a big deal.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    13. Re:itunes is a monster! by AstroDrabb · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Well, from AllOfMP3 you can get 2.5GB of music for $25, that is about 700 MP3's at 192kbs. The same number of songs from iTMS would cost you oh, about $700! With almost _all_ of that money going to the RIAA and Apple, _not_ the artists.

      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
    14. Re:itunes is a monster! by Hatta · · Score: 1

      No dice, it just adds them to whatever playlist was underneath it. There doesn't seem to be any droppable space that isn't occupied by a playlist already. Also, how do I get it to do the right thing when opening an m3u from firefox?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    15. Re:itunes is a monster! by rpdillon · · Score: 1

      Err, parent isn't flamebait. He is just stating a fact. AllofMP3 is a very good deal. And if you read copyright law, I think you'll find that if you don't redistribute the music you get from the service, it is quite legal in the US, so long as it was provided legally in Russia, which the website states it is. There is a what-was-legal-in-another-country-is-legal-here-fo r -personal-use provision in copyright law regarding imports.

      To be honest, I'm often surprised that iTunes basically gives you only about a 33% discount off of CD based distribution (assume an album has 13 tracks - that's $13 versus $17-$18). Its doing very well, and yet I still don't think its that great of a deal, especially considering it's lossy and DRM'd, doesn't include media (the CD), or a case insert with info. AllofMP3 offers lossless encoding, as well as MP3s, Oggs, AAC, etc, in a variety of bitrates.

      I'm different than most iTunes users though, since I view the base unit of music as an album, and most users view their base unit of music as a song. I like to see progression and themes develop through an album, mainly because I listen to music that has themed albums. Not much point in buying one track then. It's a different story with pop music.

    16. Re:itunes is a monster! by AstroDrabb · · Score: 1
      Thanks for sticking up for me : )

      Seriously though, AllOfMP3 offers MP3, OGG, Wav, WMA, MP4 and MPC. Far more choices then the DRM'ed AAC from Apple. Sorry, but my money won't go to support DRM'ed music. I am a little older then the average music buyer (31), so I don't care about all the pop-crap out there. I have about 500 MP3's and it is honetly enogh to last me the rest of my life without ever having to contribute to the RIAA monopoly again or supporting crap like Brittany, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Maritn, or all the other pop/rap crap.

      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
    17. Re:itunes is a monster! by generic-man · · Score: 1

      Most iTunes albums are $10, though I've seen some for less and some for more. It all depends on the record label.

      And I still see Allofmp3.com as the virtual equivalent of going to Bangkok and buying sackloads of bootleg DVDs. Just because you paid money for it doesn't make it legitimate in my opinion. Then again, I anal.

      --
      For more information, click here.
    18. Re:itunes is a monster! by rpdillon · · Score: 1

      My argument didn't really boil down to "Since I paid money for it, it's legitimate." It instead pointed to copyright law.

      I welcome input regarding the legality of allofmp3 that is based on law/fact, since I think it is a topic that is open to question. My research so far has indicated that it is legal, assuming it is legal in Russia, which I believe it is, based on their own statements.

      IANAL either, so if anyone is better informed, please advise. Until then, I feel bad not supporting arists, but I'd rather support Allofmp3 that supports OGG and Linux than line the pockets of the RIAA.

    19. Re:itunes is a monster! by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

      Walmart has the songs for 88 cents. I have bought from iTunes and know that the m4a format is easily convertable to mp3s. Which is the reason why I am still buying at iTunes music store.

      Anyone know if Emusic and other places sell formats that are convertable to mp3s, while safely deleting all my credentials? The thought of my personal info being digitally attached to my files just horrifies me.

    20. Re:itunes is a monster! by ilyanep · · Score: 0
      So?

      It's not all that legal.

      Don't be ridiculous

      Well, why would anyone give out copyrighted music for free at a loss to themselves?

      When we already have FLAC, I don't see that this is a big deal

      What is FLAC?

      Also, I'm planning on getting an iPod, so I kind of have to have iTunes.

      --
      ~Ilyanep
      To get message, take amount of carrier pigeons at each stage mod 2. Then decode binary.
  3. seriously, this is great news by eobanb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...I really must say, Rhythmbox is junk. It does about a tenth of the things iTunes does. Besides, Linux users can now buy music. Awesome job, guys!

    --

    Take off every sig. For great justice.

    1. Re:seriously, this is great news by eobanb · · Score: 0, Troll

      argh, look, my intent wasn't to mindlessly knock Rhythmbox...I'm just saying, you can't really call it an iTunes replacement unless it actually does most or all of the things iTunes does. I think that now that iTunes runs on Linux there might be a lot more people inclined to use it...

      --

      Take off every sig. For great justice.

    2. Re:seriously, this is great news by rogabean · · Score: 1

      Actually I love RhythmBox. It runs very smooth and does what I want it to (I don't use the iPod feature). iTunes to me is a bit much on system resources for me. That said I will probaly fire it up under Crossover now just to see how it runs.

      --
      "why don't you just slip into something more comfortable...like a coma!"
    3. Re:seriously, this is great news by AstroDrabb · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I actually don't like iTunes. It sucks up tons of memory to just play some stinking music under WinXP. The UI is very bloated. I will say that I like the way the playlist is presented. Other then that, I like Rhythmbox much better. It is faster and uses less resources under Linux then iTuens under WinXP. This is on a P4 3.06GHz HT system with 1GB memory and fast ATA 133 drives. The iTunes UI still feels sluggish.

      Why couldn't Linux user buy music before? I use Linux and WinXP and I have been able to walk into tons of music stores and buy music. I was never thrown out because I like Linux. As for buying online music, I have been able to use AllOfMP3 under Linux with no problems. Oh, and AllOfMP3 charges $0.02 - $0.25 per songs depending on qulity vs. $0.99 for iTunes. AllOfMP3 sounds like a much better option for my money.

      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
    4. Re:seriously, this is great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sucks up tons of memory

      Given you have 1Gb RAM, that doesn't matter.

      Other then that

      Other then that, you could learn to say 'other than', not 'other then'.

      fast ATA 133 drives

      Well break out the bubbly. This poor sod has ATA133 drives. Tell me, how much faster are they than ATA100?

      I have been able to use AllOfMP3

      Finally! If you wanted to advertise, why didn't you just say so! AllOfMP3 everybody! Check it out!

  4. From your perspective, I'm sure... by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "It can't burn CDs right now, and it has some fairly serious warts (sound is tricky, particularly with 2.6 kernels, and getting the iPod going is hard), but we think it's usable."

    As a developer myself, I know very well that what I think is usable is not always end-user usable. As close as I get to a project, knowing the code inside and out, I tend to miss the big picture stuff. It may sound logical and intuitive in my mind, but it usually takes some testing from non-geeks before I let anyone - especially a client - start using it.

    1. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by CerebusUS · · Score: 1

      For iTunes, burning to CD is actually fairly important. When you buy music off the store, the only way to back it up is by burning it off to CD, and since it's DRM-enabled, you _have_ to use iTunes' burning software.

      Then I usually re-rip the tracks as DRM-free MP3 files.

    2. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 1

      Shh!!! They will hear you!

    3. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Slack3r78 · · Score: 2, Informative

      You might find Hymn interesting. Works well for me.
      Hymn DRM Stripper

    4. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 2, Insightful

      My first thought on reading the summary was...

      Can't burn CD
      Sound flaky is listed as a 'wart'.

      Hmm... So on what sense does this 'work' then???

    5. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      When you buy music off the store, the only way to back it up is by burning it off to CD

      It's stored in this thing Apple calls a "file." I believe most of the normal backup strategies include a way to backup these "file" thingys.

    6. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but since the files are DRMed and tied to specific computers, this isn't necessarily a valid backup strategy.

      If your OS gets hosed, you may reinstall and find you can't play the file anymore.

    7. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yuh huh, and no doubt the fact that iTunes is runing on WINE which is running on Linux means that DRM is real strong. Why no doubt it would be all of five minutes work to make a different copy of iTunes think it was running on the original computer the files were downloaded on..

    8. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why you backup the authorization files, too, dipshit.

    9. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Aeiri · · Score: 1

      You could burn it to a psuedo CD drive, then rip it off THAT, all without a waste of a CD-R/RW.

      This world is messy enough as it is, with all the layers upon layers of packaging and trash that we don't need another wasted CD in the world.

    10. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by CerebusUS · · Score: 1

      Certainly something I've considered, but the only virtual cd-rw driver I've found so far was a $90 commercial app. Don't remember the name of it, but $90 buys a lot of CDRs.

    11. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by Aeiri · · Score: 1

      Well if you are using Linux, then you can just compress it into an ISO and mount the ISO using 'mount -t iso9660 -o loop isofile.iso mountdirectory'.

      If you are stuck on Windows, you can try DAEMON Tools. I have actually used this program and it works quite well. I haven't tried it for what you are needing it for, but it's worth a shot anyway :)

    12. Re:From your perspective, I'm sure... by feloneous+cat · · Score: 1

      Same thought. We tried it on a friends system (I use Macs, of course) and it was, as they say, non-functional.

      My friend, however, was thrilled. He bought music with it and is now using Hymn (after I showed him how to compile it).

      So, I guess in my view it is non-functional, but I'm not using it. From his perspective it does (for now) what he wants.

      Wow... it is like it takes all kinds!

      Peace, Dudes and Dudettes!

      --
      IANAL, but I've seen actors play them on TV
  5. Nice and all. But.... by Kenja · · Score: 2, Funny

    Does it run as poorly as it does on Windows? Also, are you required to install the nagware called Quick Time? If not then how about a Windows port of Wine so I can run iTunes without QT or the performance problems?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Nice and all. But.... by outZider · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't know, seems to work just fine for me on Windows. Maybe you should upgrade from that 128mb of RAM you're using on XP? ;)

      --
      - oZ
      // i am here.
    2. Re:Nice and all. But.... by jeremy_white · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm glad someone else said this...when I said it I figured folks would think I was just whining (although we are the Whine guys :-/).

    3. Re:Nice and all. But.... by LittLe3Lue · · Score: 1

      You dont need a windows port of Wine, you need to run linux in windows.

      Windows -> VMWare -> Linux-> Wine -> ITunes ...If thats what you want. But if you ask me, its pointless.

    4. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Kenja · · Score: 1
      "I don't know, seems to work just fine for me on Windows. Maybe you should upgrade from that 128mb of RAM you're using on XP? ;)"

      I've got a gig in my main XP box and iTunes runs slow. Runs fine on my Macintosh however. Not sure what causes the performance problems, but they are well documented even if not everyone sees them.

      However, since I have a Rio Karma I dont REALY care too much. iTunes is nice but I just dont like the limiations of the iPod (no Ogg, Flac or gapless playback).

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    5. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Kenja · · Score: 1
      "You dont need a windows port of Wine, you need to run linux in windows."

      I didn't think VNC could map firewire devices.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    6. Re:Nice and all. But.... by outZider · · Score: 1

      Interesting. I'd like to see if other Windows users have noticed performance difficulties. I haven't, but "I haven't" doesn't mean a damn thing. ;)

      I've been happy with Apple Lossless and my iPod, but those Karma's are pretty nice. :D

      --
      - oZ
      // i am here.
    7. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Kenja · · Score: 1
      "I've been happy with Apple Lossless and my iPod, but those Karma's are pretty nice. :D"

      The only thing I regret about the Karma is that the only case I could find is hand made by Vaja leather and cost 75$. Ah well, looks nice in its case.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    8. Re:Nice and all. But.... by jargoone · · Score: 1

      Interesting. I'd like to see if other Windows users have noticed performance difficulties.

      I have. 1.5 GHz Centrino with 512M ram. iTunes is an absolute PIG on this otherwise speedy system.

    9. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      QT is required. That's what actually plays for audio.

    10. Re:Nice and all. But.... by VultureMN · · Score: 1

      While you're at it, you wanna make Embarcadero ERStudio run on wine? That freakin' software is the only reason I had to buy and install VMWare on this machine; I'm using Crossover for the other Windows stuff I have to use.

    11. Re:Nice and all. But.... by deander2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      > are you required to install the nagware called Quick Time?
      most likely. see:

      "I am very glad to announce that we have shipped Version 4 of CrossOver Office, with new support for iTunes, Framemaker 7.1, JInitiator, and Quicktime 6.5.2."
      http://crossover.codeweavers.com/pipermail/announc e/2004-November/000027.html

      note quicktime at the end of the list.

    12. Re:Nice and all. But.... by vinn · · Score: 1

      By the way, that "someone else" was Jeremy White - the CEO of CodeWeavers.

      --
      ----- obSig
    13. Re:Nice and all. But.... by chelecossais · · Score: 1

      G**gle "edskes quicktimealt" .. QT w/o the nagware. works for me...

    14. Re:Nice and all. But.... by FictionPimp · · Score: 1

      i have a p3 3.2 and 1 gig of ram. Runs without any noticable slowness.

    15. Re:Nice and all. But.... by diamondsw · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Since it's running the Windows version of iTunes then yeah, it probably has the same requirements as iTunes always does. They wrote libraries to allow it to run; they didn't redesign iTunes itself.

      Meanwhile, you do understand that Quicktime is performing all of the AAC/MP3 decoding, right? iTunes is wholy dependent on Quicktime to actually play the media.

      Still, a very impressive achievement. The relative stability of the Win32 API could eventually be Microsoft's undoing.

      --
      I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
    16. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1

      I have, 1.7GHz P4, 512mb ram. Runs like a dog at the bottom of a treacle filled pool, with bricks tied to its ears. Conversly, Itunes on my G3 350mhz Powermac with 192mb ram runs fine, no issues at all.

    17. Re:Nice and all. But.... by walt-sjc · · Score: 1

      Um, I see all sorts of comments that it's a virus.

    18. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who the fuck said anything about VNC, bitch?

    19. Re:Nice and all. But.... by AusG4 · · Score: 1

      The one thing I really should point out is that QuickTime is a pretty misunderstood technology. Way back when, I used to run Windows and like the parent, I never really liked QuickTime. It was a whole bunch of crap to install and it didn't even really work that well. It was bloated and it was a little slow. Same, same.

      That said, when I switched to the Macintosh several years ago, I was quite shocked to find that not only was Quicktime -worlds- better on the Macintosh (as you would imagine), but that unlike it's Windows implementation, it's pretty much the swiss army knife of media playback tools. It opens every media file you can imagine, is massivly extendable via a well documented plugin architecture, and is very fast. Add to this it's pretty much part and parcel to the MacOS proper nowadays in the form of the QuickTime engine, which is behind pretty much any media playback on the system.

      My point, though meandering, is that QuickTime has a pretty bad repuation amongst the unwashed due to it's poor showing on Windows, but on the Macintosh, it's quite venerable.

      As an aside, I never thought of it was "nag ware", even in "non pro" mode. I'm missing the parents point with that one, I guess.

      As for iTunes on WIndows... pretty much the same deal as QuickTime, as far as I've seen. A co-worker who uses XP uses iTunes on his machine, and me and our web guy were in his office one day bugging out at it. Compared to the MacOS version, it's just .. well, underperforming. It's hard to explain just what's wrong with it... but it just doesn't have the "feel" of the OS X version, which is, IMO, one hell of a well designed piece of software.

      --
      bash-3.00$ uname -a
      SunOS panda 5.10 Generic sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2
    20. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I`ve seen (and heard) big performance and sound (latency) problems with iTunes and a colleague`s win2k machine. Turned out to be an ancient quicktime installation that would not let itself be uninstalled without force.

      Uninstalled old quicktime, reinstalled quicktime and iTunes. Everything was fine afterwards. iTunes very much builds on quicktime for playback/decoding/encoding, so an iTunes version without quicktime is sort of unrealistic, because then they`d have to reprogram all the codec stuff, in the end having, well, sort of a new quicktime.

    21. Re:Nice and all. But.... by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      It run fine on our cheap Dells at work. They only have 512MB RAM and WinXP. Do you have a lot of songs? Our receptionist machine (where we all take turns on phone duty) has about 5000 songs and is as fast as iTunes on my G5 Mac.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    22. Re:Nice and all. But.... by yamla · · Score: 1

      I have performance problems on an Athlon XP1700+ system with 768 megs of RAM. Music will often stutter when I'm doing anything involving the hard drive (and yes, DMA is enabled on my drives). Starting syncing with the ipod causes iTunes to become quite unresponsive for a while. And I still can't get my right mouse button to work for most of the functionality, such as for creating a new playlist. Instead, I have to click on the menu or on the + icon at the bottom of the screen. Searching for music in the library is incredibly fast, however. And I don't really have any other concerns with the speed of iTunes.

      --

      Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
    23. Re:Nice and all. But.... by steeviant · · Score: 1

      As a "switcher" (away from Linux) I was annoyed to see that one of the first things I saw on my TiBook after starting OS X was the Quicktime nag screen. Needless to say, shortly after that I found a Mac OS serials site and cracked it straight away.

      To this day I still think that is one of the most obnoxious things I've ever seen from an OS vendor, and I will NEVER EVER pay for Quicktime after that experience, even if I become a multi-multi-squillionaire.

    24. Re:Nice and all. But.... by AusG4 · · Score: 1

      Well, I've seen much more obnoxious things from a certain west-cost OS vendor.. but I hey.

      --
      bash-3.00$ uname -a
      SunOS panda 5.10 Generic sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2
    25. Re:Nice and all. But.... by DavidLeblond · · Score: 1

      Its so easy to get Quicktime to quit displaying the nag screen and just about every Apple user who didn't want to pay for Quicktime has done it.

      Simply set your system clock for some date far into the future, say 2050. Open Quicktime. Close Quicktime. There you go... no nags until 2050.

      Or you could pay for Pro like I did :P

  6. Compatability? by physicsphairy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Will it run under cygwin? ;)

    1. Re:Compatability? by bdcrazy · · Score: 1

      Grab the source code to iTunes and try compiling it. It works quite well for a lot of other software...

      --
      Tonights forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning
  7. SyncPod by mrfibbi · · Score: 5, Informative

    get Syncpod (http://armin.emx.at/ipod/). Neat little perl script that syncs a directory of music and m3u playlists into the ipod. Works great for anyone who likes keeping music organized by directory and id3 tag and not by any particular program.

    1. Re:SyncPod by FlipmodePlaya · · Score: 1

      Good reference, I'm not sure why this is a big deal. There are so many GUI CD burning aplications on Linux (K3B, Arson, etc.), music players with library management (amaroK, RhythmBox, Zinf, Muine, etc.), and programs to sync with the iPod (as you mentioned). I suppose iTMS may be valued for some, but with the CD burning and audio not working well, it will be hard to listen to any tunes you buy from their outside of an iPod.

  8. sweet by Shinaku · · Score: 1

    more and more reasons to move to Linux - lets hope they can fix the cd writing function

    --
    -- :>
    1. Re:sweet by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      First their gonna have to fix the entire way cd burning works with linux. Its simply not done in the same way that cd burning is done on windows. To emulate the windows cd burning API your really going to have to write new cdburning drivers/software. This is slightly a good thing though as it could help other programs.

    2. Re:sweet by spotter · · Score: 1

      no, all you have to do is provide an aspi layer to the the cd device. would require correct perms on the device, but should be doable if someone really cared to do it.

    3. Re:sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      please explain to me how this hack to running itunes is one more reason to use linux? if you want to run itunes, use a mother fing mac or windows pc. linux has many itunesish programs, albiet no music store, but its not that big of a deal. there are plenty of reasons to use linux, if itunes is holding you back, please seek help.

    4. Re:sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hmmm...

      Non-technical people are more likely to switch to Mac OS X... Well, if they want iTunes and more, this will more suit their needs.

      They already have iTunes on Windows and Mac OS X, why would that make them switch to a Linux system?

      Yes, Linux is faster than Mac OS X but I doubt Mac OS X users will switch for that reason.
      Same thing for Windows users, they like Windows. Why switch? Yes Gentoo is more secure than Windows, but most Windows users are using IE.

      iTux

    5. Re:sweet by Shinaku · · Score: 1

      well, to be honest, its more and more reasons to finally rid my self of my windows partition. The only reason I have windows on my system at all is the music stores, and the occasional game. So, I need help because I like to buy music through the internet - with out having to use an insecure and unstable operating system or having to to pay £££ to get a mac?

      --
      -- :>
    6. Re:sweet by sageman · · Score: 1

      Just confused about the "fix" part, since it sure doesn't seem broken in linux. ;) Also, as other poster mentioned, very easily could just make a layer. In crossover or wine you could make the layer, but, since linux guys tend to use (better) burning software that is native to linux, I imagine we've just not considered this a major issue. Why burn in a windows program ran through Wine, when you can just use the linux one?

      --
      --- "To iterate is human, to recurse divine." -- Robert Heller
    7. Re:sweet by steeviant · · Score: 1

      Just get a Mac you cheap bastard - all you have to do is cut down on unneccessary expenses. You don't need food. Plus if you get the 17 inch laptop, it'll make a nice heater/light, and double as a waterproof steeped roof for your new cardboard-box-house when it rains. :)

  9. Fantastic by spidereyes · · Score: 2, Funny

    although I'm a little concerned with how difficult this will be to get working how I'd like it. I have a Windows partition strictly for iTunes and I'd like to dump it and move on with life.

    Now if they just get Clippy support I'd be as happy as a pig in slop.

    --

    I say we just grow up, be adults and die.
  10. Usable or executable? by TimmyDee · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "iTunes works, and can do everything we thought was important; play music, access the store, and sync with an iPod. It can't burn CDs right now, and it has some fairly serious warts (sound is tricky, particularly with 2.6 kernels, and getting the iPod going is hard), but we think it's usable."

    So does it work or not? Here's my translation: "iTunes will now launch under WINE. Do not expect to listen to your music, burn CDs, sync with the iPod easily, or in short, do anything iTunes does."

    Seriously though, I applaud their effort. It's just that saying iTunes works under WINE when it doesn't really work all that well is a bit of false advertising. If it gets more programmers on the bandwagon, good for them, but I'd hate to see people get turned off by (what sounds to be) a bad experience.

    --
    Per Square Mile, a blog about density
    1. Re:Usable or executable? by digerata · · Score: 1
      Wish I had mod points now. I was just going to reply and make the exact same comment.

      When some of the prime features of the software don't work, you can't exactly say the app is supported.

      But it is way cool that iTunes music store is working. Keep up the good work guys, but don't jump the gun on integration announcements.

      --

      1;
    2. Re:Usable or executable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this modded "Funny"?

    3. Re:Usable or executable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It is currently rated bronze in their app database. "This application installs, runs, and can accomplish some portion of its fundamental mission."

      This does mean that the next release will probably raise it to silver rating.

    4. Re:Usable or executable? by cerberusss · · Score: 1
      So does it work or not? Here's my translation: . . . bit of false advertising

      Have you ever seen a company prize its products as "it has some serious warts"? Of course you didn't.

      You're making a lame-ass, sleazy attack. If there is one thing that I trust CodeWeavers would NEVER do, then it's false advertising. They even have a page about it here. I'm happy to count myself as their customers.

      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
  11. I hate ITunes by stratjakt · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Why are you all so in love with a bloated proprietary app whose only real function is to copy plain old files to what should be a plain old portable drive, but is instead another proprietary chunk of hardware?

    Where are all the hackers and geeks these days, anyways? I like using my own scripts to copy and file and sort all my data.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    1. Re:I hate ITunes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Im thinking it's because we are lazy.

    2. Re:I hate ITunes by LEgregius · · Score: 1

      You know, the whole annoyance with the iPod file transfer and the music industry garbage gets on my nerves, but man iTunes is just really nice to use. I don't have an iPod anyway.

    3. Re:I hate ITunes by jared_hanson · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where are all the hackers and geeks these days, anyways? I like using my own scripts to copy and file and sort all my data.

      Probably working on more important things, since iTunes does its job really well and saves me untold hours of time, freeing me up to work on other projects besides maintaining a music collection.

      --
      -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
    4. Re:I hate ITunes by qcubed · · Score: 1

      winamp does the same thing for me, and doesn't take up as much memspace.

      oh, and it also has really nice features which itunes doesn't have... like NOT LOADING services i don't need into memory.

    5. Re:I hate ITunes by jared_hanson · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Mac OS X does the same thing as Wndows for me, and doesn't take up as much memspace. Oh, and it also has really nice features which Windows doesn't have... like NOT LOADING services I don't need into memory. I could go on and on and on here.

      Sounds like its time for you to make the switch to Mac OS X.

      --
      -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
    6. Re:I hate ITunes by Ignignot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh we're not in love with it at all. In fact, us hackers and geeks have quietly been scripting automatic posts to slashdot. The reasons we are doing this are two:

      reason the first: we are practicing to beat the turing test, and feel that slashdot is full conversations that come close to beating the turing test, so this is good practice.

      reason the second: we are lazy.

      The current problem is that any story regarding iPods or iTMS creates a flood of posts about how much we love apple. This is being corrected but it will take some time to figure out the love apple / hate apple logic. I really shouldn't be telling you this because it is funny watching the few people who actually try to have conversations on slashdot, but I decided to give someone a hint to see if everyone else catches on or not.

      For an example of an all script-generated conversation, look here. As you can see we've gotten quite good at using markov chains to produce seemlying meaningful responses without actually contributing everything. We have some troubles with grammar and spelling but that's alright because so do the people we're imitating. Anyway I hope someday you join in the fun! Really me, -Ignignot

      --
      I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
    7. Re:I hate ITunes by qcubed · · Score: 1

      *cough*

      my default box uses gentoo

      when i use windows, i prefer to keep it as free of bloat as possible: hence, i turn most services off by default (you can do that, you know, with some tips from places such as blackviper's guide). because i eschew bloat, overburdening memspace, and a rather ugly interface, even for windows, i avoid crapware like itunes/windows.

      leave it to a machead fanboi to assume certain things about other users and blindly try to convert others to their side by confusing a media player and an operating system.

    8. Re:I hate ITunes by eean · · Score: 1

      There is an kio_slave for the iPod.

    9. Re:I hate ITunes by jared_hanson · · Score: 1

      leave it to a machead fanboi to assume certain things about other users and blindly try to convert others to their side by confusing a media player and an operating system.

      Wow, let the assumptions start rolling. I wasn't confusing a media player and an operating system. I was showing that, while your argument may make sense for Winamp, the fact that you use Windows pretty much goes against everything you were arguing about.

      I am by no means a "machead fanboi." I used Linux as my primary machine for years. Now, however, a Mac has taken over that roll, for varying reasons. Linux probably will regain that title soon however. I haven't set eyes on a Windows machine in months, and when I do, it is only at work.

      Oh, and because I eschew bloat, all my Linux machines are custom rolled by hand from source.

      --
      -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
    10. Re:I hate ITunes by qcubed · · Score: 1

      wonderful case in point to how assumptions work.

      the argument was about media players. going into the merits of operating systems is clearly beyond the scope.

      my point was that winamp is cleaner and less chock-full-o'-crap than itunes--particularly on a windows machine. within that scope, you have several choices on which media players to use: windows media, itunes, winamp, foobar2000, musicmatch jukebox... your retort was to come in from way out in left field and say that macs are better.

      no offense, but it certainly read like a fanboi retort to me. it's also precisely why i made the comment about confusing the operating system with the media player.

      i have no doubt that itunes on mac os x is a wonderful program. on those machines, it's quite zippy, fast, and there's really no competitor--perhaps audion, but since that's now dead... however, that said, i'm still not quite a fan of it.

      when you get to windows, it's awfully bloated, not very responsive, and does add useless services by default--like the ipod service. (incidentally, it loads it as well on a mac, even if you don't have an ipod...) i can only imagine how godawful the thing must perform in linux under wine...

    11. Re:I hate ITunes by MrLint · · Score: 1

      well hey nothing stopping you from formatting th drive in xfs and cp-ing your files in.. oh you want them to play.. oh well you wanted a portable drive not an mp3 player.

    12. Re:I hate ITunes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Screw both you guys, my Amiga is better! I just don't know exactly what it's better at though, maybe power consumption?

    13. Re:I hate ITunes by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Maybe if I could run MacOS on reasonable hardware for a reasonable price.

      And no, PearPC is not what I mean.

    14. Re:I hate ITunes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The wedge shape of an Amiga always made it suitable for use as a doorstop. Being used as a doorstop, it's likely its power consumption would indeed be nil.

  12. Wha? by Have+Blue · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "iTunes works, and can do everything we thought was important; play music, access the store, and sync with an iPod."

    "sound is tricky, particularly with 2.6 kernels, and getting the iPod going is hard"

    So... Which one is it? How was this ready for release again?

  13. how much better than the itunes preview? by humuhumunukunukuapu' · · Score: 2, Interesting
    i guess i will find out when i get home. it was neat to see itunes running in suse without the aid of vmware, but i could basically only get it to launch...beyond that it was either frozen or really slow...basically useless.

    but with their friendly upgrade policy i will be trying out 4.0 soon. they seem like a nice company. ahh, one day itunes will run flawlessly under linux, and that will be a GREAT day!

    --
    i saw the baby, and the baby looked at me
  14. Running itunes? by u-235-sentinel · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I'd be more interested in whether it can run HL2 or Counterstrike Source myself. Anybody hear if this works yet?

    --
    Has Comcast disconnected your Internet account? Same here. You can read about it at http://comcastissue.blogspot.com
    1. Re:Running itunes? by sh1ftay · · Score: 0

      This is crossover, meant for applications, not games. If you want to run windows games like this, go check out Cedega/WineX.

    2. Re:Running itunes? by jwnewman · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://www.codeweavers.com/site/compatibility/brow se/name?app_id=206

      Steam does work in CrossOver, but due to the lack of DirectX 9 support, Half-Life 2 does not work yet. On the bright side, all the Half-Life 1 engine games do.

      --
      -newman
    3. Re:Running itunes? by 120duff978 · · Score: 1

      http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=5182

    4. Re:Running itunes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ROFLMAO!

      Offtopic? As if Crossover wasn't the topic

      ROFLMAO!

    5. Re:Running itunes? by kayen_telva · · Score: 1

      minor nitpick. there is no half-life engine, its the quake engine

  15. So let me get this straight... by mogrify · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmmm... It plays music, and syncs with the iPod, but sound is tricky, and getting the iPod working is hard...

    Oh well, I guess you'd expect some problems with running an app designed for Mac on a Windows emulation layer on a Linux box -- come to think of it, it's amazing it works at all! Nice job guys.

    --
    perl -e 'foreach(values %SIG){$_="IGNORE";}while(){}'
  16. Earlier news.com story... by GillBates0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    dated Aug 2 here. Apparently the preview version has been available to CrossOver Office customers for a while.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  17. Where is Apple in all of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Why doesn't Apple support a Linux version of iTunes natively? I mean come on, 99+% of all open source Linux apps can run natively on OS X now, so where is the reciprocal good will towards the Linux community from Apple?

    1. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ---
      I mean come on, 99+% of all open source Linux apps can run natively on OS X now, so where is the reciprocal good will towards the Linux community from Apple?
      ---

      When I can run WINE on my Mac

    2. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by LEgregius · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It was a pretty big undertaking to port it to windows. Porting it to linux will be no easier because the UI on itunes in written in carbon. Apple would also want it to look EXACTLY the same like the windows version does, with mac scrollbars and such. Aside from that, sound is still a bit of a headache in linux and burning audio cd's requires root privileges.
      On that note, I don't think apple really likes writing ANYTHING for a platform other than mac, so they had to have a lot of incentive to write something for windows, which is mass marketshare and the possibility of having tons more music store and ipod sales. Neither of those incentives really exist on the Linux platform. Also, they would have to port Quicktime as well, I would guess.

    3. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Ummm.... now?

      http://darwine.opendarwin.org/

    4. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by mccalli · · Score: 1
      Why doesn't Apple support a Linux version of iTunes natively?

      Because of all the fuss with different distros, libraries etc. I imagine. Plus there's always the fact that the desktop Linux market is not really that significant yet.

      However, I do think it would make sense for Apple to contribute to the WINE project and ensure their Windows port of iTunes runs there. What harm could that do them? They'd lose Microsoft's co-operation...?

      Personally I wouldn't expect a Linux native port any time soon. But keeping it going in WINE, well...there's a proposition for them.

      Cheers,
      Ian

    5. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by ravenspear · · Score: 5, Informative

      I mean come on, 99+% of all open source Linux apps can run natively on OS X

      This is the difference. iTunes is not an open source app. It heavily uses proprietary code (Carbon) derived from the classic MacOS (9 and earlier). They would have to port that API to linux before they could port the app. That would be a large effort considering the small market share of Linux. Porting to Windows was a bit easier as there was a huge opportunity to expand iTMS and iTunes revenues, and they had already ported Carbon to Windows.

    6. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by flamingnight · · Score: 1

      iTunes for Windows was a pretty big undertaking, but made easier by the fact that QuickTime had already been ported and along with it a good bit of Carbon API code. Having this resource already ported with QuickTime made porting iTunes a little less trickier.
      Porting iTunes to Linux wouldn't have this benefit.

    7. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by polyp2000 · · Score: 1

      True, True , but you know .. why not get it Desktop Linux Certified with codeweavers programme?

      http://www.codeweavers.com/site/compatibility/ce rt ify/

      --
      Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
    8. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      burning audio cd's requires root privileges.

      Burning a CD does not require root priveleges. It requires that the user be granted permission to burn CDs (access to the device). This will be given by root, naturally. But, and this is a very important security distinction that I think not enough Linux users make, the user does -not- need to invoke actual root priveleges (via sudo or su or anything like that) each time you burn. At least not on a secure system.

    9. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      Also, they would have to port Quicktime as well, I would guess.

      This is a key point. A proper port of iTunes to Linux would require a proper port of QuickTime to Linux to be done first. And of course, that would be wonderful, because then it becomes much easier to port applications which rely on QuickTime, and would put an end to the hassle of dealing with trying to get proprietary codecs to work in an open source media player - you could just write an open source media player that called the QuickTime APIs.

      Unfortunately, porting QuickTime to Linux would be a pain in the ass. As another poster mentioned, QuickTime for Windows includes a fair chunk of the Carbon API, which is why porting iTunes (a Carbon app) wasn't that difficult.

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    10. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by michaeldot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      and they had already ported Carbon to Windows.

      Your reply is excellent, but when I came to this... whoa! Unless you know something I think this is quite misleading.

      By all accounts, modern iTunes is a mix of Carbon, Cocoa, and QuickTime. The QuickTime API has been ported to Windows, but historically speaking Carbon consists of about 70% of the original Macintosh APIs, which have then been extended for modern OS X capabilities.

      Carbon is in effect the procedural, lower level API interface to Mac OS X. The API you use when you aren't using Cocoa.

      But for porting it to Windows, to say Apple had ported Carbon is misleading. What they probably have done is ported part of Cocoa's WebKit to render the iTunes store pages, and are possibly using QuickTime's API calls for the sound playback. I'm pretty sure the rest would be calling native Win32 APIs.

      However, since a lot of the Win32 APIs are eerily similar to the original Macintosh, it might be truer to say that Microsoft ported Carbon when they first ripped off the Mac!

    11. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by TravisWatkins · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, they use WebObjects for the store pages, not HTML and WebKit.

      --

      "But I'm still right here, giving blood and keeping faith. And I'm still right here."
    12. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by ZackSchil · · Score: 1

      For Quicktime version 4, Apple was having so much trouble getting the Quicktime API working on Windows that they ended up re-implementing a good chunk of Carbon under Windows rather than try to fit Quicktime's round peg into the square hole that is the 9x API. However, since iTunes 4 only runs on Win 2000 and up, then it probably doesn't use much of that original partial ported carbon API.

    13. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by ravenspear · · Score: 1

      By all accounts, modern iTunes is a mix of Carbon, Cocoa, and QuickTime. The QuickTime API has been ported to Windows, but historically speaking Carbon consists of about 70% of the original Macintosh APIs, which have then been extended for modern OS X capabilities.

      Okay, maybe they didn't port the entire Carbon API but many of the parts they would have needed were already ported. Quicktime was written in Carbon and iTunes uses a lot of Quicktime code.

    14. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by fdobbie · · Score: 1

      Actually, iTunes doesn't use WebKit at all. It uses a custom view architecture based on rendering some HTML-like XML that is spat out of a WebObjects-powered back-end. iTunes doesn't use Cocoa at all.

      It's somewhat unlikely that Apple ported all of Carbon to Windows, yes, but apparently some of the lower-level bits of it were ported to support QuickTime way back in the mid nineties (File Manager and stuff).

      There's also an archaic port of Cocoa's predecessor to Windows, but you can't buy runtime licenses for it, it's horribly broken and not supported.

    15. Re:Where is Apple in all of this? by palad1 · · Score: 1

      iTunes does not use WebKit to display the music store, google for iTunes and webkit and you'll get word from a webkit developper about that.

  18. Use Gtkpod by atmos · · Score: 1, Informative

    Let's all emulate windows software when we actually have feasible solutions for Linux! Wait...

    It works with your ipod, it works with xmms, and it works in 2.4 and 2.6.

    Gtkpod
    1. Re:Use Gtkpod by sh1ftay · · Score: 0

      Too bad gtkpod takes about 10 minutes just to READ the songs from the ipod, before you can even do anything. It's syncing is also incredibly slow, and very inefficient.

    2. Re:Use Gtkpod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it's an open source project. You are not allowed to complain about it. If there is a problem, send a code patch.

    3. Re:Use Gtkpod by Krojack · · Score: 1

      Although reading the iTunesDB is kind of slow.. its no 10 minutes, at least not for me. Takes maybe 3 minutes to read 3500 songs from the iTunesDB. Other then that its rather fast (if you have USB 2.0) and I have never had a problem. I feel it lacks a few options such as support for ID3v2 (or extended ID3v2 like the iTunes). Threaded support would be a plus also.

    4. Re:Use Gtkpod by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Let's all emulate windows software when we actually have feasible solutions for Linux!

      No kidding, especially since XMMS, Rhythmbox, Amarok and Juk all natively support the DRMed AAC files that you buy from iTMS. Oh, wait...

      I couldn't care less about Yet Another Music Player. I could get interested in a working client for the world's largest online music store, though.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    5. Re:Use Gtkpod by LEgregius · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No, but I bet you could get hymn to compile on linux :-).

  19. worthless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    rythmbox + gtkpod + bittorrent = codeweavers wasting time on buggy crap.

  20. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...a scramjet was installed in a Freightliner. It fits, but it doesn't run well, yet.

    It's not exactly news when a music player plays crappy sound in Linux. It's a neat ghetto-rig, but it's not news until it works well.

    1. Re:In other news... by LEgregius · · Score: 1

      I don't think anyone would argue that it's news if some open source hacker got it working. The fact that they have it, say, 80% there, thus proving they are working on it, is worth knowing for a lot of us.

  21. Simuated iPod by Nebulaeus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Frankenwine apps are never a good replacement for the Real Thing(TM). I played the WineX game for a while and it sucked. Apple needs to get off their collective arses and port iTunes to Linux.

    Apple talks about a new way of sharing music, appealing to our sense of "karma" to encourage us not to steal. Yet they leave Linux desktop users in the cold. This seems somewhat disingenuous to me.

    I would be excited about the iTunes music store launching in Canada (finally), if it wasn't for the fact that it won't work in my operating system of choice.

    Do Linux users have any legal recourse in listening to digital music at the moment?

    1. Re:Simuated iPod by Chris_Rank · · Score: 1

      Blah Blah Blah, [Insert Software Company here] is bad cause they don't port to Linux, come on, get a clue. Apple is supposed to devote valuable time and resources to support a small minority of sysadmins that haven't switched to a mac yet? Go out and buy a 999.00 iBook and run iTunes that way, as well as Office, Adobe apps, Macromedia apps, etc. etc. etc. Jeeze.

    2. Re:Simuated iPod by LEgregius · · Score: 1

      Apple talks about a new way of sharing music, appealing to our sense of "karma" to encourage us not to steal. Yet they leave Plan9, FreeBSD, GEOS, and Amiga desktop users in the cold. This seems somewhat disingenuous to me.

    3. Re:Simuated iPod by Sophrosyne · · Score: 1

      I think Apple has been working hard to get people to move away from Linux and come [back] to the Mac.

    4. Re:Simuated iPod by Durandal64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If there actually was one, predominant Linux distro or window manager, I'm sure that there'd be a better chance of Apple porting iTunes to Linux. But as it stands, if Apple supports only KDE, the Gnome people will piss and whine, and if Apple supports only Gnome, the KDE people will piss and whine. If Apple supports them both, then Apple has to devote more resources to a project for a very small set of people who basically have an aversion to actually paying for anything, hate DRM, think the iPod is overpriced and would never buy it and would be unlikely to use the music store because its DRM doesn't work on whatever portable player they use.

      So what does Apple get in exchange for porting iTunes to Linux again?

    5. Re:Simuated iPod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      as they would have to port carbon to linux to do it anyway, why not make their own wigits?
      and as soon as it is ported to linux porting it to *BSD and other unix-like OSes should not be that hard

    6. Re:Simuated iPod by Nebulaeus · · Score: 1

      Apple already benefits largely from open source technology that powers about 80% of their new Mac OS X (including their new web browser). I am not the one talking about "good karma" and the new iTMS being a revolutionary way to obtain music; Apple is.
      Maybe they should spread that "fuzzy feeling" around and provide Linux users (who are statistically significant, unlike Plan 9 users, har har) with a legal way to download music.

      I don't think it will matter all that much, really, if it is QT or GTK based, as long as it works.

    7. Re:Simuated iPod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Do Linux users have any legal recourse in listening to digital music at the moment?"

      If by legal, you mean "approved and endorsed by American mega-corporations", the answer is no. If you mean legal in a strict sense, then yes. You can buy online from Allofmp3.com, and they have a large, easy-to-use catalog with encoding options that are far superior to iTMS. Importing music and other media from other countries is perfectly legal, anime shops and movie importers do it all the time.

    8. Re:Simuated iPod by Durandal64 · · Score: 1
      Apple already benefits largely from open source technology that powers about 80% of their new Mac OS X (including their new web browser). I am not the one talking about "good karma" and the new iTMS being a revolutionary way to obtain music; Apple is.

      Maybe they should spread that "fuzzy feeling" around and provide Linux users (who are statistically significant, unlike Plan 9 users, har har) with a legal way to download music.
      And they do. They contribute back their changes to the open source community, as required by the licenses they use. I wasn't aware that they were bound ethically or legally to port their software to Linux. I was similarly unaware that Mac OS X made use of the Linux kernel. It uses Mach, and Apple themselves have open sourced it under their own license. Any work done on the kernel by Linux developers is done of their own accord, not because of some implied promise that Apple will port iTunes to Linux.

      If they owe anyone anything, it might be the BSD community, not the Linux community.
    9. Re:Simuated iPod by fdobbie · · Score: 1

      It'd be hard to make a business case for porting iTunes to Linux on the desktop at the moment, because the user base just isn't there. I can't see that the numbers would add up.

      Of course Linux users can listen to digital music legally. Just buy it on CDs ;-)

    10. Re:Simuated iPod by zpok · · Score: 1

      "If they owe anyone anything, it might be the BSD community, not the Linux community."

      Indeed, and I've read the BSD community actually feels it owes Apple a lot for stoking the fire.

      This FOSS/Apple misconception is as persistant as Bill Gates owning a large piece of Apple.

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
    11. Re:Simuated iPod by zpok · · Score: 1

      If I get most Linux users, I think the preferred method is buying a CD, ripping it to Ogg and going from there...

      It's not my cuppa, but it sure beats downloading degraded mp3's.

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
    12. Re:Simuated iPod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why don't they port Carbon to X? Porting carbon to Windows API was the only reason the architecturally dissimilar OS Windows has iTunes, so what's excessively complicated about that? Then it'll work in whatever WM you want.

  22. Goodies to Come? I hope? by Onimaru · · Score: 1

    Well, this is nice. I personally use a Mac, so I don't have much invested in the whole "I wish I could run iTunes" thing, but it's still nice. I might end up getting some good utility out of it even, if the music sharing functionality is intact.

    What I'm really jazzed about, though, is that serious effort is being expended in multimedia (oooh, dated buzzword! kill him!) application compatibility. These are the areas that not only wine is lacking in, but also linux in general. The fact is that sound is tricky...even on the OS level. Not a problem for geeks like us, but it is for the proverbial "my grandma." I'm psyched to see where else this code takes us and what other fun things will be runnable in the near future, now that the 800 lb. gorilla of tough integration is being tackled.

    --
    adam b.
  23. opposits attract? by oliverthered · · Score: 0, Troll

    Well there's linux, free, open etc...
    and there's ITunes, closed, drm,
    expensive ($1 for a track that has 1/10 the value of a cd track), and possibly illeagal.
    How in xyz years time when the copyright on the DRM track I've perchased runs out can I put the work into the public domain?

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    1. Re:opposits attract? by Bullet-Dodger · · Score: 2, Informative

      iTunes does not equal DRM, the iTunes music store does. iTunes is just a music player.

  24. No it's not... by lxt · · Score: 1

    Although it's great that iTunes is ported to Linux, I'd never call it a "reason to move". It's ridiculous to say "Use this OS, because now we've managed to get another program from another OS to sort of work". See, if Apple created iTunes for Linux - that might just be a reason to move. But I'd hardly call this a "reason". It's more a convenience for those already on the platform...there are far more friendly music players for Linux, and there are ways of syncing the iPod under Linux that don't involve iTunes. The only thing you gain is the access to the iTunes music store...

    1. Re:No it's not... by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 1
      I'd never call it a "reason to move"

      It's not a reason to move. It's one less reason to stay.

  25. What like? by oliverthered · · Score: 1

    what like, making ITunes run on linux, ish, with a bit of a tweek here and there, if you don't want to burn cd's.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  26. Get off your horse by fracai · · Score: 1

    I'm sick of seeing all the advertising complaints. And I've only been here for 4 frickin months!

    Look, not only is the world run by money (yeah, there's OSS and all that, but it doesn't pay the bills (in most cases anyway)) but almost every /. post is gonna involve a commercial endeavor in some way.

    Sheesh, and I bet you thought that the previous story about the HL2 servers being overloaded was not only free advertising for Valve, because it gets the name out there, but it was also advertising for Bungie because they're product isn't marred by any such problems.

    --
    -- i am jack's amusing sig file
    1. Re:Get off your horse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Horse? I thought that was your mother!

  27. Only on slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Will someone who never used iTunes under Cxoffice 4 get modded up +5.

    I have cxoffice 4 and you can listen to music, add stuff to the library (though it is mighty slow, took half an hour to add 4 gigs of mp3s), and you can go on the iTunes music store (Which works very well btw). I used the cxitunespreview which ran iTunes, and they have improved the performance greatly. You can actually listen to music through iTunes now, and performance is drastically improved over the cxitunespreview. Sure, it's not like running it in windows. But it's quite fast.

    They're going to be releasing another version soon which should help the cpu usage go down for iTunes (currently some kind of garbage iTunes is spewing is causing cxoffice to use 100% cpu, they think it's some kind of timing hack used by apple... Hey, windows/x86 isn't apple's primary platform, so I wouldn't be surprised).

    All in all a nice product. Also soon they will be adding firewire support to the cxipod (currently only usb is supported, and my 4G ipod doesn't like usb on linux). But then I use gtkpod and am perfectly happy with that (I can transfer all the mp4's I get off of iTunes).

  28. Not ready for iTunes on my debian system yet by m2bord · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm just not convinced that I need to buy digital music. I'll keep on buying cd's, ripping them and storing them on my media server.

    I just don't see the advantage in downloading music.

    When you download from any source, legit or not, you're not in control of how the file was extracted.

    The bit rate may not be what you wanted, there is always the possibility of some digital artifacts during playback, and i'm just not comfortable with it.

    Plus, I don't own an iPod. I don't think I want one. I'm quite happy with my CD based MP3 player which uses CDRW's.

    I can put 10 hours worth of music on one disc and it works nicely.

    Besides I like to be in control of my music and my gear and I don't like when I can't replace the battery like the way the iPod is setup.

    --
    Is it 5:30 yet?
    1. Re:Not ready for iTunes on my debian system yet by aboyko · · Score: 1

      You appear to be radically confused.

      iTunes is not a downloading tool.

      It's an MP3 player, ripper, burner, library manager, and tagger that just happens to recently have had on-line purchasing added into it.

      (What's with this whitespace thing, anyway?)

      It does a better job of handling multi-thousand file archives than anything else I've found.

      You can replace the iPod battery.

    2. Re:Not ready for iTunes on my debian system yet by Timmy · · Score: 1

      You should try allofmp3.com - you can choose the bitrate and format. Even ogg! Not to mention that it's about 1/10 the price of iTunes store. (and questionably legal)

      Their download manager (not required) sits in the windows tray and downloads your requested songs onto your drive as soon as they're done being custom ripped for you, too. I have the download manager sitting on my home machine, and while I'm at work I can buy tracks from the store, and they're available for me to stream from Zina the second they're done. It's ideal.

    3. Re:Not ready for iTunes on my debian system yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does a better job of handling multi-thousand file archives than anything else I've found.

      Not to harsh on iTunes if you use it for all its various features, but if all you want is music playing, Muine is absolutely amazing, and with a super-simple easy-to-use interface.

      I like it a lot better than iTunes for my ~1000 CD library (plus even more that I've downloaded).

      But it doesn't have any ripping/burning/tagging support, so you have to use other programs to do those things, which might annoy you. I dunno.

    4. Re:Not ready for iTunes on my debian system yet by aclarke · · Score: 1

      Well, gee. It sounds like MAYBE you might not be the target market for either: a) ITMS b) iTunes c) iPod d) Codeweaver's Crossover However, there are other people out here who: a) Like to listen to music using iTunes b) Want to use ITMS, and/or c) Own and iPod, and d) wish to use iTunes for at least one of the above items using Linux, with a minimum of further hassles. Sounds like this might be news for THEM, if not for YOU.

  29. Re:Why Bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Amen.

    I just bought a G3 Mac that runs 10.3.5 surprisingly well.... for $150. After fighting with Linux for years at home, I finally decided my time was worth a hell of a lot more than the price of a Mac.

  30. hmmm....... by grolschie · · Score: 1

    Now how come iTunes can install and run Codeweavers Crossover 4.0, yet won't install on Win98SE/ME?

  31. Re:what do you mean free? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    of course Apple pays for these stories.

  32. I say what??? by advocate_one · · Score: 2, Funny
    Finally I can use the single most important 'productivity' application on Linux.

    Someone's got their priorities seriously out of kilter here...

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  33. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  34. more than syncpod by oliverthered · · Score: 2

    CrossOver Office Professional 4.0 - 2004/11/15

    New application support:

    Support for iTunes and iTMS. Limited iPod support; drivers for ripping
    are not supported.

    SyncPod + more burners than you can imagine + online music stores like besonic


    Support for Adobe FrameMaker 7.1

    Support for QuickTime 6.5.2
    Reviewed plugin support: removed some, updated others


    Mplayer,xine,plugger, kmplayer etc....

    Application bug fixes:

    Office:

    Fixed a bug that was causing IE to crash when a 'favorite' was added
    Fixed a bug that prevented Office 2000 and Project from being installed
    together
    Some bugfixes for Outlook 2000
    Fixed a bug that prevented WMP from playing local media files


    OpenOffice,KOffice at a push etc..

    Quicken:

    Cleaned up Quicken installation process
    Fixed several Quicken bugs
    Reviewed and improved Quicken 2004 support
    kmymoney &co

    Others:

    Fixed Dreamweaver uninstallation
    Fixed several DreamWeaver bugs
    Fixed installation problems with Scientific Word

    CrossOver changes and improvements:

    Installation:

    Fixed several CrossOver installation and uninstallation issues
    Improved CrossOver upgrade support
    Fixed a bug that caused the menu database to be erased when
    additional office components (such as the Equation Editor)
    were added
    Improved menu support for (among others) Suse 9.2 and Fedora Core 3
    knoppix, many a live cd or Fedora Core, Gentoo etc..

    Officesetup:

    Added the 'Control Panel' tab to OfficeSetup
    Improved officesetup startup time
    Several improvements to OfficeSetup user interface; fixed keyboard
    navigation
    Fixed uninstallation of unsupported software
    Solved a bug that sometimes corrupted downloadable installers
    emerge openoffice-bin

    So it looks like you get dreamweaver and Framemaker support for your$, and if you don't need those, send you $ to one of the projects you do use and would like to see improved.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    1. Re:more than syncpod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, I can send my $30 to CodeWeavers and I get MS Office on Linux, or I can send my $30 to someone connected to Openoffice.org and... what? They'll magically get it up to the MS Office standard in a week?

      If you're happy with the alternatives you listed, that's great. I wish I was you. But I'm not. I'm not happy with OOo - I want to use MS Office. Crossover Office lets me do just that. That's what I get for my money - I get to use the software I want to use. From a purely pragmatic, non-religious point of view, what's not good about that?

    2. Re:more than syncpod by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      Why arn't you happy with OO, file a bug and put you $30 tax on it. (well $30 + $200 for MSOffice would still be 'value' since others can get it for free)

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  35. As an actual paying customer by hab136 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    let me say that Crossover lets me do the one thing I need to - run Microsoft crap. Outlook, Word, Excel, Visio, and Solomon (an accounting/timecard application).

    I'd use Evolution - but we're on Exchange 5.5 and I can't use the calendar (very important).

    I do use OpenOffice also, but sometimes you actually do need the real deal, for crazy marked-up contracts with goofy checkboxes and whatnot. It's good to be able to open network diagrams in Visio. Also, I like to fill in my timecard so I get paid. :)

    Obviously, the situation is not ideal, but it lets me run Linux at work, which is vastly helpful to actually doing my job. It's just that all the other junk associated with having a job - HR, Legal, etc kind of things - require me to have Microsoft products.

    1. Re:As an actual paying customer by texroot · · Score: 1

      I'm with you. Not for the MS Office stuff, though. I do sometimes have to save an Excel password-protected spreadsheet, but bought Planmaker for that. I can open it with a Gnumeric, but couldn't save it with the password protection. Otherwise I'd have to install Excel with Crossover Office. What I do use Crossover Office for, though, is running Remedy. That's a must for me. I've heard from an insider that Linux support is planned for Remedy, but AFAIK it's not there yet.

  36. now it's in the official release by timothy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I saw initial iTunes support demonstrated several months ago at OSCON, too, but now it's in the released version.

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
  37. Uh huh by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    In other news, Linux is finally ready for the desktop!!

    Oh wait, it still doesn't run the apps that regular end-users want. Oh well.

    As an aside, I was reading a very funny Usenet discussion I had in *1996* (!!), where someone was saying that Linux was almost ready for the desktop, and I said (paraphrase), "I'll meet you back here in 10 years and I predict that we'll have an interesting Linux product, but it will lag behind the commercial market in critical ways."

    Only eight years later, but yup. An interesting product that still can't do what normal users want to do.

    (I'd post the real discussion -- it's pretty funny -- but it was under my real name, heh). You could cut and paste the discussion today and no one would know it was from 1996. It's hysterical.

    --
    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
    1. Re:Uh huh by DrCode · · Score: 1

      Not all regular users use Itunes or have an Ipod. Just because an app that you use isn't on Linux doesn't mean it isn't ready for lots of other people.

      For me, Linux became a usable desktop the day KDE 1 became available.

    2. Re:Uh huh by ezHiker · · Score: 1

      Only eight years later, but yup. An interesting product that still can't do what normal users want to do.
      Hmm. Let's see. What do normal users want to do?
      Most of the users I know want to:
      Browse the web.
      E-mail.
      Make spreadsheets.
      Type letters.
      Listen to music.
      Touch up photos.
      IM.
      I don't know about your Linux system, but mine does all of these things, simply and safely. No crashes, no viruses, no spyware, no bullshit.
      Now, granted, many of the users I know think that you need Microsoft products to do all of these things, but that's just not the case.
      On a sidenote: After years of being a Windows stalwart, my wife informed me today that she is now ready for me to install Linux on her computer. She says she's tired of fighting with her computer all of the time while seeing that mine "just works".

    3. Re:Uh huh by W2k · · Score: 1

      On a sidenote: After years of being a Windows stalwart, my wife informed me today that she is now ready for me to install Linux on her computer. She says she's tired of fighting with her computer all of the time while seeing that mine "just works".

      Your mrs is in for a big letdown. Linux is not a magic bullet that suddenly makes a system fast, beautiful and simple to use. Though it certainly can, it depends on the user. A clueless user on Linux is just as clueless as a clueless user on Windows; only the specific problems she must face are different. Your wife will be reliant on you administering her box for her. What she should do is decide on an OS and spend some serious time learning it. Both Windows and Linux can be perfectly pleasant OS's if you learn how to properly use them. Both have quirks that need to be accepted, fixed or worked around.

      I run Windows XP on my work system and I also have the "no crashes, no viruses, no spyware" utopia you describe. As for bullshit, I get that only when reading /. :)

      --
      Quality, performance, value; you get only two, and you don't always get to pick.
    4. Re:Uh huh by FooBarWidget · · Score: 1

      My dad runs on Linux. He was certainly not let down. There, I have given one example of an average user using Linux. And one example is more than enough to debunk your "Linux is not ready for the average user" statement.

    5. Re:Uh huh by FooBarWidget · · Score: 1

      Uhm yeah and guess what? In 2000 people bragged about 2000 being the year of "the doom of Linux", and predicted that Linux will die within a year. A now, years later, Linux is still alive, and is stronger than ever.

      "Only eight years later, but yup. An interesting product that still can't do what normal users want to do."

      Only if you have been living in a shelter. Compare any modern desktop Linux distribution to the ones in 1996. If you didn't notice huge improvements in the usability area, then you are blind. Antialiased fonts, simpler user interface, much better hardware support and hardware autodetection, plug in your camera and an icon appears on the desktop, web browsers that surpass IE, a complete office suit which can replace MS Office for 99% of the people, strong focus on usability by popular projects, etc. etc.

      My dad is a normal user. He uses Linux. I now have one example of an average user using Linux. And one example is all I need to debunk your statement.

    6. Re:Uh huh by W2k · · Score: 1

      Do reread my post. You seem to have skipped over most of it. I stated that clueless users will have problems regardless of OS. Nothing about "average users". Nor anything related to Linux's suitability for the "average user's" desktop.

      --
      Quality, performance, value; you get only two, and you don't always get to pick.
    7. Re:Uh huh by zpok · · Score: 1

      "Only eight years later, but yup. An interesting product that still can't do what normal users want to do."

      Pretty funny how most Linux users suddenly consider themselves "normal" users when confronted with statements like this.

      Well, here's a hint. Although it can be near impossible to say what a normal user (or Aunt Emmy or Joe Sixpack) actually IS, it's pretty simple to state what he/she/it is not: a normal user is not someone who will go through two, three simulations or band-aid software solutions in order to do stuff other platforms do out of the box.

      Yes, this also means that normal users (wnen on Windows) are those people who happily infect themselves, their family and their friends. Who said normal equals sane?

      Cheers!

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
  38. Cheaper and you can get single songs by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Whole albums are cheaper than you can buy CD's for in stores or online (though not a huge amount cheaper in most cases).

    The real winning scenario is when you want just a few songs from an album. Then are you willing to pay 3-4x as much for a slightly better quality copy of the song? My answer has turned out to be "no way" - I now buy even whole albums just for the convienience and slight price advantage, while knowing the artists get a measurable amount of money from it (like 10 cents a song).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  39. for once I agree by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 0, Troll
    For once I completely agree with you. I am so confused these days by so called "geeks."

    I have used the 'doze version of iTunes a few times, and I plan never to touch it again. On a 900mhz t-bird, with 512MB system memory, it was slow as could be.

    Why would anyone want to use that horribly bloated piece of turd running in an "emulator?"

    And the iPod...? No thanks. There's cheaper players that support more music formats, and don't use proprietary bullshit for transferring data.

    Maybe I'm just not as easily wowed as some, but I still don't understand why, with all Apple products, people act as if it gives them orgas... OOOH SHINY!!

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    1. Re:for once I agree by dcstimm · · Score: 1

      first off wine is not an emulator, second itunes is a very slick application and the only reason it might be slow on your tbird is maybe because its a carbon application. (or you have no idea on how to optimize a tbird 900mhz box, via 4 in 1 drivers maybe?) Also the ipod has the best interface and is probably the best mp3 based harddrive player on the market. And trust me if you had an ipod or a mac you would know better.

  40. Re:way too obvious funny (perhaps non-funny?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I'm sick of seeing all the advertising complaints. And I've only been here for 4 frickin months!"

    You're new here, aren't you?

  41. Re:Why Bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I was put 10.3.5 on a used 300mhz G3 Mac for my mother and I was worried it was going to be unusable.

    I was shocked to see that for mail and websurfing it was not really noticably slower than my 2gig dual G5. Some things like sorting mail I could tell were slower, but just about everything else for casual desktop use was just fine.

    All for about 300 bucks, not bad. Considering I would have probably had to pay more if I tried to do something stupid like set here up with Microsof spyware/virus box.

  42. idiot mods, this is a troll by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 1, Informative
    1. Linux is not "shareware".

    2. "no kernel support for XML" is complete gibberish.

    3. "cut-n-paste" between apps works just fine these days.

    Obviously there are reasons people don't get a Mac, cost often being #1.

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    1. Re:idiot mods, this is a troll by MrHanky · · Score: 1

      This is apple.slashdot.org. Praising Mac here will earn you +++ no matter how moronic your comment is.

      Oh well, I guess I shold post this anonymously, but what the hell.

    2. Re:idiot mods, this is a troll by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 1
      Yeah, and apparently you shouldn't point out how clueless mods are who are modding apple.slashdot.org either :)

      Posting with +1 in defiance of idiot mods on apple.slashdot.org! YOU CAN KEEP MODDING ME DOWN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM YOUR OWN STUPIDITY, BITCHES*!

      No, modding up complete drivel simply because it praises Apple is not acceptable, even for simpletons like many Apple users here on slashdot.

      * Steve Jobs's bitches, apparently.

      --
      Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
  43. Re:Why Bother? by furballphat · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah dude! Just the other day I was trying to load this XML into the kernel and it just wouldn't take it!!!! WTF!!!

  44. What about MINIDISC (netmd) under linux? by deviantonline · · Score: 2

    Im STILL waiting to see some sort of support for sonys horrible NETMD minidisc protocol under linux. I know there has been some open source developments but it is still impossible to transfer files to the device under linux. I know that minidisc is nothing compared to ipod in terms of popularity - but Im still sure there are a lot of linux geeks using this portable audio medium.

    1. Re:What about MINIDISC (netmd) under linux? by JakeisBland · · Score: 0

      or not.

    2. Re:What about MINIDISC (netmd) under linux? by bedouin · · Score: 1

      Actually, I was about to buy a MD player instead of a Flash MP3 player until I found out Sony supports it under nothing but Windows. Shame, it's a really cool product (I think).

      I wrote Sony a comment letting them know they lost a potential buyer. The product did everything I needed, except not in OS X . . .

    3. Re:What about MINIDISC (netmd) under linux? by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      There were ongoing efforts to create OSS support for NetMD players; of course, the protocol is ugly and convoluted, and Sony won't open it. Right now they support operations with tracks already available on the Minidisc, but no uploading, which kinda defeats the point.

      Anyway, i also wish Sony would get off their asses and give the MD a fair chance. The hardware is great, cheap, and the media is readily available.

  45. Re:Why Bother? by Lussarn · · Score: 1

    Because you are a Mac user I know you take pride in not knowing shit, but your comment is an insult even to your kind.

  46. Finally something works! by gsasha · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've upgraded to version 4, installed IE6 and I finally can access my bank's homepage. WOW!!!

    One more reason to get off Windows.

    Though, seems like the upgrade borked the fonts in MSWord. Ouch.

    1. Re:Finally something works! by EnglishDude · · Score: 1

      I've got Crossover version 3 and I can run IE6 just fine in it...? No JVM support though.

    2. Re:Finally something works! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I must be the only person in the world that can bank online without needing IE. I can access my bank (http://www.acmgfcu.net) in Firefox, Camino, Safari, whatever.

    3. Re:Finally something works! by Puggs · · Score: 1
      I was going to suggest cahoot,but I notice your not British so it wont help you.....

      For any Brits, cahoot's online banking runs in any web browser (at least any gui browser, I haven't tried lynx ;)

  47. This is a testament to how good iTunes is by thedbp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The fact that the Linux commumity is so bent on getting iTunes to run on Linux is a testament to how great of a program iTunes is.

    Linux users are usually a lot more critical of their software. While a lot of Linux doesn't have the polish or fit 'n' finish of some Windows software, the quality of the code is taken more seriously, as is the functionality of the software. It may not always LOOK pretty, but it is usually very powerful and well written.

    There are a lot of programs that try to emulate iTunes, both on Linux and Windows (LTunes anybody?). But it seems that the Linux community would rather see iTunes itself running on Linux than a knock-off. I see this as a 'kudos' to Apple from the Linux community, for producing software so good that linux devs bust their balls to get it working.

    I applaud the efforts of Codeweavers and hope that they are able to get full functionality very soon. While I would like to see Apple write a version of iTunes for Linux (in a way legitimizing the platform as a desktop alternative), this is certainly welcome and very impressive.

    To everyone involved with this: Awesome job. Keep up the good work. Now if we could just get Apple and linux devs working together on more projects (khtml, for instance) perhaps we'll see a day where Apple software could be run on both Linux and Mac OS X ... and maybe Windows later on if they feel like recoding it ;)

    1. Re:This is a testament to how good iTunes is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Here is another despo attempt 4 karma whoring.

  48. Still have yet by Ambient_Developer · · Score: 1

    I still have yet to use iTunes, to be perfectly honest I would rather stream music in from the internet rather than sort through thousands of titles, and listen to what I think sounds cool. I would rather have a perfessional decide for me, because yes, I am lazy.

    1. Re:Still have yet by michaeldot · · Score: 1

      I still have yet to use iTunes, to be perfectly honest I would rather stream music in from the internet

      iTunes can tune into Radio stations too: iTunes tutorial page

    2. Re:Still have yet by zpok · · Score: 1

      iTunes does have internet radio, if that's what you mean, and imo it's lots simpler than most others.
      The standard included airwaves are pretty cool and it's very easy to add streams.

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
  49. No Mac emulator yet? by Mr.+Cancelled · · Score: 1

    Wine's cool and all, but I'm surprised no one's working on a "Wine" for Mac OSX applications.

    To me it would seem easier to port Mac software over to run on Linux thanks to OSX basically being Unix (yeah.. BSD, I know).

    Anyone heard of such a project yet?

    1. Re:No Mac emulator yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like this?

      http://www.softpear.org/wiki/index.php?title=Mai n_ Page

      jeeze look on google.

    2. Re:No Mac emulator yet? by dcstimm · · Score: 1

      harder than you think, You are dealing with PPC arch and x86 arch which are very different, its much harder to emulate ppc binaries than it is to run a x86 windows binary on a x86 linux box. I happen to use Mac on Linux (MOL) on my ppc Linux computer which lets me boot my Macosx Partition while its in linux. (very handy) but to emulate a osx application it would be Much much harder than what wine is doing.

    3. Re:No Mac emulator yet? by WJMoore · · Score: 1

      I think you will find that Darwine is exectly what you are describing.

    4. Re:No Mac emulator yet? by profet · · Score: 1, Informative

      um... you might want to look up what WINE stands for...

      here's a hint:

      W ine
      I s
      N ot an
      E mulator

    5. Re:No Mac emulator yet? by goMac2500 · · Score: 1

      Thats different. That is a port of WINE to PPC Darwin to run x86 exe's on Mac OS X. The grandparent is asking about Mac OS X programs on Linux.

  50. When I read things like by alizard · · Score: 1
    "Codeweaver's Crossover 4.0 Adds iTunes Support", I'm very, very glad that I'm running Win4Lin instead as a Windows environment for Linux. (in my case, FC2)

    In Win4Lin, it's a surprise when applications don't run.

    I think I'll go download iTunes for Windows something soon.

    Anybody tried iTunes/Win on VMWare yet?

    1. Re:When I read things like by lostmymirth · · Score: 2, Informative

      "[...]I'm running Win4Lin[...] think I'll go download iTunes for Windows something soon."

      Good luck getting a WinNT/XP program to run under Win4Lin. Last time I checked Win4Lin only supports Win9x/Me.

    2. Re:When I read things like by zpok · · Score: 1

      "Anybody tried iTunes/Win on VMWare yet?"

      Nope, but I've tried iTunes/mac on a mac, and guess what, it works!

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
  51. Not the same thign by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    Wine, a ABI layer, and win4lin, a virtual machine, are 2 different animals..

    Its hard to farily compare them so caviler like you just did.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Not the same thign by alizard · · Score: 1
      I agree completely. However, I was comparing functionality, not technology. By and large, Win4Lin Just Works. WINE/Codeweavers runs on the apps it's tuned for and that's about it. I understand WINE/Codeweavers work well on the apps they're tuned for... but the ones I need most don't run in it so when I looked for a Windows Linux environment, I decided to go on looking right after I found this out at the Codeweavers supported apps list.

      disclaimer: I am not an employee of Netraverse or any of its contractors. Just a satisfied customer, though I did sell an article on how to convert a Windows workstation to a Linux workstation with no loss in fuctionality running legacy Win apps in Win4Lin a few months ago.

  52. Apple? by DrCode · · Score: 1

    Has there been an attempt to get Apple to create an offical Linux version of iTunes? Any response from them?

    1. Re:Apple? by Erwos · · Score: 1

      Interestingly enough, I do have a story to tell.

      I'm a member of my school's P2P task force. We were evaluating various services, and since I'm a Linux geek, I pounded the Apple rep on Linux support at a meeting about half a year ago.

      Apple: "We support all operating systems."
      Me: "Do you? Funny, you don't support Linux."
      Apple: "All MAJOR operating systems."
      Me: "So you don't support MacOS?"

      Yeah, I was in a bad mood, but they weren't making us a terribly good offer, either.

      Anyways, the response to the more specific Linux iTunes query I got was something along the lines of "we never talk about future products or plans". Later, though, I got him to at least admit that "they aren't ruling it out". That's a pretty good start, but I wouldn't exactly hold my breath waiting for Apple to release it.

      -Erwos

      --
      Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
  53. It was a pretty big undertaking to port ... by oliverthered · · Score: 1

    So, they can't write modular code either...jesus no wonder the hardware is locked down and the monitors boleted on with apples offering.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  54. If we could only get the SOUND working by aardwolf64 · · Score: 0

    "iTunes works... and can do everything we thought was important; play music... serious warts (sound is tricky...)"

    Yes, the program runs wonderfully. Heck, it even plays music. Our next objective is to get the music to actually make what we audiophiles call "sound" when you "play" it. I mean, seriously... why would anyone want their music player to output actual sound?

  55. Re:Why Bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What crackhead modded the above as flamebait?? That's a totally fair comment. Oh I forgot. Slashdot readers are all Linux Zealots.

  56. Re:Why Bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    xml parsing (especially SAX based) can be performed far more efficiently in the kernel, since you can do tricks with the tcp/ip mbufs before you do the copy into user-space. Basically, you don't copy nearly as much information into the user process address space. Since most people are using DOM based parsers, this efficiency is often overlooked. You see, you have to understand a little bit more than 'HTML' if you want to call yourself a guru!!! Large investment banks and stock exchanges make extensive use of this feature in Solaris to process FIX messages and it can have a major effect on throughput and latency.

  57. OpenOffice 2 has better conversion by t482 · · Score: 1

    OpenOffice 2 has better support for stuff like the text boxes and the wordart. Other than that I use oOO instead of Word/Excel.I use wine for Lotus Notes.

    Mind you OpenOffice 2 is still beta - but I haven't had any corruption or major issues yet.

  58. Wasn't this going to be released in... by emrysk · · Score: 1

    Crossover 3.1? Instead, they did a much larger upgrade with Framemaker, Quicktime, and some other improvements.

    It just seems odd since this [codeweavers.com] was released only a few months ago, and iTunes is still far from flawless under Linux.

  59. It works. by nbahi15 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have been using iTunes on Linux since the earliest betas. To be a little less cautious than Codeweavers it works well. It plays music, music shares work, iTMS works, iPod sync works. I would say that is is rock solid. What is annoying is the lack of CD support which is planned in an upcoming release. The only other hassle is they need to support the latest Windows Media Player so people that have WMA files can convert them to AAC or MP3.

    Please note the quote in the article from Codeweaver's is part of their REAL DIRT policy. They are cautious in making claims about the software working perfectly on every system, in every circumstance.

  60. MOD PARENT DOWN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh my god!! That's fucking worse than the goatse guy! AAHHHHHHHH!!! My EYES!!!!!!!!

  61. I'm a Juk guy myself by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    but they're both iTunes clones if I understand right. Personally, what made juk so amazing for me was the ability to Sort, tag and move my collection all from one app. Dragging and dropping files to/from juk rocks. If iTunes under Linux can do that, I might be interested...

    Also, and I know this is kinda silly, but I like using less than perfect software sometimes because it's fun to watch it improve from version to version.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  62. Except.. by oliverthered · · Score: 1

    'the iTunes music store does. iTunes is just a music player.'

    Except in this case (Crosover office) it isn't really a player/burner sice the functionality doesn't work.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    1. Re:Except.. by Bullet-Dodger · · Score: 1

      That is a good point.

  63. It works! by slicersnatch · · Score: 1

    I'm listening to the free song of the week in Itunes, while compiling the newest xorg for my gentoo box. No audio skips, even during compiling. I'm running a testing version of CXO that came out a week before CXO 4. I have found that Itunes' audio works just fine with my 2.6.9 kernel. You still do need Quicktime installed to Itune. The insall of Quicktime isn't a total waste because it does work under CXO, the other day I viewed a trailer in Quicktime running inside of Itunes, in KDE, with CXO. The video played back just like in windows. It isn't perfect, but come on, its running on an OS it wasn't coded for.

  64. OS X MD software here by bach37 · · Score: 1

    This might help a little. I haven't tried it, so no promises.

  65. locked away from the real user by kiwioddBall · · Score: 1

    fairly serious warts...sound is tricky....

    ... but we think it is usable...

    I use iTunes for listening to music. Its all I use it for (syncing with my iPod is secondary - the end goal is still to listen to music). So if the sound is broken what is the point? I'm sure that technically it is a fine achievement but those statements say it all about the reasons widespread adoption of linux isn't taking place.

  66. The only thing that really matters: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    does it work with OurTunes?

  67. Sounds like it sucks to me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    iTunes works, and can do everything we thought was important; play music, access the store, and sync with an iPod. It can't burn CDs right now, and it has some fairly serious warts (sound is tricky, particularly with 2.6 kernels, and getting the iPod going is hard), but we think it's usable.

    How can it play music if sound doesn't work? It sounds like (pun intentional) it works as well as Linux does out of the box (since sound in general is really problematic on Linux).

    I might consider using it and Linux for multimedia applications when I can install them on a box and have them work properly from the get go. Until then, stfu about how great Linux is when it can't reliably handle basic functions like audio in a reliable manner.

  68. Darwine by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1
    Darwine, if complete, would actually be good for Apple.

    In theory this would enable them to develop Windows apps such as iTunes within Xcode. They could test apps within their OSX environment using OSX native tools, and native speeds, then 'cut' Win32 apps using cross compilation!

    They were rumoured to be developing a Win32 execution environment for Rhapsody ('Red box'?) but that was shelved. The FUD was that companies wouldn't migrate their apps to Cocoa/Carbon.

  69. osx by torrents · · Score: 0, Troll

    let the gread exodus from osx begin...

    --
    Get your torrents...
  70. Shareware OS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is that? This is the first time in my life I see the words OS and shareware connected (and I am 52 years old).

    Linux and BSD are not shareware, they are OPEN SOURCE. I have never heard of a shareware OS, I doubt there is one, but I may be wrong.

    Shareware are those little 'try before you buy' programs; usually clueless mac lovers like to use them.

    1. Re:Shareware OS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you mean "open source" ? Is it free? If it's free then its shareware in my book. As I understand it, you can download BSD Linux from the internet without paying a cent.

  71. thanks for saving me the trouble... by alizard · · Score: 1
    While the upgrade to support W2000 is either already out or should be out Real Soon Now, I'm pretty unmotivated about upgrading my Windows window to W2000, and the capability of running iTunes isn't enough to change my mind. I've already paid MS tax more times than I really wanted to.

    From my POV, I'm running Windows on my Linux box to give me an early start on running Linux full time, and I'm trying to reduce the number of Linux apps I run as time goes on, not increase them.

    Hopefully, the Open Source Community or proprietary Linux vendors will assist me in doing so by providing the Linux apps I need.

  72. And who is your regular end user? by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 1

    Such chimera does not exist.

    I have been using Linux in the desktop for 8 years, all the people I work with use it at home, many as their main desktop.

    I know of many people that are not computer specialists that are happy with a Linux solution with minimal support (for hardware issues mainly).

    The desktop is almost there, the naysayers will stop their nonsense very soon, as they did long time ago when it came as Linux as a business ready server platform.

    --
    IANAL but write like a drunk one.
  73. holy shit, another fucking idiot by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 1
    first off wine is not an emulator

    Hey, jackass, notice the quotes around "emulator" in my post? I know wine isn't really an emulator, dipshit.

    (or you have no idea on how to optimize a tbird 900mhz box, via 4 in 1 drivers maybe?)

    Again with the idiocy. No amount of tuning is going to make iTunes run nicely on a 900Mhz tbird. It may run ok, but I'll take nearly any other music player any day over iTunes on Windows. iTunes is nice on OS X, but the Windows port is garbage.

    As for the iPod, the interface is highly overrated. It is slick and shiny, nothing more. It has the "wow" factor, but it is still form over function. And no matter how how many orgasams it gives you, it still uses annoying proprietary garbage to transfer data. I've used plenty of mp3 players that had more intuitive interfaces than the iPod, supported more formats, stored just as much data, and were cheaper.

    And trust me if you had an ipod or a mac you would know better.

    I never said anything about Macs. I work with Macs every day. There's nothing wrong with them, 'cept being a little out of the price range of less well off folk. So why do you mention Macs?

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
  74. How to get your iPod working on Linux by p0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    The latest iPods (mini, click-wheel, limited edition and photo) have problems getting mounted on Linux. The issue is discussed here. The fix, is to disable EFI partition support in the kernel and recompiling it.

    --
    This is my sig. There are thousands more, but this one is mine.
  75. Troll food by steeviant · · Score: 1

    Insert Apple Zealot(tm) post about how Apple uses Open Source stuff and how the kernel is open. Umm, but don't mention how all the important stuff that makes a Mac a Mac is closed and locked away by Apple, because that would ruin the Mac Zealot(tm) argument (and put Mac on a level playing field with MS).

    Holy crap! When did MS release the entire source code to their OS?

    Woohoo! I'm going to fork the NT kernel.

    Or is the "level playing field" you talk about one where MS doesn't have to give away anything, or provide Windows on any other platforms, while Apple has to give away their entire OS for nothing and make sure it works on every hardware platform?

    Then insert counter point that Apple _needs_ to keep somethings proprietary in order to compete. Then ingnore the fact how Apple loves Open source code they can take and use to save millions in development costs and then take ages to return changes to the community (cough, safari, cough).

    Oh, I see... the playing field's not even that level, in addition to giving away all of their source code for free, they also have to release it according to your schedule?

    And you call Apple users zealots...

    1. Re:Troll food by AstroDrabb · · Score: 1
      Holy crap! When did MS release the entire source code to their OS?
      Holy crap! When did Apple release the entire source code to their OS? Oh, yeah, they didn't. Just the kernel.
      Or is the "level playing field" you talk about one where MS doesn't have to give away anything, or provide Windows on any other platforms, while Apple has to give away their entire OS for nothing and make sure it works on every hardware platform?
      Exactly how many platforms does Mac OS X run on again? Oh yeah, just the one Apple sells.
      Oh, I see... the playing field's not even that level, in addition to giving away all of their source code for free, they also have to release it according to your schedule?
      In addition to giving away _all_ of their source code for free? Dude, what freaking Apple Zealot(tm) world do you live in? Apple doesn't give away crap for free. The only things they "give away" are Open Sorce codes they have used from the community in their products.

      Does Apple give away AppleScript?

      Does Apple give away iCal?

      Does Apple give away iChat AV?

      Does Apple give away iSync?

      Does Apple give away Safari?

      Does Apple give away X11?

      Does Apple give away iLife?

      Does Apple give away iTunes?

      Does Apple give away iPhoto?

      Does Apple give away iMovie?

      Does Apple give away GarageBand?

      Does Apple give away iDVD?

      Does Apple give away Logic Pro?

      Does Apple give away Motion?

      Does Apple give away Final Cut Pro HD?

      Does Apple give away DVD Studio Pro?

      Does Apple give away Shake?

      Does Apple give away Soundtrack?

      Does Apple give away The Production Suite?

      Does Apple give away Xsan?

      Does Apple give away Apple Remote Desktop 2?

      Does Apple give away WebObjects?

      Does Apple give away AppleWorks?

      Does Apple give away FileMaker?

      Does Apple give away FileMaker Server?

      Does Apple give away Final Cut Express?

      Does Apple give away Keynote?

      Does Apple give away Logic Express?

      Does Apple give away ?

      Does Apple give away Mail?

      Does Apple give away iDisk?

      Does Apple give away HomePage?

      Does Apple give away Backup?

      Does Apple give away Anti-Virus?

      Does Apple give away QuickTime Player?

      Does Apple give away QuickTime Pro?

      Does Apple give away QuickTime Streaming Server?

      Does Apple give away QuickTime Broadcaster?

      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
    2. Re:Troll food by steeviant · · Score: 1

      You were the one suggesting Apple should give away all their source, and work on more than the one (1) platform (x86) that windows works on. And that if they did that they would somehow be on a level playing field with MS, who give away none (nada, zip, 0%) of their operating system in source code form, or for free.

      I fail to follow your logic. You fail to follow my english. I guess we're at an impasse until you attend english as a second language courses.

    3. Re:Troll food by AstroDrabb · · Score: 1
      It seems you suffer from reading comprehension. So I will go slow for you.
      You were the one suggesting Apple should give away all their source
      Hmm, I am looking at this whole stupid thread with you and where did I _once_ say Apple should release _all_ their source?
      And that if they did that they would somehow be on a level playing field with MS, who give away none (nada, zip, 0%) of their operating system in source code form, or for free.
      While I am not a big MS fan, I will say that you are wrong. Microsoft grants full access to Windows CE source. While the amount of code that is available from MS is pretty lame IMO, there are some like C#/JScript/CLI Implementations, Windows CE 5.0, FlexWiki, WiX and others. Also a few years ago MS purchased Interix which MS still gives away and parts of it are under the GPL. While MS could never be considered a champion of Open Source, neither can Apple.
      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
    4. Re:Troll food by zpok · · Score: 1

      Instead of wasting screen space, you'd better read up on the history of OS X.

      All this "Apple should give back to the FOSS community" shit, while it's primarily Apple doing the giving.

      Go Google, or go to Ars...

      --
      I think, therefore I am...I think.
    5. Re:Troll food by AstroDrabb · · Score: 1
      According to Apple's FAQ, they only have Darwin listed as one of there open source resources. Where is this list of big contributions? KHTML doesn't count because Apple didn't have an option to not release it. Where is the list of _pure_ Apple technology that Apple has released as Open Source? Most of the stuff Apple "releases" are sources they have to release or only contribute to.

      Where are the sources to iTunes, iDVD, iMovie, iFoo, iBar? How about any of their GUI code? For how much Open Source they use in their OS, they give back _very_ little of thier own technology.

      --
      If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
      it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
  76. iPod Batteries by ZxCv · · Score: 2, Informative

    Besides I like to be in control of my music and my gear and I don't like when I can't replace the battery like the way the iPod is setup.

    I think by now, anyone bitching that they "can't" replace an iPod battery is just looking for something to bitch about. Seems to me that there are more than one place to get replacement batteries for the iPod, and it even only takes about 5 mins to do the replacement yourself.

    --

    Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;