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Apple Cuts Off Linux iPod Users

Posted by Zonk on from the can't-stand-the-heat dept.

Will Fisher writes "New iPods will no longer be able to work with Linux. iTunes now writes some kind of hash (SHA1, md5?) to the iPod database which new iPods check against. If this check fails then the iPod reports that it contains 0 songs. This appears to be protection against 3rd party applications writing out their own databases. We haven't found out how to generate our own valid hashes (but we do know the hash includes the database itself, and possibly the iPod serial number), and are looking for help."

5 of 854 comments (clear)

  1. But but but... by Markvs · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought Apple had embraced open source

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    46. The Hobo smiles, his eyes glaze over, and he burps. "Beware the man who has lived longer than the Wasteland."
    1. Re:But but but... by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 5, Funny

      Careful! The last time I even suggested that Apple was not an open source friendly company here on Slashdot, I was modded down as "flamebait." Of course, I also reminded everyone that Apple's developers did not invent the mouse, object oriented programming, the GUI, and that those developers were also not capable of producing a preemptive scheduler, and the presence of those features in OS X represents Apple's team simply borrowing ideas from other people without contributing anything back.

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      Palm trees and 8
  2. Inevitable comment by interiot · · Score: 5, Funny

    I heard cannabis brownies were the way to go.

  3. Re:My wife was given an Ipod for Christmas.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    .trl

    It is a proprietary format for encoding troll posts.

  4. Re:So I guess... by The+Great+Pretender · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't believe Microsoft did this! What a bunch of evil, coporate money grubbers. M$ will use every trick in the book to make sure they protect their systems and force people into drinking the Kool-Aid. What a bunch of...what? Apple? Oh! Good for Apple protecting their rights and systems. Damn Linux pirates should respect the fact that the iPOD is Apples proprietry knowledge. I can't believe that Linux users thought they could get away with it...

    --
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.