[KLUG Members] iPod & Linux.

[Bruce Smith]

I recently purchased an iPod (Nano).  I've never owned an iPod in my
life before this.

I knew before my purchase that I couldn't just plug the iPod into an USB
port on a Linux box, copy mp3 files to it (like it was a USB flash
drive) and expect them play on the iPod.

Yes, I knew that [something like] iTunes was required to load audio
files on the iPod for them to play there, even though Linux can use the
iPod as a USB disk.  And there is no native iTunes available for Linux.

I did some research and learned there was some OSS Linux software for
the iPod available, but I didn't know the quality of the packages, and
frankly wasn't expecting a whole lot.  I was half expecting to be
required to use my Mac powerbook, or VMware+Windows w/iTunes.

The first thing I did was plug my Nano into a USB2 port on my SuSE 10.0
desktop.  Immediately it started a program named "banshee".  It knew it
was an iPod and ask me to name my Nano.

I then imported some mp3 files into my local banshee music area.  Next I
pressed the button to sync with the iPod, which it did, and the iPod now
plays the mp3 files perfectly!  Very slick!  Thought I'd share ...  :-)

I've heard from someone else that this did NOT work under SuSE 9.3, and
earlier versions.  I also saw there are some updates to banshee for SuSE
10.0 in the last couple days which is supposed to fix a occasional crash
in the GUI (which I've seen) and support the latest version of iTunes.
Sweet!!!  :-)

 - BS