Hi!

I haven't used anything but linux in about five years. Now I'm planing on buying a iPod.

I am a bit unsure though whether this type of hardware is able to fully function with linux. So, do you think I should buy an iPod or go for something else (like an mp3-player)?

Am I supposed to use iTunes to upload songs to it? Or may be it is possible to use it as a massive storage device for a more direct connection?

(probably the wrong place to ask this, but...) Am I able to upload my own mp3-files (ripped from one of my cd-s) to it, or do I have to use iPod online store to purchase songs?

Thanks a lot in advance

Hello,

I have a 3G iPod that I use under Linux flawlessly all the time. Just use gtkpod (I've heard that amarok works also but never tried it). I've been doing it for months and it works perfectly.

And yes, you can import songs ripped from your CDs to an iPod. If you do buy songs online, make sure they are in mp3 format and don't have any DRM on them, or they won't work.

Personally, I refuse to buy songs/albums/CDs with DRM of any kind on them. I don't like the idea of paying someone to infringe on my rights as a consumer. For this reason I boycott the iTunes music store and I buy songs from www.allofmp3.com and they work great on my iPod.

Is allofmp3 legal? It look rather cheep?!

Thank you very much for your answer. But do I need to install any drivers? GtkPod asks for location of the mounted pod. Does this mean that I'm can use it as well as a Mass Storage Device?

And: The pod I'm planning to buy (30gb) supports video. Though I've heard somewhere that it's difficult to convert ordinary video formats to suit iPod (it was stated that special software (windows-only and not free) had to be used). So it was advised to use Apples online store to purchase videos. Although as I looked at product specifications I noticed that this iPod was able to view MPEG4-videos (and H.264, which I assume is the native format?). So does the pod require some alternation of the MPEG4 format (sounds rather weird though)? Otherwise it's not at all difficult to convert ANY video to it if the pod really supports mpeg-s. Or do they may be mean that scaling of the video stream to a lower resolution may be difficult (which isn't true at all)?

You should be fine. If it's possible, you may test an iPod (of a friend, etc) on your system before buying.

No, it's not.

While I agree that allofmp3's legality is questionable at best, I consider it a lesser evil than paying iTunes or any other online music store to install DRM on my music and tell me what I can and cannot do with said music. Plus, with other online music stores, you are locked into whatever proprietary format and music player that particular store is most fond of (AAC and iPod for iTMS), and that's not cool either. If the iTMS sold songs for $0.99 each with no DRM, in any format/bitrate I choose, and I could use it on a player other than the one they sell, then I'd go for it. Until then I choose to buy questionably legal MP3s from Allofmp3 because they give me the choice I so desire in music. Price has nothing to do with it.

Plus, AFAIK the iTMS doesn't work on Linux, so another strike against them.

if you install rockbox on your ipod you won't need to use any software; you'll just be able to drag/drop your music straight to the ipod as if it were a mass storage device. plus, you get an open-source OS on your ipod!

www.rockbox.org

Hmmm... rockbox doesn't seem to work on 5th generation iPods. At least it's not listed on the list of supported devices. Or am I missing something?

Oh... ooops... but it is

Thanx for all your replies

But still one more question: does anyone know anything about the video conversion I was talking about in one of my previous posts?

I managed to do it using the guide found on ubuntu forums (as I use Ubuntu) as Ubuntu is Deb based I don't see why not for you!

Its slightly 'involved' to get going but works good in the end. To be honest the video aspect of the ipod wears off after a couple of weeks. I have found it good for playing video back to TV via AV cables though!

Hey I just got rockbox installed on my 2nd generation ipod mini. Its pretty cool looking so far. It did'nt work at first but after chatting a developer, he actually built a working package for me on the fly. Isn't that nice. I have tranparent and easy access to any mp3s I drop on my ipod.