Amarok to Palm: "Forget Apple, Come to Us!"
Open source project Amarok, in an open letter to Palm, has invited the company to work with them. The reason: the Apple iTunes 8.2.1 update guarantees that the Linux-based Palm Pre smartphone can no longer use the iTunes music management software.
Dutch KDE developer Bart "Stecchino" Cerneels wrote in a July 16 Amarok blog addressed as an open letter to the Sunnyvale CA handheld provider: "You're in the business of selling phones, not software. I don't think deciding to 'outsource' this to Apple was a smart move though. So now the bully is attacking you on *their* playground... You could go crying to the [lawsuit court]. But if you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the Amarok team!" He adds: "We promise not to change our application to prevent users [from using] Amarok with your device."
Another Amarok developer supported him in a separate KDE.News entry. Under the title "The Business of Free," Nikolaj Hald Nielsen described the possible collaboration between the free Amarok project and the Silicon Valley firm that could ultimately profit both entities. He was referring to the recent Gran Canaria Desktop Summit talk given by Cerneels and himself of an already mutually beneficial collaboration between Amarok and the Magnatune online music store, by way of example. It's clear from Nielsen's bio that he has since become lead programmer at Magnatune (in addition to his work at Amarok) after integrating the Magnatune shop into Amarok three years ago.
Palm customers won't be able use the current iTunes on their smartphone as easily when the iTunes 8.2.1 update appears. The news came from Arik Hesseldahl in a July 15 Business Week blog. The Palm Pre was apparently being marketed as an iPod device so as to sync up with iTunes, thus making Palm an iPod and iPhone competitor. This was beginning to rankle Apple in mid-June, as they reported in a support notice.
The Palm Pre with its Linux-based webOS was announced at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January. June 16 Palm's promised Mojo SDK also became available to app developers.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel Reducing Long-Term Support
LTS support for the Linux kernel is about to undergo some serious changes that will have a considerable impact on the future.
-
Fedora 39 Beta is Now Available for Testing
For fans and users of Fedora Linux, the first beta of release 39 is now available, which is a minor upgrade but does include GNOME 45.
-
Fedora Linux 40 to Drop X11 for KDE Plasma
When Fedora 40 arrives in 2024, there will be a few big changes coming, especially for the KDE Plasma option.
-
Real-Time Ubuntu Available in AWS Marketplace
Anyone looking for a Linux distribution for real-time processing could do a whole lot worse than Real-Time Ubuntu.
-
KSMBD Finally Reaches a Stable State
For those who've been looking forward to the first release of KSMBD, after two years it's no longer considered experimental.
-
Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released
The latest version of Nitrux brings plenty of innovation and fresh apps to the table.
-
Linux From Scratch 12.0 Now Available
If you're looking to roll your own Linux distribution, the latest version of Linux From Scratch is now available with plenty of updates.
-
Linux Kernel 6.5 Has Been Released
The newest Linux kernel, version 6.5, now includes initial support for two very exciting features.
-
UbuntuDDE 23.04 Now Available
A new version of the UbuntuDDE remix has finally arrived with all the updates from the Deepin desktop and everything that comes with the Ubuntu 23.04 base.
-
Star Labs Reveals a New Surface-Like Linux Tablet
If you've ever wanted a tablet that rivals the MS Surface, you're in luck as Star Labs has created such a device.
More Power to Linux
I'm Belgian
Thanks for posting this on your site, we like the word to be spread so hopefully something will come of this. It will mean a boost for all Free Software multimedia applications.