FOSSPicks
Music player
Babe
Music players seem to be the most prolific type of application you can find on Linux. This must say something about the type of people who use Linux and the kind of things they like doing. It definitely says something about no one agreeing on what the perfect music player should look like when so many developers create their own. Babe, or Qt Babe, or Tiny Qt Babe Music Player as it's called on its GitHub page, is one of those tools. Poor names for audio players aren't unique, but the user interface makes this definitely worth a look, especially if you're from the XMMS old-school. This is because Babe's UI is by default uniquely narrow. It fits perfectly along one side of your screen, showing an album cover at the top and a playlist at the bottom. This vertical block is sprinkled with a small selection of icons for launching a playlist, an album view, adding new music, and controlling playback. These controls and the panels they open look more like the equivalent panes in Clementine or Tomahawk (but not Amarok, never Amarok!), but there is a mode that keeps just the album art on top of your screen, which works really well.
The notification system is also excellent with the regular track pop-up showing you an album cover from the currently playing track but with an extra Babe it button. Click on this and you've hearted (or babed?) the currently playing track. These tracks are then added to one of the many dynamic playlists you can create, all of which are displayed in one of the extra panels that can be opened and closed. Babe is currently in early alpha, and the promised YouTube linking, where online music can be integrated with local playlists, was still a little unpredictable during review. But Babe shows real potential, primarily because it's doing something old in a new way.
Project Website
https://github.com/milohr/babe-qt

Password manager
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
News
-
KaOS 2022.06 Now Available With KDE Plasma 5.25
The newest iteration of KaOS Linux not only adds the latest KDE Plasma desktop but sets LibreOffice as the default.
-
Manjaro 21.3.0 Is Now Available
Manjaro “Ruah” has been released and includes the latest Calamares installer, GNOME 42, and much more.
-
SpiralLinux is a New Linux Distribution Focused on Simplicity
A new Linux distribution, from the creator of GeckoLinux, is a Debian-based operating system with a focus on simplicity and ease of use.
-
HP Dev One Linux Laptop is Now Available for Pre-Order
The System76/HP collaboration Dev One laptop, geared toward developers, is now available for pre-order.
-
NixOS 22.5 Is Now Available
The latest release of NixOS with a much-improved package manager and a user-friendly graphical installer.
-
System76 Teams up with HP to Create the Dev One Laptop
HP and System76 have come together to develop a new laptop, powered by Pop!_OS and aimed toward developers.
-
Titan Linux is a New KDE Linux Based on Debian Stable
Titan Linux is a new Debian-based Linux distribution that features the KDE Plasma desktop with a focus on usability and performance.
-
Danielle Foré Has an Update for elementary OS 7
Now that Ubuntu 22.04 has been released, the team behind elementary OS is preparing for the upcoming 7.0 release.
-
Linux New Media Launches Open Source JobHub
New job website focuses on connecting technical and non-technical professionals with organizations in open source.
-
Ubuntu Cinnamon 22.04 Now Available
Ubuntu Cinnamon 22.04 has been released with all the additions from upstream as well as other features and improvements.