hebig.org/blog

Synchronizing an iPod seems to be most fun using iTunes. But what if you don't have an Apple computer? On Windows, there is Apple-supplied, but ultra-crappy MusicMatch, and on Linux, there is no Apple support at all. There seem to be alternatives:

• ephPod seems to be the most popular and most comprehensive solution for Windows. Using Wine, it also runs under Linux.
• XPlay is a commercial solution for Windows ($29.95) that not only synchronizes music, but also mounts the iPod like a harddisk into the file system
• myPod is implemented in Java, "so its platform independent and should run at most platforms where you can get your iPod mounted as filesystem."

More esoterical options include:

• GNUpod is "a collection of Perl-Scripts wich allow you to use your iPod under GNU/Linux and many other Operating Systems with a useable Version of Perl 5 (+Modules)"; and GUIPod is a KDE/Qt based graphical front-end for GNUpod
• SyncPOD, another Perl script for Linux and *BSD
• gtkpod, another GUI attempt, this one using GTK2
• The iPOd on Linux Project has some scripts, and a documentation of the iTunesDB. There is also another iTunesDB description available

Of course, there is another option: get a Mac. I am seriously thinking about that.