Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Open Source, Developer
Amarok on the Way
When we posted a while back that OS X native ports of KDE applications were headed to the Mac, one of the biggest outcries was for Amarok, the KDE music player. Word now comes on the Amarok Blog that Amarok is being actively developed for the Mac. Although it's far from running properly (the back-end database support isn't working yet), it has been built and run on OS X as you can see above. While there's still a long way to go (and nothing yet to download), I suspect this news will make a few people around here very happy, even if the rest of us figure to stick with iTunes.
[Via Digg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Roye said 1:39PM on 2-12-2007
This is fantastic! Amarok and digiKam are the KDE apps I miss most since I switched this summer. Amarok blows iTunes away in features and non-suckitude.
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Ikazuchi said 4:17PM on 2-12-2007
Amarok is by far and away the app I miss the most when I moved from Linux to OSX (followed by Konqueror as a file manager). It's handling of music I always found preferable to iTunes.
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Rob said 5:36PM on 2-12-2007
I agree that Amarok is so much better than iTunes.
Another app to look for is SongBird wich is currently being developed. It's interface is similar to iTunes but has many additional features that Apple probably will never implment (probably because of fears of a backlash from the RIAA etc).
It should also be noted that both Amarok and Songbird are Open Source Software (OSS). In my view, OSS is so much better than closed software like iTunes (which by design limit features etc and try to lock you in to the Apple world).
When Amarok and Songbird become available for the Mac, people should give them a try. You may be pleasantly surprised and end up switching away from iTunes.
Rob
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Nick said 6:54PM on 2-12-2007
Unfortunately, Songbird sucks, and will probably suck for some time. AmaroK, however, is really cool.
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markthewarrior said 11:33PM on 2-12-2007
I've been running Amarok on OS X for a while now, having compiled it from the Fink repositories. I was surprised--despite having never compiled a piece of code in my life and having a miniscule amount of command line experience, it was a relatively painless experience. All the KDE dependencies make for a lengthy compile (I left it on overnight on my MacBook) but it was well worth it.
Songbird looks promising, but the problem with it for me (apart from all the bugs) is that the main reason I need an iTunes alternative is because I have a lot of music in the lossless FLAC format, which iTunes/QuickTime doesn't support. And seeing as how Songbird (for now) is using the QuickTime engine for playback, it does me no good. Apart from lightweight players like VLC and Cog that have no library function, Amarok is the only music jukebox that supports FLAC on OS X as far as I can tell.
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King Fysel said 11:20AM on 2-13-2007
Whew! I was afraid it was being inactively developed!
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