When Will Apple Notice Linux?
One thing has always puzzled me about iTunes, why isn’t it available for Linux? Now, I don’t mean “why doesn’t it run on Linux” (because with some 3rd party emulation it will run just fine) but rather, “why doesn’t Apple support it?” It seems to me that Apple is missing out on a golden opportunity. The Linux market can be looked upon as an untapped market as far as media goes. You see, if you use Windows you have two choices for purchasing music online, Apple and then everybody else. If you are using a Mac then you just have one choice, Apple. But if you are using Linux, you don’t really have any choices to legally buy and download music do you? (to all of you Linux readers out there, if there is a service out there like that please let me know, I looked but didn’t find any)
If you use Linux, you are left out of the party. Now, I am quite sure that there are more than a few Linux users out there who enjoy listening to music on their computers. And, I am also willing to bet, that they don’t all go out and buy hundreds of CDs to get all of their favorite songs. Let us further assume that they aquire their music in somewhat less than legal means, shall we? If all of that is true, then you have market conditions that looked exactly like those that preceded the ITMS. And since iTunes and its Music Store have been very popular with the general public, why is there any reason to think it won’t be just as popular on the Linux side?
So, when I go to Apple’s site and click on their “download iTunes” link, I want to see three options, one for Mac, one for Windows and one for Linux. Of course, the ramifications of such a move would be tremendous, and I’m not just refering to buying songs, music videos or TV shows. If Apple were to make this move and port iTunes and Quicktime to Linux it would vastly improve Linux’s credibility.
That isn’t to say Linux isn’t credible, it is. But the fact remains that the main software companies out there don’t generally make software for Linux. Adobe doesn’t make any of its graphics tools (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) for Linux. I think we can all forget about Microsoft doing anything to help Linux, regardless of how much money it might make them. Broderbund, Corel, Intuit, Blizzard, Seirra and the rest all don’t make Linux compatible products. Why?
Well, there are several reasons, but most of those excuses would disappear if the Linux community could just get one main player on board. If just one recognized Linux as a true player then chances are good the rest will follow. However, just about all of these software developers earn most of their money from applications that run on Microsoft operating systems. So they probably won’t be tripping over themselves to be the first to legitimize Linux. Because if they do there is always the chance that Microsoft might retaliate for such a move, and what company really wants to risk that? Or rather, which company could do it with the least negative reprecussions.
Apple is the logical choice. If they lead the way then the other players can rationalize it by saying “Well, Apple is hot and if they are supporting Linux maybe that is because they see something we don’t. Maybe we should get on-board.” And so if one comes then two will come and then three, then four, till most of the major players are realizing that money can be made selling their products to Linux users.
But wait, before you penguin lovers out there warm up your flamethrowers let me make this one thing clear. I am aware that there are plenty open-source applications that currently fill most of these needs. If you don’t want Photoshop, use GIMP. Don’t want MS Office, use OpenOffice. Don’t like iTunes, use X Multimedia System. Yes, there are free, open source alternatives to proprietary, closed source, actually-cost-money software. I am not disputing this. However I am saying that without the backing or support of the major software companies Linux on the desktop will never reach anything other than its current, uber-geek, niche market. To make it to the big time Linux needs mainstream applications. If for no other reason than to make the transition easier for new users. Instead of forcing them to use the tortured interface that is the GIMP why not let them use Photoshop, since that is what they are comfortable with? It might mean that fewer people use GIMP, but isn’t that an acceptable loss if more people use Linux?
There is, however, another small hurdle to jump before anything like this can happen and that is the philosophical barrier that exist for many Linux users. First, Linux is still seen as a kind of special club for all of the really smart computer users out there. Allowing Adobe & friends to play in their clubhouse kind of reduces the mystique of their little world. So, if the Linux community is really serious about expanding on the desktop then they are going to have to come to terms with the idea that a lot of non-technical, non-programming people will be using Linux. This brings me up to my second point, attitude.
There have been plenty of times that I have encountered the arrogance of the Linux community. It most often comes out as some version of this notion: “if you aren’t smart enougth to use Linux then maybe you should go back to Windows.” Another common attitude is linking “easy to use” with “selling out”. Making software easy to use requires that you limit the number of features, something most die hard Linux advocates are loath to do. And yet it is something that must be done if Linux really wants to reach the masses. So, if the penguin really does want to go mainstream then they are going to need the support of the major software companies and the current Linux user base has to be ready for the impact of the non-technical user. Ubuntu is on the right track as far as this latter point goes, but they still have a long, long way to go.
So, perhaps someone needs to buy Linus Torvalds a plane ticket to Cupertino, California. Who knows, maybe if he asked Steve Jobs nicely if he might consider making iTunes available to three operating systems instead of just two. And maybe then, finally, the ball can start rolling for the Desktop Linux.
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Hey Jeff, if Linux on the desktop isn’t viable, why have I had no problems using it as my main (read: ONLY) OS for the last 6 months? My extremely not-tech-savvy mother uses Linux at home, as do my siblings who don’t even understand that a virus scan is useless when you don’t update or run it. I don’t think they know how to hook up the keyboard to the computer, but they run Linux just fine. It’s ready for the desktop. It’s here. It works just fine, and lots of people are switching. There’s a 77% per year increase in the number of people looking at the lead-distro’s page on Distrowatch. Linux is becoming popular. I know a lot of non-Computer-Science people who use it at my school, and I know a lot of kids from my high school have started coming to me saying “I want to use Linux. Help me set it up.” The hardest part of Linux is setting it up, and Ubuntu makes that exceedingly easy. If you get the geek to install it for you, it’s just as easy as having pre-installed Windows or OS X.
>>>The only feature of iTunes that in Amarok doesn’t have or have better than is the store, and for me I can’t see myself ever using it as I think purchasing DRM encumbered music is kind of stupid. I’d rather buy the cd new or used than pay for a crippled copy of it.<<<
I agree 100%. I will never purchase DRM’d music. I do not trust my music to digital forms. It’s nothing but air and pixie dust. I want a physical copy. I haveHey Jeff, if Linux on the desktop isn’t viable, why have I had no problems using it as my main (read: ONLY) OS for the last 6 months? My extremely not-tech-savvy mother uses Linux at home, as do my siblings who don’t even understand that a virus scan is useless when you don’t update or run it. I don’t think they know how to hook up the keyboard to the computer, but they run Linux just fine. It’s ready for the desktop. It’s here. It works just fine, and lots of people are switching. There’s a 77% per year increase in the number of people looking at the lead-distro’s page on Distrowatch. Linux is becoming popular. I know a lot of non-Computer-Science people who use it at my school, and I know a lot of kids from my high school have started coming to me saying “I want to use Linux. Help me set it up.” The hardest part of Linux is setting it up, and Ubuntu makes that exceedingly easy. If you get the geek to install it for you, it’s just as easy as having pre-installed Windows or OS X.
>>>The only feature of iTunes that in Amarok doesn’t have or have better than is the store, and for me I can’t see myself ever using it as I think purchasing DRM encumbered music is kind of stupid. I’d rather buy the cd new or used than pay for a crippled copy of it.<<<
I agree 100%. I will never purchase DRM’d music. I do not trust my music to digital forms. It’s nothing but air and pixie dust. I want a physical copy. I have most of my favourite music in both CD and vinyl forms. most of my favourite music in both CD and vinyl forms.
Hey maggard, stop asking “which Linux?” That’s a load of bull. There’s a lot of Distros, but if you’re reasonably up to date, if it’ll run on one, it’ll run on ‘em all. Either release a source tarball and we can build from source, or release a .rpm. The RH-descendants can use that, the Debian-descendants can type “alien itunes.rpm” and we’ll have .debs for our computers. No Linux developer rewrites their app for each distro. They write it once, and then people download it and build it, or they take a binary. You only have to release one binary as either rpm or deb. The users of the other are perfectly capable of switching binary formats (it’s seriously just a header file’s difference).
The answer is simple. To release iTunes for Linux, the source code would have to be revealed. If the source were revealed, the secrets would be gone. Then any developer could easily copy iTunes. The *nixes will eventually have something like iTunes anyway, since there are a lot of master reverse engineers in the *nix developer community. So, until then, *nixers have to run it in emulation mode, if they even want it. No biggie.
on said, “To release iTunes for Linux, the source code would have to be revealed.”
Are you under the misconception that the GPL requires revelation of an application’s source code if supported under a free OS like Linux? If so, please stand corrected - Linux remains fully compatible with proprietary binaries. (I’m ignoring the issue of whether proprietary binaries are in Apple’s best interest here!)
For example, Adobe releases Flash 9 for Linux, but the source code remains proprietary. The same is true for certain proprietary video device drivers.
Apple can and should host iTunes on Linux, IMHO. They would give up no trade secrets and lose no source code, they would just expand their potential user base by another 4-5%.
Just my 10 cents worth (in binary).
Michael Robertson, founder of the Linux company Linspire and the music company MP3.com, has offered to fund the port of iTunes to Linux (presumably under non-disclosure) in his response to Jobs’ infamous DRM challenge here:
http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=231
Very nice article
The new music download store from Amazon.com called Amazon MP3 which has variable pricing with songs sold as low as 89 cents (they are undercutting iTunes standard 99 cent pricing on everything from DRMed to DRM free downloads) so all music purchased from their download site will work with Windows Media Player and iTunes—it can be transferred to iPods or other mp3 players of the consumer’s choice.
Only problem is that after these DRM free files appear on the user’s computer it requires a proprietary piece of software called the Amazon MP3 Download Manager. To date they have released versions of its downloader for both Windows and Macintosh systems but there is no Linux version yet although there FAQ states that the Linux version is in development.
Only other problem for the most part is the entire store is a website you go to in your browser. For iTunes users iTunes makes it convenient to shop for digital music or video files through your media player software and once you opt to make a purchase etc and download a file it automatically downloads and gets imported or added to your iTunes Library automatically.
Amazon MP3 works a bit different you have to download and then move it over to your media player.
I hope Apple will notice Linux soon though and make not only iTunes Linux compatible but also offer Linux compatibility for iPods, iPhones and Apple TVs.
It would be ideal even if their Safari web browser which now also works on Windows and has a mobile version for iPod Touch and iPhone could also be ported to Linux.
They’ll still stick to having some software OS X only but whatever software they make available to Windows users should also be available to Linux users.
Sorry for the double post but just remembered something—of course in order for Apple to port iTunes they’ll also have to port QuickTime to Linux as is maybe then they would offer QuickTime Pro to the Linux community—keys would be available for purchase by Linux users like Mac and Windows users can do so.
Good points. It’s strange to see Apple ignoring Linux despite its current rapid growth in the market:
+ Note the rapid introduction of new Linux-based ultra-portables such as the Nokia tablets (already 3rd generation), OLPC XO (assuming they get their shipping snafus resolved), Asus EeePC, and the upcoming Cloudbook;
+ Linux is featured in a number of recent mobile phone platform announcements, such as Android from Google, two competing standards groups that include major phone players such as DoCoMo and Motorola, and dark horses such as OpenMoko and Access (nee Palm, which has already shipped a free PalmOS 5 emulator for Nokia 8xx tablets);
+ The top two PC makers are now shipping Linux pre-installed on a growing and (by their own reports) successful line of traditional laptops and desktops; and
+ IBM’s recent first-time announcement that “Linux is ready for the corporate desktop”, porting their business solutions en masse this year.
OS X, Air and the iPhone are nice products all, but Apple alone can’t meet all users’ needs. You really have to wonder if Apple is missing out on a significant opportunity by repeatedly ignoring a growing market segment.