GNU\Linux Portable MP3/OGG Player & Music Service (Recommendations)

[Kurt Granroth]

On Tuesday 26 July 2005 10:40 pm, Derek Neighbors wrote:
> I bought one of the first mp3 players in the Diamond Rio PMP 300 many
> moons ago.  After a long stint of just burning things to CD, I am in the
> mode where I think a large capacity portable probably makes sense.  Some
> key features would be minimum 1gig storage.  Ability to broadcast to FM
> receiver.  Under $300.
>
> I prefer something that can play OGG or at a minimum MP3 formats.  I
> don't own a windows box and run Debian/Ubuntu desktops so need something
> with software that will run with minimal fuss on Debian/Ubuntu.

Well, an iPod technically fits most of this criteria.  They work great with 
Linux, have much more than 1G for $300, can transmit to FM using an iTrip (or 
similar), and have (IMO) the best interface for playing MP3s.

However, they don't play Ogg Vorbis files and likely never will.  And they are 
consistently more expensive than the competition.  Honestly, if I wasn't an 
iTunes and Audible user, I would likely have picked something else.

> The second part of the question is I would like to use an online music
> source like napster, itunes or the likes.  What services are the most
> GNU\Linux friendly?

None of the major online music stores are Linux friendly.  iTunes can be made 
to work with Code Weaver software (and maybe CVS WINE by now as a result?).  
I don't know how reliable it is.  And if you go with iTunes, you have locked 
yourself in to getting an iPod since that's the only player that can play 
protected AACs.

Mind you, if you use any of the other major online music stores, you'll have 
to use Windows since they use some variation of DRMed WMA files.  Lots more 
players support WMA than AAC, though.

The only possibly-legal source of mainstream music in non-protected form that 
I know of is www.allofmp3.com.  AllOfMP3.com is a Russian site that has a 
massive library and it's all available in whatever format you want (including 
FLAC for some of them) for 1 cent a megabyte.  It's a phenomenal deal and 
works perfectly on all OSes and all players.

On the flip side, it's not 100% clear how legal they are for American 
citizens.  They have an agreement with the Russian version of the RIAA and 
they claim that this effectively carries over to us (they have a FAQ on the 
topic)... but IANAL so I don't know how true that is.  Also, there is a lot 
of speculation that they are heavily connected to the Russian Mafia so if you 
have moral qualms about that, then it's something to keep in mind.