On Mon, 2010-04-19 at 06:17 -0400, ken wrote:
Thanks for link. I should have known that wikipedia would have useful info.
The problem I was having was that I couldn't download a podcast from iTunes. (I figured that if I could download the file somehow, Linux would have some way to play it.) I installed wine and tried to install iTunes (the software) onto that, but couldn't get it to install. I've been unable to discover any other possible way to connect to the iTunes Store and, reading the link you gave, it seems that currently there isn't any way. This from wikipedia:
"With the release of iTunes 7.0, Apple changed their implementation of DAAP. This change prevents any third-party client, such as a computer running Linux, a modified Xbox, or any computer without iTunes installed, from connecting to a remote iTunes repository. iTunes will still connect as a client to other iTunes servers and to third-party servers."
DAAP is the networking protocol Apple uses to move iTunes (the audio files) around the internet and other networks.
Fortunately, a couple messages about iTunes.com failure to work with Linux to the upstream podcast provider (Terry Gross's "Fresh Air" radio show on NPR) found a sympathetic ear and they started posting MP3s of their shows on their own website. (Thanks, Terry!)
So, thanks to people at "Fresh Air" who understand Linux and the artificial difficulties posed by commercial software, the problem has effectively been solved.
---- actually, much more recent versions of iTunes actually do exchange data with my daap server (Linux) and that information at wikipedia is out of date.
Specifically current iTunes (9.x.x and even previous 8.x.x versions) do not have a problem finding/using my Linux based mt-daapd server but of course this does not have anything to do with actually trying to run iTunes software under wine or subscribing to podcasts with URL's hostile to everything but iTunes.
Craig