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TETENAL · 07:57 AM

http://www.songbirdnest.com/

The open-source iTunes-clone Songbird 0.1 for Windows has been released. It's based on Firefox and VLC.

ps:

For some strange reason the application's logo seems to be a farting bird:

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 10:13 AM

This app looks pretty nice, and will be especially useful in the Linux community where users currently have to run iTunes through Crossover Office/WINE.

olePigeon · Feb 9, 2006, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

This app looks pretty nice, and will be especially useful in the Linux community where users currently have to run iTunes through Crossover Office/WINE.

Songbird is Windows only. They're still going to have to run it through WINE.

Mastrap · Feb 9, 2006, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

For some strange reason the application's logo seems to be a farting bird:

olePigeon · Feb 9, 2006, 10:33 AM

Did a Google search, but couldn't find a pic of Napoleon Dynamite's "flying" Pegasus.

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Songbird is Windows only. They're still going to have to run it through WINE.

Temporarily... it will be released for Linux and OS X too.

Millennium · Feb 9, 2006, 10:45 AM

They've done a zillion drawings of that bird, but as TETENAL pointed out, it always seems to be farting no matter how they draw it. What gives?

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by Millennium

They've done a zillion drawings of that bird, but as TETENAL pointed out, it always seems to be farting no matter how they draw it. What gives?

Shouldn't the whistling cloud be put near the bird's mouth?

Besides, birds don't really whistle. This is silly.

greenamp · Feb 9, 2006, 11:26 AM

I think the fact that it appears to be farting makes it much cooler

wdlove · Feb 9, 2006, 11:43 AM

Don't really care for the black and gray. Of course very Windows like.

olePigeon · Feb 9, 2006, 11:47 AM

I'm beginning to wonder if the farting imagery is intentional.

I Bent My Wookiee · Feb 9, 2006, 11:51 AM

What do these people have against iTunes?

Millennium · Feb 9, 2006, 11:55 AM

I think it's the closed architecture, more than anything else.

Mastrap · Feb 9, 2006, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

What do these people have against iTunes?

Choice is good.™

lothar56 · Feb 9, 2006, 12:05 PM

Some people simply refuse to use something based soley on the fact that it's popular. They have to be different.

I Bent My Wookiee · Feb 9, 2006, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Mastrap

Choice is good.™

Choice yes, this is an exact BAD copy in black.

monkeybrain · Feb 9, 2006, 12:38 PM

This probably has features like gapless playback that purists cannot do without.

Besides, if it's good and fast it may inspire Apple to make some real improvements to iTunes, rather than just adding in new fancy wotnots to make money.

Dakar · Feb 9, 2006, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

For some strange reason the application's logo seems to be a farting bird:

It's pooping a muffin.

hickey · Feb 9, 2006, 12:46 PM

didnt they just release way to run iTunes 6 thru Linux?

and whats gapless playback?

Salty · Feb 9, 2006, 12:47 PM

Some open sourcers pretend that if their OS is open source, everything else needs to be too.

I Bent My Wookiee · 12:55 PM

"Our initial impressions are, in order: Wow. Oh man! That’s useful. Quick! No iPod support yet. A little laggy. That’s going to be a good way to find music. Huh. Maybe a double-click? No sound. Does this actually play music?"

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/porta...oad-153498.php

"BB: Songbird's logo is a cute, rotund, whistling birdie -- but what's up with that puff of gas coming out of his posterior? Is your mascot farting?
RL: Sorry, bad reception (SSSHHCSRRGRRR CRACKLE)"

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

What do these people have against iTunes?

Closed, doesn't run on Linux, feature set very targeted towards specific crowd. Stuff like the playlist from a website feature in Songbird is kind of neat for geeks, but would never find its way into iTunes.

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

Choice yes, this is an exact BAD copy in black.

A lot of open source begins as a cheap knock-off of proprietary software, this isn't necessarily bad thing as it provides an alternative without having to tackle a new learning curve.

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookiee

"Our initial impressions are, in order: Wow. Oh man! That’s useful. Quick! No iPod support yet. A little laggy. That’s going to be a good way to find music. Huh. Maybe a double-click? No sound. Does this actually play music?"

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/porta...oad-153498.php

"BB: Songbird's logo is a cute, rotund, whistling birdie -- but what's up with that puff of gas coming out of his posterior? Is your mascot farting?
RL: Sorry, bad reception (SSSHHCSRRGRRR CRACKLE)"

This is the first public release. Unlike commercial software, pre-releases to open source software are often made available.

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Salty

Some open sourcers pretend that if their OS is open source, everything else needs to be too.

What does this mean? Most open sourcers realize the place for proprietary software, they just think that established software that has become an integral part of society needs to have options available... so, they develop options.

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by hickey

didnt they just release way to run iTunes 6 thru Linux?

and whats gapless playback?

Through WINE/Crossover Office, there is no way to run iTunes as an X11 app.

euphras · Feb 9, 2006, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

A lot of open source begins as a cheap knock-off of proprietary software, this isn't necessarily bad thing as it provides an alternative without having to tackle a new learning curve.

Good point. Another one: HOW LONG will iTunes stay free downloadable???

Remember .mac free accounts for every new Mac user in 2002 (IIRC)??? Man, i was pissed off so badly

edit: typo

tooki · Feb 9, 2006, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

http://www.songbirdnest.com/

The open-source iTunes-clone Songbird 0.1 for Windows has been released. It's based on Firefox and VLC.

From the description on the page, it doesn't sound like an iTunes clone at all. It seems to be a browser that will queue up the MP3s on the page and play them.

tooki

besson3c · Feb 9, 2006, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by euphras

Good point. Another one: HOW LONG will iTunes stay free downloadable???

Remember .mac free accounts for every new Mac user in 2002 (IIRC)??? Man, i was pissed off so badly

edit: typo

I don't know, but as long as Apple is in control, they will make decisions that some will disagree with.

Remember how access to other playlists wasn't limited to machines in your LAN? This used to be an awesome feature, but they were forced to yank it.

Also, many folk would like iTunes to play OggVorbis files, and perhaps support other formats. I've been using the LAME iTunes plug-in, since the LAME mp3 encoder is nicer (although slower) than the natives iTunes mp3 encoder. Blind tests revealed that people preferred the sound of LAME encoded files too, whatever that means. I LAME encode all mp3s made available on my site. Anyway, it would be nice if we could have native support for the LAME encoder in iTunes.

With a product like Songbird, these sorts of things are possible - appease the geeks, which are not Apple's target audience.

King Bob On The Cob · Feb 9, 2006, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

http://i1.tinypic.com/nfi5w7.png

There is NO WAY Apple's not going to sue over this interface. They've attacked people for using a too close replica of the iTunes interface before, and I doubt this will be any different.

xi_hyperon · Feb 9, 2006, 04:15 PM

No one ever said he is supposed to be singing out of his mouth, no?

TETENAL · Oct 19, 2006, 01:20 PM

Songbird is now also available in a Mac OS X version.

Songbirdnest.com | Songbird Media Player

The bird is still suffering from flatulence by the way. It even has a space suit with an exhaust pipe for its winds.

RAILhead · Oct 19, 2006, 01:31 PM

Too ugly for me, but it's cool they're making it.

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 01:37 PM

You just have to ask yourself "why?". I mean, if you're going to write an app, why compete against an 800lb. gorilla?

residentEvil · Oct 19, 2006, 01:39 PM

yah, why compete with the likes of Microsoft or Adobe to create a web browser or a graphics program.

Chuckit · Oct 19, 2006, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by starman

You just have to ask yourself "why?". I mean, if you're going to write an app, why compete against an 800lb. gorilla?

Because you don't like the 800-pound gorilla and want to make something that suits your taste better? This isn't commercial software — it's an open-source project that they're making just because they want the product to exist.

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Because you don't like the 800-pound gorilla and want to make something that suits your taste better? This isn't commercial software — it's an open-source project that they're making just because they want the product to exist.

I'm quite aware that it's open source. And just like lots of open-source clone apps, this one will probably die soon.

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

yah, why compete with the likes of Microsoft or Adobe to create a web browser or a graphics program.

Firefox isn't the best out there, not by a mile. It still has a lot of problems.

And as for graphics programs, are you referring to Gimp? Please....

kick52 · Oct 19, 2006, 01:56 PM

That bird has got Chronic Farting Syndrome
It just can't stop farting!

residentEvil · Oct 19, 2006, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Firefox isn't the best out there, not by a mile. It still has a lot of problems.

And as for graphics programs, are you referring to Gimp? Please....

So instead of trying; just give up and keeping using IE and Photoshop? Gotcha.

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

So instead of trying; just give up and keeping using IE and Photoshop? Gotcha.

Nobody takes Gimp seriously. NOBODY.

residentEvil · Oct 19, 2006, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Nobody takes Gimp seriously. NOBODY.

it was just an example. don't take it personally. jesus people.

all i'm saying is that if people/companies didn't try, all we would have are a single choice for apps.

Millennium · Oct 19, 2006, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Firefox isn't the best out there, not by a mile. It still has a lot of problems.

Such as...? Firefox isn't perfect, but saying "it has a lot of problems" doesn't do anybody any good.

And as for graphics programs, are you referring to Gimp? Please....

The main problem with GIMP is that its interface is horrid. Now granted, it has improved over the 1.x interface (which was frickin painful), but it still has a long way to go.

Chuckit · Oct 19, 2006, 02:11 PM

The main problem with the GIMP is that it can't do CMYK for crap (unless something has changed very recently).

Anyway, I don't know why starman thinks you have to beat all your competition in order to be worthy of existence. Apple has been doing its own thing for years and it seems to be working all right.

nonhuman · Oct 19, 2006, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Firefox isn't the best out there, not by a mile. It still has a lot of problems.

And as for graphics programs, are you referring to Gimp? Please....

Yeah. And why the hell did Apple bother developing Safari? Or Aperture. Waste of time.

indigoimac · Oct 19, 2006, 02:21 PM

Songbird has been around for a while, I tried it once, I was not terribly impressed, it still carries over some major memory hogging issues from its underlying Firefox which is worse than iTunes.

As far as linux is concerned, what is wrong w/ Amarock(sp?) or a laundry listof others.

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by Millennium

Such as...? Firefox isn't perfect, but saying "it has a lot of problems" doesn't do anybody any good.

The main problem with GIMP is that its interface is horrid. Now granted, it has improved over the 1.x interface (which was frickin painful), but it still has a long way to go.

See, that's my point about open-source crap. It's BEEN a long time with Gimp already. EVERY SINGLE open-source project I've ever seen falls into the same traps:

It fades away
It's never taken seriously
Development stops or slows to a crawl
It only works on Linux

The only two open source projects I've ever seen survive are Firefox and VLC. Firefox is a good effort, but a LOT of sites still don't like it. I'm forced to use IE on Windows for certain sites. That's just the way it is.

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Yeah. And why the hell did Apple bother developing Safari? Or Aperture. Waste of time.

We're talking about OPEN SOURCE projects, not competing commercial ones. I made that very clear.

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

The main problem with the GIMP is that it can't do CMYK for crap (unless something has changed very recently).

Anyway, I don't know why starman thinks you have to beat all your competition in order to be worthy of existence. Apple has been doing its own thing for years and it seems to be working all right.

And is it open source?

No.

Does it make money?

Yes.

Which drives people to do more? Money or recognition?

starman · Oct 19, 2006, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

it was just an example. don't take it personally. jesus people.

all i'm saying is that if people/companies didn't try, all we would have are a single choice for apps.

Ok, again, I SPECIFICALLY said "OPEN SOURCE". I didn't say commercial products.