Hey all,

I just recently purchased an 80GB iPod, and I am wondering what the current best software for an iPod is and how to get started with it in Linux. When I used to date a girl with an iPod a while ago, we used gtkpod to play music through her ipod. i don't know if something is better currently available?

Also, I have lots of mp3s I have ripped since the early days of mp3s which I am sure do not have proper id3 tags. Likewise, I'm sure I have lots of music without proper id3s. Are there any tools to clean these issues up before syncing to the ipod so it is cleaner?

Thanks!
George

gtkpod is up there, but banshee also works well.

To clean up - try using EasyTAG.

great suggestion with easytag, its been amazing cleaning up my music, thanks!

I'm glad to hear it's working well!

While GTKpod is probably the best software out there for GTK desktops (like Gnome or XFCE), Amarok is very good for Qt environments (KDE). GTKpod has more options than Amarok I believe (among others I recall GTKpod has an option to fix the files on iPod in case they've been trashed).

Last time I tried Banshee it didn't do what I expected; GTKpod does, even though it does look a bit ugly (read: complex, hard on eyes).

Rhythmbox is, on Gnome/GTK desktops, a handy app. I liked it more than Banshee last time I tried either of those out. It's minus was then that Rhythmbox was able to read but not write to the iPod; I'm not sure if this has changed already (it was planned then), but if it has, there's one good choice too.

Btw. when your guarantee runs out, check out the iPod Linux project.

heres something i'm confused about... does gtkpod monitor directories you add for changes and new content? So lets say I add this directory:
mp3/electronic/

and then I rip a new CD and dump the mp3s in:
mp3/electronic/DJ Tiesto - blah...

will gtkpod recognize the new music and sync it? Or do i now have to go and add that directory manually?

If i have to do it manually, does any other software do this automatically?

Thanks!

Not sure about GTKpod (I think it at least should have an option to check for new files upon startup or at times), but at least Amarok ought to be able to look after your collection and have it updated if you add files.

I'm not using those programs too much, but I think it's (or should have been for years now) pretty basic functionality, to keep information updated.