iTunes on Ubuntu? Forget! Use Songbird instead!
Can I run iTunes in Ubuntu (or Linux in general)?
No, you can’t. Really? Well, you could try to run it with wine… But if you check the latest releases, it’s really not supported… I tried various configurations, wine 1, wine-1.2, iTunes 8.x, iTunes 9.x… Nothing worked! If you really have enough patience to figure out all of the “fix-me” messages in the wine log, good luck!
Ok, so what can I use instead? What is out there that that truly replaces iTunes?
Well, you will be really surprised by a project called Songbird (www.getsongbird.com). Check this out:
Screenshot of Songbird 1.2
It’s sleek, easy to use and can be customized by tons of plugins…
Installation Instructions for Ubuntu Linux (and similar flavours):
Unfortunately Songbird is not yet available under the “Ubuntu Software Center” or thru Synaptic/Apt-get, so you have basically two options:
- Download the latest .tar.gz file from the main website (www.getsongbird.com), manually unzip and run the executable file, or,
- (Recommended Solution): Use this installer (.deb) created by Eric: http://skyzim.com/songbird-1-2-0-installer/
The installation works like a charm, it even creates the proper menu entry under Application -> Sound & Video. Thanks Eric!
Welcome to the Songbird community!