[BALUG-Talk] iTMS stuff on Linux

[John Mark Walker]

First off, I'm sorry I missed last night's talk, as I was very much
looking forward to it, but alas, my daughter is under the weather and my
wife is 6 months preggers, so I felt compelled to go home early.

Having said that, let me add one piece to this discussion that I've been
playing with - from CPAN, I've noted the existence of Audio::M4P::Atom
and Audio::M4P::QuickTime, which when used in conjunction with
LWP::UserAgent::iTMS_Client will supposedly allow one to access the
iTunes Music Store, download your keys, unlock an M4P, and then strip
it.

Note that I have not actually been able to get this to work :)  but I
suspect that this is because I have not yet downloaded my keys into a
folder on my computer. I'm going to try doing that with itunes first and
then try stripping the M4P files. Also, if you can slip in your
account's ID number, you can theoretically use the Perl library above to 
log in and grab your keys. Again, I have not yet been able to get this
to work, but the libraries in question have been recently updated (Dec
2007) so I'm hoping that it can work, with a little jiggering. I have
not yet been in contact with the Perl module's author, but I hope to
soon.

If I can get it to work, I'll let you guys know. Unfortunately, I've had
to go this route because my wife bought from iTunes before realizing
that the most recent versions of encrypted M4P's won't play on our
iPod's firmware. The other bit of nastiness with iPods has to do with
inane methods to prevent multiple devices from updating one iPod. Since
I update our iPod with Amarok, iTunes on Windows will happily delete
everything I added before re-syncing with the master iTunes index. There
are ways around that, but it's just stupid.

I highly recommend rockbox. Now if I could just convince the owner of
our iPod to go that route :(

-John Mark


Excerpts from Rick Moen's message of Wed Jan 16 04:46:47 -0800 2008:
> Eric mentioned, during the talk, the perennial iTunes Music Store /
> iTunes app problem.  Please find below a quick draft of a file for my
> online knowledgebase, attempting to cover the options:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Access to iTunes Music Store (iTMS) from Linux
> 
> 
> 
> Apple, Inc. seems to be moving at a glacial pace away from DRM (Digital
> Restrictions Management) on AAC music files offered at the iTunes Music
> Store -- but DRM remains a factor, for now.  Following are Linux options
> to deal with iTMS access, and to deal (or not deal) with the DRM.  All
> codebases mentioned other than iTunes for MS-Windows and CrossOver Linux
> are open source.
> 
> (This page deliberately eschews links to lamers attempting to petition 
> Apple, Inc. to release proprietary iTunes software for Linux and/or BSD.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MyFairTunes6 and QTFairUse6 
> JHhymn (Hear Your Music aNywhere, implemented in Java) on Linux stripped
> the Veridisc FairPlay encryption present on most iTMS AAC files 
> (.m4p = encrypted AAC) you purchase from iTMS, turning them into 
> regular AAC (.m4a) files, which then can be played on Linux without
> using iTunes for Windows on Linux (e.g., under WINE) to get to them.  It was
> compatible with music files downloaded by pre-6.0 versions of iTunes.  
> However (note Wikipedia link, below), it is currently (2008-01) necessary 
> to instead use similar open-source programs MyFairTunes6 or QTFairUse6 
> on MS-Windows, or FFH (Fairly Flaky Hack) on Mac OS X, instead of JHymn, 
> to perform the encryption-stripping, as those alone are compatible with 
> recent (e.g., 7.5.0) iTunes versions that are now required by iTMS.
> http://hymn-project.org/jhymndoc/ (JHymn, currently non-useful)
> http://hymn-project.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1314 (FAQ)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymn_(software) 
> http://www.hymn-project.org/download.php (MyFairTunes6, QTFairUse6)
> http://hymn-project.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2436 (FFH)
> 
> 
> WINE 0.9.45 or newer can run iTunes 7.3 for MS-Windows.  This of course
> leaves the Veridisc FairPlay encryption on most iTMS AAC
> files (.m4p = encrypted AAC) intact, but the iTunes app can play the
> sound files within Apple's DRM control regime.  (Set WINE to emulate 
> MS-Windows XP, using winecfg.)  Also, iTunes 7.4.3 for MS-Windows is 
> verified to work fully under WINE 0.9.51.  Note: CrossOver Linux (in 
> place of WINE) a/o v. 6.2.0 does not allow iTunes to access iTMS, 
> though it does access Apple iPods.
> http://wine-review.blogspot.com/2007/10/itunes-73-on-linux-with-wine.html
> 
> 
> Banshee music player supports an unofficial iTunes plug-in that allows
> it to interact with iTMS the same way the iTunes application does.
> However, this approach (1) involves running unsupported, unmaintained 
> developer plugin code that may not work at all, and (2) leaves the 
> Veridisc FairPlay encryption on most iTMS AAC files (.m4p = encrypted AAC) 
> intact.
> http://www.banshee-project.org/Plugins
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SharpMusique by Jon Lech Johansen (in C#), based on PyMusique (in
> Python) by Travis Watkins, Jon Lech Johansen, and Cody Brocious, let
> Linux users buy AAC files from iTMS, and on-the-fly strips the Veridisc
> FairPlay encryption present on most iTMS AAC files (.m4p = encrypted
> AAC).  However, it ceased to be maintained after v. 1.0 in Sept. 2005,
> and changes at iTMS broke it in mid-2006.
> http://nanocr.eu/2005/09/17/sharpmusique-10/ (thread with download links)
> http://www.forbes.com/2005/03/28/cx_ah_0328tentech.html (story)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SharpMusique (explanation)
> http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/29/pymusique-creator-says-it-was-all-about-getti
> ng-linux-for/ (article explaining PyMusique)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Related Topics:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> iPod Access:
> 
> This file does not specifically cover Linux access to Apple iPods 
> (the other major use of the iTunes application[1]), but here are six Linux apps
> that do that well:
> 
> Amarok, http://amarok.kde.org/
> Banshee, http://www.banshee-project.org/
> Gtkpod, http://www.gtkpod.org/
> Rhythmbox, http://www.gnome.org/projects/rhythmbox/
> Songbird, http://www.songbirdnest.com/
> YamiPod, http://www.yamipod.com/
>   http://techlogg.com/content/view/371/40/ (comparison)
> Listen media player, http://www.listen-project.org/ (is a DAAP client
> only; no iPod access)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Streaming Servers for iTunes and compatible clients, using 
> Digital Audio Access Protocol (DAAP):
> 
> (1) Firefly, formerly mt-daapd, is an open source digital audio server that
> can stream your music library to iTunes.   (2) daapd scans a directory
> for music files (mp3, aac, uncompressed) and makes them available via
> the Apple proprietary protocol DAAP. DAAP clients can browse the
> directory and retrieve individual files, either by streaming or by
> downloading them.  (3) Get It Together (GIT) is a Java DAAP client/server 
> backed up by an XML-based music library and the ability to access songs 
> from iTunes/iPod music libraries. Based off of AppleRecords and One2OhMyGod.  
> (4) Tangerine is an application that allows you to publish music over
> the local network, using DAAP. It runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.
> http://www.deleet.de/projekte/daap/ (daapd)
> http://www.fireflymediaserver.org/ (Firefly Media Server)
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/mt-daapd (Firefly devel. site)
> http://getittogether.sourceforge.net/ (Get It Together)
> http://www.snorp.net/log/tangerine/ (Tangerine)
> http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030711140157143 (Firefly article)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Replace Apple's Firmware on Your iPod with Something Better:
> Rockbox is an open source firmware for mp3 players, written from
> scratch.  Rockbox aims to be considerably more functional and efficient
> than your device's stock firmware while remaining easy to use and
> customizable. [...]  (You can also dual-boot.)
> http://www.rockbox.org/ 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [1] The Apple iTunes application is
> a DAAP network client
> a digital music player, with "smart" playlists and play count tracking
> an AAC and MP3 encoder
> a CDR-burner
> an iPod-manager
> a song-ratings system
> a client for online information services about music tracks
> a search facility for music tracks
>