Branching Out
Over the last few months I have been flooded with hundreds of emails. One recurring theme was a request for OurTunes without the need for iTunes.
Today I would like to announce the official branching of this project. We will continue to work on reverse engineering iTunes but James Sedgwick has developed the beginning of a completely new application to manage music over a network.
And it is currently in the alpha stage.
Thats right ladies and gents, it works. More development is needed but it works. Developers who want to help out on this project can contact me through saveourtunes [at] gmail [dot] com as usual.
Wanna know more?
Of course you do.
For the software to work both computers need to be running a copy and there are no connection restrictions unlike the sharing in iTunes.
We even have a screenshot (here is the full sized one)
As always spread the word!
April 24th, 2007 17:28
It may be lame for me to say this, but I know that many other college students will agree with me that the year is quickly coming to an end and the developers have only gotten this far. I’m not complaining. I’m not a developer, but I can understand that there is a lot of programming and guessing/testing to do. But what I see happening is the new and improved ourTunes being released maybe the last week or two of school for most of us. What will then happen is an Apple developer will come across it, spend the entire summer fix improving iTunes against ourTunes, and by the time the next school year rolls around, we’ll be in the same barrel of monkeys that we were in early September with the release of iTunes7. So, what you guys should do is probably save the re-release of ourTunes for the fall semester when most of us will be able to use it. A lot of people may not have enough patience for it, but they may see that it will work out better that way. But, what would be the point of releasing it, let’s say, next week? I have about 2 weeks of classes left, plus finals. I’ll probably be too busy to even use it, and so will many of the other users. By the time they have enough time to actually use it, they’ll all be home instead of in their dorms for summer.
So, users: be patient. Developers: be smart.
April 24th, 2007 18:58
acrousey,
I am the one who is writing the eforementioned program. The main idea is that is it itunes-independent - it shares with other instances of itself. I.e., it’s future-proof.
April 25th, 2007 15:26
Is there any status update for the reverse engineering effort? Is there a public subversion or CVS repository where I can look at the code?
April 25th, 2007 15:32
Aaron, check your email
April 26th, 2007 00:04
are there any plans or a tentative date for a beta version to be released soon?
April 26th, 2007 07:32
That new program is great but other than friends I don’t see myself knocking on everyones door telling them to get it. Maybe word will spread and everyone will get it anyway.
For myself I like the ourtunes program because you don’t have to worry about anyone else.
Also for all of your hard work I really think you should charge something for the new programs even at $1 or $2 you guys could make a few hundred grand pretty quickly. If not I’ll just donate when you’re done.
Thanks for all of your hard work!
April 27th, 2007 06:44
jsedgwick, do you have a guess on when your program might be ready for mass distribution? I would personally prefer your program to a new version of ourTunes that’s just gonna get shot down in a few months. I have confidence that word would spread on any campus about your program if it does what you say it could do. And I do agree that you should charge at least a few dollars for it. I would gladly pay, and I imagine most others would as well. You deserve a reward for your hard work.
April 27th, 2007 11:14
James, looking forward to seeing the results from your work. Fear not the naysayers, this is hard stuff
Guessing your ourTunes branch is running its own DAAP server?
Would like to again point out to folks Ron’s excellent Firefly Media Server, an open-source and totally cross-platform DAAP (iTunes Music Sharing) server. Run it instead of the built-in iTunes Music Sharing and even older ourTunes versions run just fine (and no stupid 5-person-per-day limits!). Get all your friends to install it!
http://fireflymediaserver.org/download.php
April 27th, 2007 13:04
Hey guys,
I’m only a sophomore in high school, so I’m juggling this project with my normal work. So… there’s not much time to work on it. Because the school year is close to finished, I plan on waiting until sometime before the next school year starts to release a beta, and then release it in full by the start of the year. That’s my deadline, and I have a lot of work to do. Since I’ll also need to work a paying job in the summer, I just don’t know what is/isn’t possible. However, I’ll keep you guys posted. Again, I’m eager for some help developing it.
April 27th, 2007 13:05
Also, it’s not an “OurTunes branch” per se; it only has the same end-purpose, no shared code/developers/etc.
April 27th, 2007 13:08
Good Point James, it isn’t a branch of the software at all! Totally new code
April 30th, 2007 23:55
Requiring people to purchase ourtunes is idiotic, not only because when the project was started and donations were taken it was pronounced to “always be free” but also if it is an open source program, I could just compile it on my own. Besides the fact that you will be using already open code, now you’re going to go proprietary? Stupid and misleading.
Also, I know that I will never host a server for that shit if I have to pay to get it. You do realize I can set up a samba share for free and make it accessible to the SAME people? And I can even make it password protected!!
Bottom Line: If you’re going to charge, no one is going to use it. Even iTunes is free (even though its bundled with a ton of proprietary shit).
You would be pissing on the people who donated who thought that the project would be free when completed.
April 30th, 2007 23:55
Requiring people to purchase ourtunes is idiotic, not only because when the project was started and donations were taken it was pronounced to “always be free” but also if it is an open source program, I could just compile it on my own. Besides the fact that you will be using already open code, now you’re going to go proprietary? Stupid and misleading.
Also, I know that I will never host a server for that shit if I have to pay to get it. You do realize I can set up a samba share for free and make it accessible to the SAME people? And I can even make it password protect♦ed!!
Bottom Line: If you’re going to charge, no one is going to use it. Even iTunes is free (even though its bundled with a ton of proprietary shit).
You would be pissing on the people who donated who thought that the project would be free when completed.
April 30th, 2007 23:56
Requiring people to purchase ourtunes is idiotic, not only because when the project was started and donations were taken it was pronounced to “always be free” but also if it is an open source program, I could just compile it on my own. Besides the fact that you will be using already open code, now you’re going to go proprietary? Stupid and misleading.
May 1st, 2007 14:10
I agree, wouldn’t making people purchase the program defeat its purpose?
Name of this project is “SaveOurTunes” not “PayForOurTunes”
May 1st, 2007 20:29
I dunno who suggested paying, but it wasn’t me. I intend on GPLing the whole thing and putting it on sourceforge.
May 3rd, 2007 04:39
I wonnder if this project will lead to any decent software anytime in the future. There have been visions, lots of donations have been collected and no new version of ourTunes is available yet. And I also guess that a new version will be disabled by a new version of iTunes quickly. Now there is this new software in alpha stage. And from what I hear, people here do not seem to have the time to get this project done. There are plenty of programs doing similar stuff and being much better already: MyTunesRSS, ORB, Slimserver, etc. Personally I am a MyTunesRSS user and it always worked, no matter what iTunes version came out. It supports non-iTunes music as well. And for me the big advantage is that I don’t need anything else than a browser on the client side. You can also discover other servers on the same LAN. And since they already have a service to get to your server with a simple name at mytunesrss.com, they would probably even be able to generate a global directory of worldwide servers if they wanted.
Please, I don’t want to start any flame war or something. It is just my personal opinion and I don’t feel like this is leading to anything exciting at the moment.
May 4th, 2007 13:52
is the source code available for me to look at? i’d like to help out
May 14th, 2007 01:23
(Sorry if this is a repost, my comment isn’t showing up on the other topic)
I think I speak for everyone here when I say that patience is running thin. Most of us are on college networks and summer break is rapidly approaching.
What I find odd is the original Sourceforge page:
http://ourtunes.sourceforge.net/
There is no mention of you. You say that you were contacted by the original developers of OurTunes, yet they haven’t put up a note, nor any indication that they have renewed work on this project. Another thing, if you’ve already collected your $1000 to pay this mysterious hacker, why is there still a donation link in the sidebar? To be frank, I think you’re full of shit, and that this website is nothing but a scam. I feel sorry for the people who donated money to you.
March 13th, 2008 19:40
When I click on a library, nothing happens. It seems to connect, but no music shows up.
thanks any help!