Downloader: Ubuntu 10.04 supports iPhone and iPod Touch out-of-the-box

Friday, May 28, 2010

Ubuntu 10.04 supports iPhone and iPod Touch out-of-the-box

For there to be any chance of "the year of Linux on the desktop" ever becoming a reality, certain things have to happen. One of those things (like it or not) is for a major distribution to support the most popular portable media players on the planet -- the iPhone and iPod Touch.

And it looks as though Canonical has stepped up to the plate. According to reports at Ubuntuforums, Lucid Lynx supports Apple's hardware without breaking a sweat.

The Nautilus file manager can browse and access files, but that's really not too interesting to the average user. What does matter is that Rythmbox can play your tunes right from your iPhone or Touch. Pair that with the Ubuntu One Music Store, and it's clear that Lucid is well on its way to becoming an extremely consumer-friendly distro.

It may not sound like much, but when I had Ubuntu systems on display for retail customers nearly everyone asked "can I do all the same things I can on Windows with this?" which they followed with "can my kids use their iPod with it?"

Since I'll soon be able to answer "yes" to that question, it might not be long before Ubuntu systems reappear on our shelves -- and those of other system builders as well.

[via webupd8]