The headline above is partly inspired by Alex Launi’s brilliant summary of the latest Banshee merge, which brings improved device detection and – about time! – working iPhone and iPod Touch support.
The long-awaited ability to just plug-and-play Apple’s portable devices comes courtesy of the fact Banshee has finally dropped its dependency on HAL.
Alex points out why this is important for distributions, noting they can “…finally actually drop HAL from your iso and ship the best media player Gnome has to offer (sorry Rhythmbox- we just rule really hard).”
All of this awesomeness should be ready in time for 1st September 2010, which is when the release of Banshee 1.7.5 is scheduled.
In the mean time, if you’re itching to test the improved iPod handling out, Alex has build instructions o’er on his blog (link in the lede) that, charitably, seem easy to follow.
But, it’s over to you. I lack an iTouch or PodPhone or whatever they’re called. If you follow Alex’s lead and get this up and running, do pop back to leave a few thoughts on it’s shaping up.
It is what the comments are for, after all…