Windows users have recently been given access to the popular Macintosh music player, iPod, and now Linux users may soon be able to take a bite out of Apple Computer"s gadget.
Last week, tex9, a small software-development company in San Francisco, began beta testing an iPod plug-in for its xtunes music player software, which is itself a Linux clone of Apple"s iTunes. The plug-in will, tex9 promises, allow drag-and-drop access to iPod, which holds up to 10GB of music.
Tex9 did not announce when it expects the software to be out of the testing stage. When it"s released, it will be sold for a "minimal" charge, while xtunes will remain free. This pricing strategy has been followed by a number of open-source developers, notably Ximian, which gives away its Evolution e-mail software but sells a connector allowing it to communicate with Microsoft Exchange servers.
"The price of the xtunes iPod plug-in is minimal, but the proceeds will allow us to continue to make quality free and commercial Unix software," the company said in a statement.