tobias_platen's blog

Tobias Alexandra Platen's software freedom blog

Why you should not upgrade to Mac OS X Lion

Recently I heard that an iTunes update breaks the Xiph QuickTime components that allow you to play Ogg Vorbis files with iTunes.
Apple decided to rewrite iTunes as a 64 bit Cocoa application that supports the full screen mode. This will break the 32 bit Vorbis plugin for iTunes.
So I wrote a python script that converts iTunes playlists to m3u playlists: http://platen-software.de/dl/plist2m3u.py

The Apple Lossless Audio Codec is now available as an open source project, but Apple does not sell any Music in this format.
Using this codec with your iPad does not give you freedom. The Free Lossless Audio Codec is free as in freedom.
Please read Richard Stallman’s article: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point

iCloud and the App Store pose the problem of Software as a Service.
Both depend on a server set up by Apple.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html

Recently I switched to Trisqel GNU/Linux which is fully free and decided to write a free replacement for Mac OS X, the GNUstep Libre system.
GNUstep Libre is based on GNUstep and GNU Linux-libre, but later versions might use the GNU HURD.
http://platen-software.de/dl/gnustep-libre.ova