Linux On An iPod?

[Gunmetal_Ghoul]

My friend says the software on his iPod is having trouble being detected when he tries to sync music onto his computer. There is some trouble with the software crashing a lot, then when trying to reboot the computer would not detect it. So far as I know the warranty is out, but I heard that you can put Linux on an iPod and I'm thinking that if we can't fix it that I would do a little homework and make his iPod into an embedded Linux project. Since I would be working with another persns property, what are the risks involved? How would I go about doing this? Is there anywhere I can find any help with the already installed Apple software?

[Husse]

In this case I really think google is your friend (and Yahoo, and....)

[Gunmetal_Ghoul]

I'm still looking into it, but we're both glad he has all his songs backed up in his external HD....

[Gunmetal_Ghoul]

These days the iPod shuffle is so tiny and easy to lose. Also, if I may step on my soapbox, it is wrong for Apple to have such a large market dominance in the music player market--others need a piece of the pie. It may be a good idea to look into good quality iPod alternatives out there. My favorite brand and Apple competitor is Creative Labs, and having their Creative Zen Stone (around $40) for more than two years it showed that it has good Linux support and even better bang for your buck in overall quality. If you do decide to get her a cheaper iPod alternative, expect bratty kids to be cruel to her for not keeping up w/ the rest of the herd (I mean, they did it to me when I went to theology school!). Other than that, no worries.

[Gunmetal_Ghoul]

What is the difference between a regular IPod and and IPod Shuffle? My daughter's birthday is right around the corner and I wanted to get her an IPod but they are quite expensive. Is an IPod shuffle good for an 11 year old?

Ooops,that darn soapbox! The main difference between a regular iPod and an iPod Shuffle besides the size is the Shuffle stores all the music files in a flash memory system (like a USB drive or my EEE PC's solid state drive) while regular iPods are larger and carry more memory in a specially designed hard drive. I hope this has been of help and that everything goes well for your daughter's birthday!