Posted 03/19/09 at 01:34:27 PM by David Murphy

So you've just downloaded that hip new open-source replacement for your favorite paid-for application and you're ready to crack it open and unleash all the awesome community-driven features contained inside.  Well, if this application is Songbird, you might want to hold off for a moment.  A recent blog post by the application's developers has revealed that the media player's iPod add-on does more than just transfer music to your device.  It also has the potential to corrupt or otherwise delete music straight from your hardware device.  Yikes!

Bugs are the bane of any software, but they can especially affect the open-source world in unpleasant ways.  Read on to find out what we mean -- but first, unplug your iPod!

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Posted 10/30/08 at 04:00:11 PM by David Murphy

Are you sick of using iTunes?  We don't blame you.  The program eats up resources and makes us scratch our heads with its "Genius" recommendations, and we're ready to throw out display through the wall every time the Apple Software Updater tells us that there's a new version of Safari out. Arrgh!

Before our inner Hulk gets both mad and strong, we've taken a look at alternatives to the popular music library software.  As luck would have it, we stumbled across an open-source solution that's every bit as good (and functional!) as iTunes.  Better still, it comes without all of the clutter!  You might have heard of the application before--it's called Songbird, an open-source music library application straight from Mozilla itself.  But what you might not be aware of is the sheer depth of functionality (and dare we say it, iTunes replication) inherent in the program itself.  And we're going to show you the top nine ways to tweak this application to bits and make it do exactly what you want, including features you'll never find in iTunes!

Throw on your headphones and check our out big list behind the jump!

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