Ubuntu and the iPod

Apple doesn't ship an iTunes client for Linux but that's okay: there's GTKpod and for my money (which isn't a whole lot), it's way better than iTunes.

To install GTKpod,

sudo apt-get install gtkpod

after which a menu item appears in the Multimedia group.

One of the first things you'll want to do after installing GTKpod is to check the preferences. Go to Edit->Edit Preferences. Make sure the iPod Mount Point is consistent with your iPod's actual mount point.


Make sure your iPod is mounted. Then click on Read. This will load your iPod's database into GTKpod.

You can add music files into GTKpod, either as individual files or whole directories. Once that's done, click on Sync. Your music files will be uploaded into the iPod.

An optional but recommended package to install with GTKpod is mp3gain. mp3gain is used by GTKpod to normalize the volume of your music files.