> I have used Jamie Zawinski's gronk, which has a couple of advantages > over alternatives: > > 1. It uses only a web server + perl, rather than a web server + perl > + database. He argues that the latter is overkill. Now that I've > ripped all 200+ of the CDs I own, I'm not so sure.... The jukeboxen I've seen need to have the mp3 renamed for the databases to work properly. That's a time investment for me. But it may be worth it in the long run.... > > 2. It uses CDDB information instead of just the ID3 tags. I think > this IS a real advantage, because the ID3 tags, even v2 are really > impoverished in terms of the information they store. > > It also has some disadvantages: > > 1. It's meant for a club. That means that if you don't tell it what > to play, it will just pick something at random and play it. This is > bad for my home for a couple of reasons: (1) I don't want my stereo > to do this and (2) My music collection ranges from the Clash to the > Barber of Seville, with many stops in between. Almost every random > sequence of tracks it affords makes you want to puke. A recorder > concerto followed by "Janie Jones" will make you want to puke. > > 2. CDDB is really only adequate for cataloging pop/rock music. Once > upon a time before the 60s, there was no assumption that the PERFORMER > and the SONGWRITER would be the same person. Or even that the > SONGWRITER would be one person instead of a LYRICIST and a COMPOSER. > CDDB just associates one person or band with a piece of music. You > might want to be able to find all the different versions of some Jazz > standard by songwriter, e.g. With CDDB you'll be able to find > everything Billie Holliday sang, but no useful information about her > accompanists, the composers of the songs, etc. CDDB is even LESS > adequate with classical music, where you might care about SOLOISTS, > COMPOSERS, (for opera) LIBRETTISTS, CONDUCTORS, etc. *nods* Yes, I can see that. I have the same problem. I have a rather ecclectic music collection that ranges from Mozart to Bach to Dvorak, to opera to jazz, to folk, to ...whatever. CDDB doesn't do it justice. > > 3. The web ui is pretty clunky --- it's too slow to control the > stereo in your living room, because there's a huge lag between the > message getting to your web server and filtering through all the way > to mpg123 or XMMS, which drive your speakers. > > 4. I don't want to have a computer in my living room next to my > amplifier! I especially don't want a computer with a monitor for > accessing the UI. I want something that will run with an IR remote, > and that has its own (small) display, or that can be operated through > my TV set. > > Me, I'm probably going to abandon this attempt, and just buy slimp3 and > serve up tracks. I looked into building my own box, but I don't see > how I'd save money over slimp3, even if I value my hourly effort at > $0. > > R > I think I'll give it another go or two. In the mean time, while going this I'm exploring other linux distributions, setting up a web server, etc. What I'm learning is only benifitting me. Thanks for the info!! NAS > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list -- Nathan Syverson <confundido at multiband.tv> _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list