Submitted by Sascha on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 21:02.
As I was chatting in my regular IRC Room, someone asked the question "What is the likely hood that Apple will release iTunes for Linux, as most of my music is in DMR'ed AAC Format". This brought up a debate between the chatters. Most of which said "Never, Apple will never release iTunes for Linux".
However, I decided to debate and oppose this point. Although I'm not a Linux user, the Linux market is growing. More manufacturers than ever are releasing computers and devices with Linux (eg. Dell / ASUS), which exposes Linux to those who wouldn't otherwise try it (probably). Not to mention, the number of people who use Linux installed from CD's or other sources.
As the market grows, any business with common sense will not deny themselves access to a potential customer base. If 20% of the market used Linux, why WOULDN'T Apple release iTunes for Linux? If they didn't, they would be cutting a potential of 20% of computer users worldwide.
Not to mention the fact, there's really no competition for music on Linux. Sure there's Amazon and eMusic, but people know the Apple Name. People rely on using their Windows or Mac machines to buy DRM-Free music from the iTunes store and then copy it to their Linux machines, or use illegal sources of music such as the Gnutella P2P Network or Torrents.
Apple have also recently released Safari for Windows. If their serious about entering the Browser market, then they'll have to do what almost every other browser does (with the exception of Internet Explorer), and be completely cross platform. Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
Apple could fill a niche in the market. In fact, any music provider, whether that be Microsoft, Amazon, even Real. The opposing point could be the fact that "Linux and Open Source users don't like to pay for anything", and probably wouldn't buy music to begin with. But why should Open Source users instantly be tagged as criminals just because they don't want to use an operating system that doesn't cost money and has hundreds of different versions.
It certainly gives food for thought, and although we may not see any Apple products for Linux in the near future, I believe that eventually we will.
