Songbird Abandons Official Linux Builds

by Joe Brockmeier - Apr. 05, 2010Comments (3)

Songbird Logo

It's a disappointing day for Songbird fans on Linux. Actually, the disappointing day was April 2, when Songbird developer Georges Auberger announced the "new tune" for the company: dropping official Linux builds.

The Mozilla-based media player has been multi-platform from the start, with support for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. However, Auberger says that the company has to prioritize development:

After careful consideration, we've come to the painful conclusion that we should discontinue support for the Linux version of Songbird. Some of you may wonder how a company with deep roots in Open Source could drop Linux and we want you to know it isn't without heartache.  We have a small engineering team here at Songbird, and, more than ever, must stay very focused on a narrow set of priorities. Trying to deliver a raft of new features around all media types, and across a growing list of devices, we had to make some tough choices.

While our Linux users are some of the most passionate, do some killer development, and always provide tremendous input as to whether we're on the right path or not, we simply can't continue to support a Linux version as we have in the past.

And, like you, we can't stand to see our Linux product be anything less than outstanding. Unfortunately, we can’t make that happen right now. Trade-offs are hard, and this is one of the most painful decisions in the history of the company.

Painful indeed. More painful for the fans of Songbird on Linux, who'd assumed that the player would continue to be available. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Auberger says that the company will continue to make a Linux version available, but it won't be tested and there's no guarantee that all features will roll into Songbird for Linux. In other words, use at your own risk.

No doubt the Songbird team is coming under fire for the decision, but they should be commended for being honest with the community and setting priorities. Small shops can't afford to support a platform that isn't a major part of the user base. With such a small Linux desktop share, and with Songbird being such a small part of that audience, it's not surprising that they've turned their focus to Windows and Mac OS X.

What now for Linux fans? Songbird's code is a mix of open and proprietary code, so it might be difficult for a fork to succeed. The good news is that there are plenty of Linux-focused open source media players to turn to, including Banshee, Rhythmbox, and Amarok to name but a few.