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Simultaneously share iTunes on one multi-user Mac
Authored by: mistersquid on Dec 01, '05 10:31:40AM

While effective, this seems to be an inelegant solution, one prone to break with a future update. It also presumes you won't ever want to add users (for whom new ports would be required).

Why not establish a new user (standard account) on the Sawtooth (name it "music" | "iTunes" | "shares" | "etc."), give the music to that user, and hand out passwords to whoever wants to access to the music on the Sawtooth?

Then, on whatever machine you are using, log in over AFP to the sawtooth as that user and mount that user's home directory. Set up your local version of iTunes so that its music directory is that user's iTunes music directory.

The beauty part of this scenario is that you can mount that user's directory not only on the LAN but also over the Internet, forget iTunes music sharing altogether. Take your laptop to your office or to a friend's house, get on the WAN and access your music files!



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Simultaneously share iTunes on one multi-user Mac
Authored by: jctull on Dec 01, '05 02:34:05PM

This is a really good solution, but what if someone is using the sawtooth? You cannot login via AFP to the computer you are on, at least not in a test I just performed. Presumably, if the music is on an external drive, this would not matter because that volume is available to all logged in users. But then music added by different users may have permission issues. (Can music added to an iTunes library be read by all users? I do not think so, but not certain.)

If the music were on the internal drive, it would either need to be in a non-standard location outside of the "Music" user's home directory, within their "Public" directory, or would have to have special permissions.

I am not entirely sure if this would end up being all that elegant either, at least in the case where someone actually uses the machine that serves the music.



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Simultaneously share iTunes on one multi-user Mac
Authored by: mistersquid on Dec 02, '05 04:52:57AM

If someone were using the sawtooth . . . Now *there's* a problem for you. Sort of. If the data and operating system are separate then it wouldn't be a problem. I was sticking as closely to bciesq's scenario as I could, but I do a version of this myself.

In particular, I have a main user (who is an administrator) that owns the iTunes files on an internal hard drive other than the startup volume (the drive in question is named "domokun"). My 2 other home computers and one work computer (WAN) all have domokun mounted using AFP and all have equal access to the audio library.

The playlists (and libraries should I ever want them to be so) on each machine can be as distinct as I choose them to be.

Other users can read the volume, so that's not a problem on the sawtooth. However, to add music one either has to have the appropriate group permissions or be logged in as the owner. I think having a user who is not an administrator (my setup is unique) for all to use is the best solution for most people.



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Simultaneously share iTunes on one multi-user Mac
Authored by: bciesq on Dec 02, '05 05:40:44AM
While effective, this seems to be an inelegant solution, one prone to break with a future update. It also presumes you won't ever want to add users (for whom new ports would be required).

Why not establish a new user (standard account) on the Sawtooth (name it "music" | "iTunes" | "shares" | "etc."), give the music to that user, and hand out passwords to whoever wants to access to the music on the Sawtooth?

Then, on whatever machine you are using, log in over AFP to the sawtooth as that user and mount that user's home directory. Set up your local version of iTunes so that its music directory is that user's iTunes music directory.

The beauty part of this scenario is that you can mount that user's directory not only on the LAN but also over the Internet, forget iTunes music sharing altogether. Take your laptop to your office or to a friend's house, get on the WAN and access your music files!

I guess inelegance is in the eye of the beholder. In my situation, I needed a simple solution because my fiancee wouldn't want to go through the trouble of mounting a drive remotely. Also, I'm not sure why a future update would break this -- I know that Apple has restricted internet sharing of music, but I don't see them restricting the use of Airport Express in the way that I am using it. In any event, I don't have a use for internet sharing -- if I am away from the house I have my iPod with me because that's its purpose.

You are correct that new users will require new ports to be opened, but I don't see that being a common occurrence in my situation -- YMMV.

Finally, I don't know if your method would work with my fiancee's WinTel machine (I'm not saying it wouldn't, but I have concerns). Have you tried it with a Wintel box?

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