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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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