[asveikau]

I think you may be envisioning two extremes when the parent comment wants a happy medium. I.e. files on disk in any way the customer wants, but add a db on the side to do things like play counts and tags. With reasonable defaults for most people who don't care about filesystem layout.

[klodolph]

> files on disk in any way the customer wants, but add a db on the side to do things like play counts and tags

Literally iTunes does this, by default, without changing its configuration.

[asveikau]

When you open a file, it copies it, renaming it in the process.

You can manage the files yourself and point it at that, but the default, eg. if you choose to open a file from any old place, is to copy into its own naming and organization scheme.

[scarface74]

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1845699

That is not the default when you install iTunes it asks you whether you want it to “manage your music”. This is not a new behavior - note the date on the above post.

[dwaite]

That is how I always use iTunes, since the music was stored on my NAS. There is/was no requirement for iTunes to manage the storage and filesystem organization of your music - that was just the default.

[mixmastamyk]

The problem wasn't really at the iTunes end, that's just a symptom. It was at the iPod end. You'd go to a friends house and want to copy a few songs over from a Windows box and couldn't do it without installing a hundred gig monstrosity.

[scarface74]

The filesystem is strictly hierarchal. How do you have one song in multiple playlists without duplicating the songs? How do you propose to make that usable for the average person. History kind of proves that Apple took the right approach in the iPod era. The simple drag files to an attached device MP3 players failed to become successful.

[asveikau]

Putting aside what has been mentioned elsewhere on the thread (m3u playlists, hardlinks) or similar technical solutions...

You really think the iTunes filesystem layout is what made iPod successful?

Not, say, the fact that it was solid hardware, good UI, etc., from a desirable brand?

The comment was saying, my read of it anyway, is they didn't appreciate that it would slurp up and rename the files you give it.

[scarface74]

You want normal people to use hard links?

But iTunes didn’t “slurp up and rename files” unless you enabled the option for it to manage your underlying file.

[asveikau]

> You want normal people to use hard links?

You miss the point with this question. A media player managing playlists certainly can. Or it can manage m3u files. Or it can put them in an sqlite db. Or ...

You posed as an intractable problem unless we adopt iTunes thinking.

[scarface74]

What magical thing do you think iTunes is doing besides managing playlists and syncing?

[asveikau]

When you hand it a file, it copies it according to its naming scheme and hierarchy.

[benj111]

Just have the playlist be a list of links to files?

A la M3u files.