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Comment by tzahola | Hacker News Reader

Sorry for being off-topic, but I can't resist asking why on Earth would you want to port iTunes and AppleScript? Everyone I know (except the HN user actsasbuffoon) loathes iTunes, while AppleScript is just... silly, compared to other scripting languages.

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I like iTunes, I don't understand why people hate it.

Applescript is silly in some respects. It was the first scripting language I learned so it has a special place in my heart. I would totally spend the time to port that if someone was wanting help with that. It's quirky and not difficult to pick up. I can't imagine it having much of a market outside of the Mac ecosystem though. I guess I'm also curious why.

I miss the old iTunes 10 interface, which I use as a database manager (I like smart playlists, playlist folders, and Genre > Artist > Album columns).

AppleScript because it has so many APIs. BetterTouchTool makes heavy use of it. I taught myself how to code in it when I was 13, and I still use it now.

>AppleScript because it has so many APIs.

You mean the commands you can use on apps like iTunes, Finder, Photos, etc.? Those are not AppleScript-specific per se (AFAIK there used to be an option to write Automator scripts in JS). You'd need the Linux/Gnome/KDE equivalent of the Open Scripting Architecture ( https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Ap... ) with active participation from app developers. Sounds like a huge overtaking.

Yes, it would be a huge undertaking. I've already rewritten my own apps for offline maps, calendar, notes, and I plan to write contacts and iTunes too. When there's a standard API comparable to Apple Events/OSA within those core apps, I'd hope to have enough leverage to persuade other app developers to accept pull requests.

We already have D-Bus to cover sending events to applications, what's really missing is a standard way to enable scripting. I've had a similar idea myself but never got around to implementing it, but I think a standard D-Bus interface applications could implement to expose a scripting dictionary along with a Python/Ruby/Whatever library to implement a more OSA-like interaction would go a long way.

Out of curiosity, what GUI toolkit have you written these apps in/for? Something Mac-like (GNUStep)?

Yes, you can still write Automator scripts with JavaScript!

Unfortunately the documentation is AppleScript only.

So, in 2018, at peak JS, it's practically an easter egg that you can write Automator scripts in JavaScript.

I guess this is indicative of Apple's commitment to macOS automation...

> I like smart playlists, playlist folders, and Genre > Artist > Album columns

Doesn't Rhythmbox have that?

Howdy. You've now met someone who thinks iTunes is decent for his uses.

I like iTunes as a music player. I've never seen another app that tempted me to make the effort to switch.

There are a few warts in its other tasks (which should be spun of into another app), but once I switched to iCloud syncing for my phone I stopped seeing those.

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