[OSS] Pithos Pandora Client

Open Source Spotlight — Pithos Pandora Client

Pithos Pandora Client for Linux

Hey everyone!  Today I am introducing a new segment on Open Source Software (OSS) called Open Source Spotlight (also OSS ;-) ).  For my first entry in the OSS series, I am showing off Pithos, an excellent Linux-native open source application designed to bring Pandora to the desktop.

The interface is minimalistic and only does exactly what you want Pandora to do, stream music.  To make it even better, it also allows for Last.fm scrobbling, media key support, Ubuntu Sound Menu integration, an (optional) system tray icon, and song notifications.

The biggest selling point was at one point that it avoided the flash website which meant less resources and better battery life.  Pandora has since transitioned to HTML5 where available, but that doesn’t mean this program has lost its usefulness — song notifications and sound menu support are enough to make it awesome for me.

Again, Pithos is only available for Linux.  If you’re running Ubuntu, you can find Pithos in the Ubuntu Software Center or easily install it with the PPA (Otherwise, instructions here):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kevin-mehall/pithos-daily sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install pithos

In consideration for Pandora, the developer does recommend “subscribing to Pandora One, or at the very least, clicking ads on pandora.com.”  Really, that’s not so bad considering the amount of free content Pandora gives you.

Let me know what you think about Pithos, or if you’ve got other (legal) methods for streaming your music!