I thought that OS X only used /etc/hosts in single user mode, and one had to use Netinfo for this sort of thing.

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See this hint... -rob.

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i've never used any version of os x besides jaguar.. if i knew /etc/hosts didn't work in prior versions, i would've mentioned something when i submitted the tip.. sorry about that :|

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http://freedb.org/modules.php?name=Sections&sop=viewarticle&artid=9

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When I looked into this a while back I thought that I learned that iTunes uses some sort of level two protocol that only gracenote can use, and that the freecddb did not support. Sean McBride's page gives details, but it looks like for iTunes you are out of luck. Any success you have is an illusion - you are probably still accessing the Gracenote serves via the CDDB2 protocol - which is what happened to me for a while after I tricked out my hosts files in 9 and tried to do so in X. http://www.cam.org/~cwatson/freedb/freedb.html

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Not meant to flame at all, but . . . what's the point of this? The only benefit of FreeDB that I'm aware of is political -- it's 'free."

Aside from that, I've found CDDB has a lot more obscure stuff in its database (radio-only CD singles; indie-label EPs; etc.) than FreeDB, and FreeDB lets all kinds of illiterates submit track listings. Granted, I'm a little anal about how my titles appear, but I find myself having to correct spellings, capitalizations, etc. a LOT more often with FreeDB stuff than I do with CDDB. Not to mention that their uptime leaves something to be desired.

Again, not meant to flame . . . if I'm missing some major benefit that FreeDB offers, please clue me in.


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I have found that the FreeDB has a much higher population of non-mainstream music listings than gracenote/cddb.

The reason I found this article today is because the CD I got last night, K. K. Null & Disc (nullsonic), is in the FreeDB and not the gracenote/cddb.

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(a) CDDB used to be a freely-available, public service that anyone could use and update. Then the service's operator stole the content and started suing people who were using it. FreeDB operates under a license that makes that impossible.

(b) When FreeDB gets an entry wrong, you can get it fixed. When CDDB gets it wrong, you can't. Enough said.

The quality of CDDB's listings for the CDs that I have is generally much, much worse than FreeDB's. Others' experience may vary.

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