Can you put music on it without iTunes?
Yes. I still use my classic regularly. 20 000+ songs on it without ever being connected to itunes. Rhythmbox for linux works great when I want to switch things up. Winamp did the job back when I was still using windows. Maybe you were forced to use itunes briefly back when the ipod was first released, but it didn’t take long for other programmers to figure out how to make their software compatible.
The issue I have had with ipods in general is even with third party management, you had to make a Playlist for everything. I wanted to dump my library of A-Z folders and use the device like a file structure.
I’m in the minority, but I stopped making Playlists/mix cds/mixtapes when I graduated high school.
Typical Apple, they probably won’t even tell you that you need a 2007 MacBook with a 12 second battery life to make this work. That’s how they get you.
It looks like funar2000 supported it at least at some point.
