Quote:
Apparently iTunes is the only method of music management the iPod will talk to

There are free open source software applications (for Linux) that do much of what iTunes does for managing an iPod. This includes a kioslave setup ("ipodslave") so that an iPod becomes an ordinary drag'n'drop device, like everything else in the KDE environment. The highly-regarded Amarok application can use this interface as well.

Cheers