I am running Kubuntu 7.10 both on my home server and laptop. Obviously I have my music collection on the server and I would like to play it on the laptop.

I would start with the final question: Which is the intended way to do this in Amarok?

So far I have tried several methods and all have their own downsides:

1. I shared my folder with NFS and generated a mountpoint on the client side. Amarok scans the folder as a collection and generates a database on the client side.
Disadvantages: Duplicate work in generating two databases. Slow Collection rescan, Mounting an NFS share in Kubuntu is not as easy as it should be (one needs to edit the fstab ...etc)

2. I installed mt-daab on the server side and followed the instructions in the Wiki for sharing w. daap from: http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/Music_Sharing
Disadvantages: Does not seem to work with flac files. MP3s work well. But a flac only starts playing a bit then stops and freezes Amarok for a long while. Eventually Amarok resumes playing the next track if available. May be a mt-daab problem...don't know.

Is there an easier way to do this? I am wondering if sharing a folder with kpf through a certain port cannot be made visible in Amarok on the client side.  So far I have not been able to see the port.
OR:
Is it possible to make Amarok browse AVAHI shares?

Avahi is just an implementation of Zeroconf, so there isn't a such thing as a 'avahi share.' Avahi could advertise something being shared with some other protocol though, eg DAAP.

NFS or Samba is probably the way to go, sorry that it isn't ideal. The next version of Amarok will support Ampache and will better integrate DAAP shares.

Thank you for the prompt reply. Sorry about the avahi shares. My brain is cluttered with denominations this morning...

What I meant was the shares available through the zeroconf service discovery (zeroconf:/) and by this I was specifically thinking of the folders shared with kpf.

Kpf is an easy way to share folders and I was wondering if Amarok can use those as a source for its collection.

Ian Monroe wrote:The next version of Amarok will support Ampache and will better integrate DAAP shares.

Does this mean that the issue with not being able to play flac is caused by amarok not being well integrated with DAAP?

The flac problem is probably related to the Amarok DAAP proxy thats needed for iTunes 4-6. Since no one uses iTunes 4-6, we'll probably take that proxy out.

But anyways the reason why DAAP isn't an optimal way to share music in general with Amarok 1.4 is that many of the cool Amarok features (collection browser sorting, smart playlists, dynamic playlists) don't work with it. They should in Amarok 2 though.

IMHO the easiest way to share a folder is through kpf and it would be ideal if Amarok would be capable of "seeing" such folders on a LAN and use them as a source for it's collection (or as "devices")

Isn't kpf just a little web server? I don't think that could work.

I guess it is just that, a little web server. I am not knowledgeable in the matter but if you enable kpf and share a folder through port 8001 for example, then any client on the LAN will see that folder under the zeroconf:/ protocol under "WWW servers".

See screenshot