How can I view and play shared audio files through a network? I've come up with a quick pet project (which might, maybe, even end up being useful at my home someday); the idea is to allow users of a Linux device (I'll call it A, and it'll probably be a small embedded one) to play music that is stored in other computers (I'll designate those by B), located in the same local network. The difference between this and straight-out streaming would be that, in this case, B would be as passive as possible, merely making the files available, and A users would be able to view shared files and select a target for playback. I haven't found ready-made solutions for this case, though I'm sure many of them are bound to exist. So my question is what would be the easiest way to do it: through a ready-made solution or, if one is not available, through combining various applications and standards (NFS?) or coding it out.

When it comes to streaming media and sharing files, you have several options. Some are more compatible with others. I would be interested in knowing what OS or application system B is. This might help:


Linux <-- SMB --> Windows
Linux <-- Netatalk (AFP) --> OS X
Linux <-- uPNP --> Most Media Servers regardless of Operating System