[Consortium] Report: advantages, disadvantages, and strategies for Linux adoption in audio electronics

[Bryant Hansen]

Greetings All,

Once again, thanks for the highly-informative and friendly feedback I've
received here.

I figured that it was a good time to present the report that I wrote.
The target audience is a company executive who might not have
significant knowledge of Linux and open-source development.  The data
and the suggestions are fairly obvious.  ...though the
virtualization/emulation topics may be controversial (could invite
TiVo-type troubles, or just violate the spirit of GPL).  This is for
another post...

http://bryanthansen.net/linux-audio-proposal-edit.pdf

The report is in the original form that I sent it, with the exception of
replacing the company name with XYZ, Inc.  I haven't updated it with
information that I've received from the group.  Any version 2 will be a
significant step forward.

Some of the key feedback that I've received from the group, which
belongs in there, includes:

 * awareness of 64 studio, who seem to focus on exactly the type of work
I'm trying to organize
  http://www.64studio.com/

 * the existing use of Linux (and perhaps Ardour) in various products:

   - Korg Oasys Keyboard
     http://www.korg.com/Product.aspx?pd=214

   - Harrison Consoles' Xdubber
http://www.harrisonconsoles.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=57

   - Museresearch Receptor
     http://www.museresearch.com/receptor.php?r=why

   - Liontracks Mediastation X-76
     http://www.gearjunkies.com/product_info.php?products_id=12502

   - Hartmann Neuron Synthesizer
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartmann_Neuron

   - Indamixx
     http://indamixx.com/

   - Midas XL8
     http://www.midasconsoles.com/xl8.php

 * a professional institute that trains all kinds of future
studio/broadcast/live-sound engineers in the use of Ardour
   http://www.sae.edu/en-gb/content/80/Ardour_-_SAE_Edition

 * The Free Firewire Audio Drivers org (FFADO.org)
   http://ffado.org/

 * the possibility that Linux support might not have much marketing
impact with professional devices (as opposed to consumer devices that
are more accessible to a wider range of developers)


Cheers,

Bryant