[LAU] new! linuxmusicians.com

[Dave Phillips]

Greetings,

I have no problem per se with new sites popping up for Linux audio. 
However, it's probably worth noting that I'm already a member of too 
many forums, mail lists, and IRC lines, and I've lost count of the 
app-specific wikis that I chase down for news. Many apps have a forum 
*and* a wiki, adding even more sites to visit for information.

The new site will succeed if enough people feel it's something they need 
that is unavailable either at linuxaudio.org or on the LAU mail list. 
Whatever the case, topic-related sites should acknowledge each other 
with links and descriptions.

The fragmentation of Linux audio documentation is perhaps an unavoidable 
side-effect of the relative lack of focus in this stage of Linux audio 
development. I don't mean that individual projects are unfocused, I mean 
that there's little sense of a central authority or clearing house for 
relating the activities of various development tracks. Thus, everyone 
goes about their own work with little or no sense of its relationship to 
other activities (other than the ALSA/JACK axis), and this situation is 
perfectly understandable. There are few enough developers working on 
Linux audio projects, and they cannot reasonably be expected to keep up 
with every other development (in Linux and elsewheres).

I'm seeing a lot of user-level Linux audio activity elsewhere, such as 
the eXT2 and Reaper forums, the LinuxSampler forum, the Renoise groups, 
the Ardour forum, et cetera. People are asking the same old questions on 
every board, indicating that there really is a problem with the 
centralization of documentation and other assistance. Most of the time I 
discover that many new users have no inkling that LAU, linuxaudio.org, 
or linux-sound.org even exist. In addition, many more experienced users 
are out of touch with new developments, especially non-LAD sanctioned 
developments, effectively placing them and their knowledge out of the 
reach of new users who may need the assistance.

As Linux itself becomes easier to install and use, more users will be 
asking the same questions about its audio capabilities, with questions 
ranging from "How can I play my friend's iPod files ?" to "How can I use 
VSTi plugins in a hybrid system running Ardour and Ableton Live ?". The 
answers may be difficult to find without a central reference point. 
LAD/LAU have always functioned so for me, but many users prefer other 
comm channels.

I am still a believer in the slogan "Let 10,000 flowers flourish!". 
Linux program development may be a bizarre Darwinian process, but it's 
been working pretty well for some time. Interesting projects and sites 
have already come and gone, and I expect more of the same.

Finally, just in case there are still some souls out there in LAU-land 
who don't know about my work on Linux audio, I append my published 
articles track at LJ:

http://www.linuxjournal.com/user/800764/track

Older stuff I wrote for O'Reilly:

http://www.oreillynet.com/articles/author/101

And of course the original mother-lode of links to Linux audio apps:

http://linux-sound.org

(But you really should visit and help maintain the list at 
linuxaudio.org instead).

Hopefully some of this information can still help a newbie or two. :)

Best,

dp