[LAU] OT Rant: When will people stop comparing Windows/Linux apps?

[Ng Oon-Ee]

On Sun, 2010-07-11 at 15:59 +0100, Folderol wrote:
> On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:22:38 +0800
> Ng Oon-Ee <ngoonee at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, 2010-07-11 at 15:42 +0200, Atte André Jensen wrote:
> > > On 2010-07-11 13:51, Andrew C wrote:
> > > > Heck, even
> > > > Mac OS X has more in common with linux than windows does, and I'm not
> > > > seeing people going 'Why can't I run Ableton on this Mac? Ugh it sucks
> > > > big time, I won't bother with it!'.
> > > 
> > > First: I only run linux, never tried Ableton Live, but would like to.
> > > 
> > > To answer (or comment) what you wrote there:
> > > 
> > > 1) If you need ableton live, you need ableton live, and if it won't work 
> > > on OS-however-nice it stops right there, at least for some people.
> > 
> > Yes, if you're used to (and have spent hours learning) an app that does
> > all you want, why would you want to learn another one, with a different
> > design philosophy and different (maybe inferior) feature-set?
> > 
> > Most people have ROI on their minds. If spending all this time learning
> > Linux and this new app is just going to bring me to the same level of
> > functionality that I already have, why bother?
> 
> But that frame of mind is a trap (one I've fallen into myself a few
> times) especially for anyone with claims of creativity. The very fact
> of trying something different and working in a way that is not familiar
> and 'automatic' can dramatically expand your capabilities.

Creativity and deadlines rarely co-exist happily. Lots of chatter here
and on other audio-related lists tend to indicate that for musicians,
the technology should just work, and should help make things easier.
With technology I'm familiar with, it does do that. With tech I'm not
familiar with, it can kill creativity at the point where I need it (ie.
right now) for the uncertain benefit of enhancing creativity in the
future (ie. some undetermined time).

All of which isn't a 'good' argument from the POV of solidity, but its a
'common' argument, and one that's hard to argue against when a person is
really only interested in the music he makes rather than the tools he
uses to make it. Else we'd all be using theremins for our recordings =).

> Does what I want (why should I change?)
> 
> 1991	SY22
> 1991	Acorn Risc PC as a sequencer
> 1992	Sound Canvas
> 1995	QS300
> 2002	PC running linux as a sequencer
> 2006	ZynAddSubFX (major wake-up)
> 
> I do try other software and hardware stuff from time to time, to make
> sure I don't get complacent again, if for no other reason!

That's an impressive list =). Salutations!
> 
> Oh, and recently I've gone back to guitar playing after a 35 year
> break - my poor fingers :o
> 
Ouch, that should really hurt. Stock up on the ice for post-playing
cooling down (literally).