[LAU] Debian DAW experiences

[Len Ovens]

On Mon, 1 Sep 2014, David Christensen wrote:

> On 09/01/2014 02:42 AM, Raffaele Morelli wrote:
>> Your complaints are quite presumptuous.
>> Of course 288Mb is a small installation image, compared to the standard
>> 4.5GB dvd and 700Mb cd iso images.
>
> No, my complaint is valid.  The "netinst" image is only supposed to load 
> enough code to bootstrap a system that can connect to the network and 
> download the installer.  It should fit on a cheap USB flash drive.

Cheap USB stick = 4G, it is hard to find a 1G USB stick. Even 32G sticks 
are not real expensive, though the difference between 16G and 32G in price 
is more than it should be. A 2G live ISO will run from 2G. On a 4G stick 
it can use the rest of the space to save data... no install required.

I think that your use has not been well defined. Most peoples first 
thought is going to be that 160G drive is about the smallest that can be 
bought, so what is the problem. I am thinking that maybe you want to run 
off of a USB stick?

I would suggest that there is not any distro around at all that is 
designed as a stage instrument to be run that way. I do feel that what you 
want is valid and I like the idea. However, I think that no matter which 
OS you choose (linux, OSx, win), aside from the size of it, you will also 
be looking at carefully choosing the HW and then tuning it to your use. I 
personnaly would not think of using a laptop for this use, I would choose 
a rackmount case so I could choose the MB, processor (as seen in recent 
post an i5 is not an i5, it matters which one), memory and cooling (no 
fans if possible... ie a laptop has fans like it or not). I do not know if 
I would choose to run from a USB stick if this is my stage setup, there 
are much faster SATA based solid state solutions. Yes they cost more, but 
what is your stage presence and reliability worth? What does a stage synth 
cost? An amp? Just a synth stand?

I am cheap by nature, but I am willing to spend money for stage stuff even 
though it is not an income stream for me. It is just a matter of doing 
things right. This does not mean most expensive, The amp I bought to 
replace the old (full of dry caps and bad pots etc.) one was the cheaper 
of the two I looked at... But I am a bass player and I liked the sound of 
the 10inch speaker over the 15inch. I am also looking for a fretless bass 
to replace my squire beater that I pulled the frets out of to play with, 
but no one in town has fretless instruments and I will not buy without 
trying. So one of my trips to the lower mainland will include that.

Having said all of that, I still really don't know what your particular 
situation is. You may have limits I don't and I can respect that. While I 
do help with UbuntuStudio, I would suggest it is not what you need. I 
think you need a custom solution and that you will need to do some 
learning and setup work to make it happen. I suppose it may be possible to 
buy a Mac and go, but you would not be running from a USB stick still. (I 
think I could put together a rack mount from new parts for less anyway) I 
also think that if you clearly define what you are trying to do with all 
the paramerters, you would find people much more helpful than if they are 
assuming that the HW you have is within a certain range. The answers I 
have seen so far have been answers to solid questions you have asked.



--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net