[linux-audio-dev] The Image (usablity) problem from a Musicians point of view

[Lea Anthony]

Hi guys,

Most musicians I know really don't give a hoot for what OS they run or
indeed what philosophy drove the development of the apps. All they care
about is if it will do the job better then their current setup at a
cheaper cost. Piracy is rife in the audio world which means people can
get their hands on pretty decent software. This is what they'll be
comparing LAD with. For Linux to compete in the audio field, I believe
it must be able to do a number of things including the following:

1. Provide an easy to use system that is exactly that
2. Provide 32bit support where possible
3. Have the ability to use DirectX plugins

Sure, there is probably a lot more but I'm just gathering my thoughts
here. What I'm afraid of is that LAD will end up with the same problems
as most Linux distros suffer from: Bloat. Choice is good, but do I
really need 7 text editors on my system? No. What I believe would
benefit LAD, and correct me if I'm wrong, is to create a 'big picture',
a complete DAW system. It should consist of AN audio editor, AN audio
recorder, A sample editor, etc. Like I said, choice is great but
musicians don't give a hoot about choice, they want something that
works, not 7 things that are half done. If all effort was pushed in this
direction, I believe we would end up with a quality system that the
world would take seriously.

I don't know if the 3 points I've made have already been done, I'm new
to LAD, but they are important. Especially 3 as it gives a "migration
path" to existing windoze users. I know, I know, DirectX plugins are
written against Microsoft libraries, but how come mplayer on Linux can
use windows binaries (codecs) in it's system? Could the same not be done
for audio? Surely it's the same principle? (Media data input, process,
media data ouput).

Maybe I'm going over old ground here but I wanted to say something
anyway. Isn't that what mailing lists are for? I know people who would
move away from windows at the drop of a hat. They hate windows. High
latency, instability... 

So how about it? An integrated system using your good talents. If you
have a waveform in an audio recorder you want to double click to edit
it, not drop out, load up a different program and then search around the
directories for audio_track_3_guitar_take_7.wav. Stupid stuff like this
creates a good user experience which in turn wins people. I have a ton
of ideas for audio editing that aren't in the 'big name' apps and if I
had the time, would code them myself (but I'm sure there are people who
could do it in half the time here :).

Aaanyway, that's my brain dump for today. Hope I didn't lose you on the
way :)

Cheers,

-Lea.

PS: There was no criticism intended in this post.