[linux-audio-dev] Re: [linux-audio-user] New powermacs?

R Parker rtp405 at yahoo.com
Sat Jun 21 15:56:00 UTC 2003


Hi Ivica,

I'll rant on this for awhile.

I guess it all depends on what you require. There's
little doubt in my mind that the alternatives to linux
based audio production will have to take very serious
measures to compete with a looming problem. That being
pro audio tools that are free from monetary costs and
also developed in an open community that hinges its
entire interest on intellectual freedom and are
technically equal to or superior to their products.

I don't see the 970 64-bit CPUs and built in optical
audio i/o as being much competition. Hardware
performance capabilties improve with the dawning of
each new day.

About a year ago I began to feel a good deal of
anxiety about my decision to pursue a linux based
professional audio solution. I make my living as an
engineer/producer and need a working solution not just
a philosophical day dream. I asked a couple guys what
they thought about my concerns. They convinced to hang
in.

Mac has a new OS and it's a good one. They've got a
DAW that runs natively and it's a good one. But that's
still not enough draw for me because they're closed
source cultures. I believe that if developements
continue as they have during the last couple years the
LAD community will win a big battle.

I think many musicians feel no need or appreciation
for the intellectual freedom that the linux
communities thrive on. They simply want to swing the
hammer and hit the nail. On one hand I can sympathize
with that circumstance. But on the other hand it's
depressing. I believe these people can't call
themselves poets. How can anyone consider themselves
an artist while choosing to support intellectual
slavery? It's rediculous. They're not artists, they're
misled apprentices at best and perhaps no more than
monkey see monkey do automotons.

A studio owner friend came by the other day. I gave
him the LAD, jackd, ardour, jamin pitch. He proceeded
to sing the praises of everything else. I accused him
of living on self pride, magazine advertisements and
of being afraid to admit that his protools investment
was a mistake, etc, etc. He walked away angry. I
thought good, get out of here. He came back 30 minutes
later and said, "Ron, Ardour looks great but not
everyone can be you." What he meant by that is Linux
looms as a large learning curve and that unlike me, he
doesn't have time to figure it out.

It's very interesting that he became honest and
admitted his investments and best effort are a
mistake. Perhaps more importantly he came to terms
with the fact that he's about to commit another large
error by investing further yet into that proprietary
world. Small studios like mine and his can't afford
not to adopt the Linux solutions. After the financial
benefits are realized we can learn to appreciate the
intelectual opportunities.

One problem I became aware during the exchange with my
friend is that Linux is percieved as a technically
difficult solution. That's an interesting perception
and the LAD/LAU communities can deal with it. The
larger Linux community has made a great deal of
progress with this. How hard is it to install Red Hat?
Maybe it's more difficult to configure linux. But it's
alot less painful to purchase and configure x86
hardware, rme cards, and a $2,000.00 digital mixer
than it is to invest in a $15,000.00 Protools setup.

OK, I'll shutup.

ron

--- Ivica Bukvic <ico at fuse.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Just heard the news (rumors) of new Macs that are
> going to hit the
> streets on Monday. Seems like Apple is finally going
> to catch-up with
> the PC world: there's talk of using IBM's PowerPC
> 970 64-bit CPU's.
> Makes me wonder what repercussions this will have on
> the whole LAD/LAU
> community, considering that they supposedly will
> have built-in optical
> audio I/O and with the recent announcement of
> Trolltech to make OS X Qt
> GPL-ed, leaves less and less advantages in Linux's
> favor (apart from the
> obvious untouchable open architecture and perhaps
> faster growing
> user-base -- according to recent news, can't
> remember where I exactly I
> read it tho, sale of factory-built Linux boxes
> should surpass Apple's
> this year, and that does not even include people
> with home-built
> machines and dual-booters).
> 
> Please don't get me wrong. I am still in favor of
> Linux, obviously due
> to its open architecture. But at the same time I am
> becoming a bit weary
> of having to "hack" my advanced audio settings
> rather than use
> user-friendly tools. That, coupled with still anemic
> direct vendor hw
> driver support has really made me pay closer
> attention on Macs (as scary
> as that sounds). Yet, I feel such a sense of
> accomplishment when my
> Linux purrs just right with my desktop being
> uniquely configured and
> tailored to my needs. After all, I am a geek. :-)
> And the inner struggle
> goes on...
> 
> Anyone care to comment or (please) dissuade me from
> potentially making a
> costly mistake? ;-)
> 
> Ivica Ico Bukvic, composer & multimedia sculptor
> http://meowing.ccm.uc.edu/~ico
> 


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