[linux-audio-user] Any MIDI apps that don't suck?

Silvan silvan at windows-sucks.com
Sun Dec 1 15:17:00 EST 2002


On Saturday 30 November 2002 05:42 pm, Chris Cannam wrote:

> That's a very strange thing to say about a MIDI sequencer project.
> Why on earth do you think we wouldn't be interested in MIDI?

You want me to say it?  I'll say it.  Because I'm a jerk.

I didn't actually mean to send that message.  I was very frustrated.  I write 
messages like that to vent, but I try to be more tactful and appreciative in 
public.  There's not really any excuse for my behavior, so I appologize for 
being a jerk.  I deserve any ill will you and other volunteer developers bear 
toward me and my attitude.

But I'm still very frustrated.  MIDI is working in today's CVS, finally, long 
after the trouble was reported fixed.  Probably the result of all the stuff 
I've been updating and compiling on this quest.  It might be because I have a 
newer ALSA now, or because I stopped loading the snd-seq-oss module.  I 
haven't managed to break it since the final (third) compile of yesterday's 
CVS, and I've actually gotten Rosegarden to run long enough and well enough 
to begin to explore it in a serious way.

I've been snagging CVS for awhile.  After the initial message on the matter, I 
got some arcane explanation as to why it was an issue, and the _impression_ 
that fixing it was low on the list of priorities, and that I should stop 
worrying about something so unimportant.  I found that off-putting, since if 
MIDI is broken, the entire thing is completely useless.  How can anything be 
more important to a MIDI sequencer than MIDI?  That's like working on 
changing the layout of the dash board of a car that doesn't have an engine.

I like where your project might go, if it goes there.  I would probably be 
happier, as a user, never to have seen it at all, and then suddenly stumble 
across it two years from now.  I think part of my antipathy toward Rosegarden 
stems from the user interface shift.  Seemingly overnight you became this 
really great looking, super promising app that really doesn't work very well.  
I got to see the candy through the window, but when I tried to eat it, I 
smashed my nose on the glass; so I became bitter and cynical without just 
cause.  It's not your fault I opened the oven before Rosegarden was done.

I'm going to break off here.  I've been working on this message for three 
hours.  Every time I complain about something, I wind up going in new 
directions.  I'm finding some of the functionality, and discovering new 
problems.  I've found real bugs, such as the seeming inability to export 
useful .ly files, and my total failure to print anything by any means, so 
insetead of a mad dash to find new things to whine about in a haphazard way, 
I'm going to try to use Rosegarden on Rosegarden's own terms, and try to quit 
reminding myself how much I miss Cakewalk.

Let me sit down and try to write something with this from start to finish, 
instead of starting with an imported MIDI file, and I'll try to get over my 
attitude and give you some useful, calm feedback, bug reports, and 
suggestions for how things could be done more easily from a user perspective.

Or you can write me off as an asshole, and deservedly so.

-- 
Michael McIntyre         USDA zone 6b in SW VA, USA
Silvan Pagan [silvan at windows-sucks.com] Linux Druid
---------[ registered Linux user #243621 ]---------
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/index.html




More information about the Linux-audio-user mailing list