[linux-audio-user] iCubeX experiences?

[Ivica Bukvic]

Well, I'll give you kind of a convoluted answer :-). First off, the
studio bought it, so I really don't feel bad that we obtained it, since
it was fun messing with light sensors and other controllers, and after
all it was a good learning experience [in hacking :-)]. However, I
personally would not buy it since I am first off not currently
interested in that kind of MIDI controllers (I am right now into pedals
+ faders that offer built-in & cpu-software-independent configuration),
but more importantly I probably would not buy it because of the lousy
Linux support, despite the fact that the manufacturer advertised on
their website that they do support Linux. It's really a misleading
statement. Besides, Linux is now becoming rather powerful in the
commercial circles and more and more hw vendors are being pressured to
embrace it (just consider ATI and NVIDIA for a moment) in order to
remain competitive. This gives us, users and developers alike, leverage
to openly declare which hw is not Linux friendly, something that will in
the long run create a kind of a "blacklist" of vendors and eventually
either hinder their revenue or make them take Linux seriously.

While I appreciate icubex manufacturer's interest in Linux, what I do
not appreciate is their utter lack of support for it. Furthermore I feel
likr they are using Linux as a kind of a propaganda ("Look! We support
Linux, aren't we cool?"). Hence, I feel like they do not deserve my
money if they are not willing to seriously consider Linux OS as a viable
platform.

Kind of a long rant, but nonetheless hope this answers your question!
:-)

Ico

> -----Original Message-----
> From: linux-audio-user-admin at music.columbia.edu
[mailto:linux-audio-user-
> admin at music.columbia.edu] On Behalf Of j.c.w.
> Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 9:37 AM
> To: linux-audio-user at music.columbia.edu
> Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] iCubeX experiences?
> 
> hey Ico,
> 
> thanks for the response.  aside from what sounds like a bummer of a
> setup, how has it performed for you?  in other words, would you buy it
> again?
> 
> thanks,
> j.c.w.
> 
> Ivica Bukvic wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I installed icubex in my studio and it was quite a hassle. Included
> > software that came with icubex is outdated and does not compile,
Paul
> > Davis's generous contribution looks like a great editor, but it
depends
> > on defunct Quasimodo's libs so without some serious hacking, chances
are
> > you won't be able to get it up-and-running (I did not have the time
to
> > give it a shot at it, but I did spend a good amount of time trying
to
> > compile proper libs without success). I also had a number of
problems
> > trying to get the icube working under MacOS9. Finally, I resorted to
> > Windows (gasp!) where using the provided editor I hard-coded each of
the
> > inputs as one type of the controller MIDI message, and after that
the
> > thing worked like a charm in Pd. You just have to make sure to
remember
> > which pins are used for which controllers, otherwise you might get
messy
> > MIDI output.
> >
> > Hope this helps!
> >
> > Ico
> >
> >
> >>-----Original Message-----
> >>From: linux-audio-user-admin at music.columbia.edu
> >
> > [mailto:linux-audio-user-
> >
> >>admin at music.columbia.edu] On Behalf Of j.c.w.
> >>Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 2:04 PM
> >>To: linux-audio-user at music.columbia.edu
> >>Subject: [linux-audio-user] iCubeX experiences?
> >>
> >>greetings all!
> >>
> >>i am a bit of a controller freak and have just started looking into
> >
> > the
> >
> >>iCubeX system (http://www.infusionsystems.com/index.shtml).  i used
to
> >>roll all of my own control devices, but i am a bit short on time as
of
> >>late (full time jobs tend to do that).  i'd like to give this thing
a
> >>chance.
> >>
> >>i see that paul davis (you rock, dude) wrote a gnu/linux editor for
> >
> > the
> >
> >>device that controls a limited subset of its features, but it looks
> >
> > like
> >
> >>the software hasn't been touched for some time.
> >>
> >>i am interested in using it with pd primarily and possibly jmax.  my
> >>question is this:  does anyone out there have any experience to
share
> >>with me re: using this gadget with gnu/linux /only/.  i don't do
> >
> > windows
> >
> >>at home, so i'd like to know what i can expect.
> >>
> >>anywho, enough of that...so, anyone know anything about this
doo-dad?
> >>
> >>thanks!
> >>
> >>j.c.w.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >