[linux-audio-user] Re: Opening up the discussion

[Allan Graves]

Jono,
Welcome.  I installed DeMuDi from the Agnula web site, and was
recording within 10 minutes.  The help file gets you up and running,
and after that, its "no more complicated" than any professional level
solution.  Of course, as is my common complaint with open source,
there's 10000 designs to build a hammer to kill a fly, 75% of which
haven't been worked on since 1990, and 50% of them w\o documentation. 
Luckily, there's some good quality solutions that are still being
worked on, so documentation is the big killer now.  DeMuDi has allowed
me to get quite a few other people using linux audio.
I consider myself an amateur musician, but I am very comfortable with
Linux.  However, none of my linux knowledge, aside from knowing where
documentation "lives", came into play with DeMuDi.
As with all software, what seperates the professional from the amateur
is the level of knowledge of the system.  Unlike what some people
think, more money for better tools does not make you better.  My
brother can still make my casio keyboard sound way better than I can
make my Yamaha S90....  :)
Like I stated before, I see 3 huge barriers:
1) Too many choices, and not enough standards.  Do I use Wired, Muse,
RoseGarden, Jazz++, etc?  Well, unlike windows\mac, where, when I buy
a software package, I can be reasonably certain that its still in
development, Linux packages sometimes don't get worked on, get forked
or just die out...   The other issue is getting programs to work with
each other.  This can be as much a problem on windows as linux, and is
something we're working on by implementing standards like ladspa, etc.
2)  Lack of documentation.  Getting fixed in many ways, wiki,
rosegarden book, etc.  But no knowing that you ask this or that
mailing list, or read this or that web page....  or being too scared
to do so is a real downer.  The windows sequencer books in B&N have
certainly tempted me.  I'd love to see more for Linux programs.
3) Lack of driver support from manufacturers.  Stuff has to get
written by the community with limited specifications.  This makes it
hard for us to get hardware working sometimes.  That we have as much
as we do always amazes me.


(Gotta credit DP for his linux sound articles.  I've used that linux
overview many a time.  Would love to see his book updated soon.... )

I've seen what a community can do though, and I have high hopes for
linux sound. :)

-- 
---
Allan Graves
I came into this world with nothing, and I have most of it left.
Madness has its toll.  Exact change only please.