[linux-audio-user] [ANN] No More Specimen

[Dana Olson]

On 2/19/06, Pete Bessman <ninjadroid at gazuga.net> wrote:
> Ladies and Gents,
>
> I can hack specimen while working full time.  And, I can hack specimen
> while studying full time.  But, and this is empirically verifiable, I
> can't hack specimen while both working and studying full time.  And my
> situation is not likely to change for another year or so.
>
> What this means is that I'm just not cut out to run a project right now,
> unless I want to put it into maintenance mode.  Really, that's where
> specimen has been for the past six months anyway, and I've been doing a
> rather piss poor job at that modest role!  My efforts are better applied
> to tasks where smaller chunks of time can go a greater distance.
>
> I don't have any regrets --- this was my first real programming project,
> and I learned a lot.  But the truth is that LMMS is more specimen than
> specimen right now, and it has an active development and user community
> surrounding it.  Plus, I've always been a musician and an artist first,
> and a programmer second.
>
> All told, it's time to throw in the towel on this one.  In a way, this
> is a bummer --- I've put a lot of sweat and tears (literally) into this
> project over the past couple of years, and it has come an incredible
> distance.  But I'd be a fool to think that I'm better off keeping it
> afloat than making music and contributing to other projects.
>
> And truthfully, it's a huge relief to get this announcement out.  A
> sense of obligation is what kept me from making it sooner, but in
> retrospect, that's pretty ridiculous.  Considering that I'm an "open
> source, just for fun" guy, and not a "free software, as in freedom"
> type, it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep going when pain exceeds
> pleasure.
>
> This isn't the end of my open source music development, however.  I hope
> to help take LMMS to the next level, and contribute to other projects
> that will help make Linux a competitor in the music industry.  Things
> like ardour2, lash, jack-midi, vst, dssi, ladspa et al are the keys to
> our future in this regard.  And I look forward to getting back to
> hardcore hacking in a few years, when I've got my life settled down and
> I'm not putting in 80 hours of work and school a week.
>
> Take care everybody, and may the funk be with you.
>
> --
> Pete Bessman
> http://gazuga.net
> "So this baby seal walks into a club."


That's awesome that you will help out LMMS. Thanks for your efforts on Specimen.

I listened to your clip in that other thread, and it's pretty cool. I
have been working on some packaging, and while doing this I haven't
worked on a single note of music, so I can understand what you're
talking about. I too am a musician first.

Take care, and good luck with your studies.

Much respect,
Dana