[linux-audio-user] Free Software vs. Open Source: Where do *you* stand?

[Brent Busby]

Well, one thing that makes the choice easier for me is just knowing that 
in my own case, I don't really need the computer to do much.  In fact, 
most things that the computer can provide to the sequencing and 
recording process are just added bonuses to me that I could do without. 
That makes it very easy for me to choose Linux, since I like it already.

When I first got into Midi and recording in the 80's, sequencing was 
something you often did on a keyboard's own internal sequencer, or a 
standalone machine.  (Imagine that...there were actual machines called 
sequencers!)  I still use and love the sequencer on the Ensoniq ESQ-1. 
Most computer sequencers have a user interface problem compared to its 
intuitiveness and simplicity.  All of the sequencers from that era ran 
from 8-bit processors, and saved files that were only a few kilobytes. 
I didn't think I was lacking anything, because the equipment was very 
fun to work with, and all of the commercial albums of that time were 
being made with the exact same equipment.  Things that were on the radio 
were sequenced with 8-bit processors, and recorded on tape.

I have a lot of gear from that era today:  Oberheim OB-8, Roland 
Jupiter-8, Korg PolySix, Ensoniq ESQ-1, Multimoog...  Plus I also have 
some more recent stuff like an Akai MPC2000 and a Yamaha SY99, both of 
which each have yet more sequencers that are not computer-based.

For a long time when Ardour was still in a more beta stage of 
development, the web site used to say something like (paraphrasing) that 
Ardour was at that time "at least as good as strapping together a lot of 
Alesis ADAT's."  Well, even if that were still the case now, that would 
be good enough for me.  I don't really need computer sequencing (though 
it's nice), or computer effects processing (though it's nice).  If I had 
to, I could go back to tape instead of computer recording, but again, 
computer recording is nice.

Sometimes, I almost think I even want to go back.  It was kind of nice 
when the only problems I had to worry about were: don't clip, don't let 
signals get too weak, and don't let Midi cable length problems cause 
machines to skip clocks and get out of sync with the master sequencer. 
Compared to that, all this kernel patching business is more about being 
a sysadmin than playing drums or keyboards anyhow.

Anyway, aside from that digression, the point is, I don't necessarily 
need the computer in my production process at all.  Whatever open source 
tools like Ardour, Rosegarden, ECAsound, Glame, JSynthLib, etc. give me 
are all nice, but then, so is the sequencer on the ESQ-1.  In fact, at 
one point, they even made albums with no Midi at all.  It wasn't really 
so horrible either -- people had a lot of fun doing that.

That said, none of this will help Linux succeed in the market against 
ProTools and Cubase though.  If anything, it just makes me a fairly 
undemanding user I guess.  If I had to ask Linux for anything more, it'd 
probably be more pro cards supported by Alsa (something which is in the 
hardware vendors' hands).  I love the Delta 1010, but it makes me 
nervous knowing that this one particular card, plus the RME Hammerfall 
(assuming you can afford it and all its necessary A/D gear), pretty much 
consist of the full lineup of supported fully pro recording cards. 
That's just *not* good...

-- 
+ Brent A. Busby,   UNIX Systems Admin	 +   "It's like being	+
+ James Franck / Enrico Fermi Institute	 +    blindsided by a	+
+     The University of Chicago		 +    flying dwarf..."	+