[LAU] Audio Distribution Proposal...

[Patrick Shirkey]

On 06/04/2009 04:39 PM, Ray Rashif wrote:
> Anyone is free to create yet another distribution. Nobody should have 
> the authority to prevent any such initiative, even if it's an 
> inconvenience (adds more to choose from; adds more confusion?). What 
> everyone should do, however, is find a balance between convenience and 
> accessibility, by which I refer to the current norm of having a 
> specialised platform (operating system + packages) in order to make 
> Linux audio "accessible".
>
> The problem with the current approach is that maintaining a 
> specialised distribution means basically just that - maintaining a 
> distribution. This involves the same manpower required to run a proper 
> desktop platform, if your intention is to "reach out to the masses". 
> One other problem is that each of these "mainstream" parent 
> distributions have a particular release cycle, which the respective 
> initiative must follow. Often times, since Linux audio is an effort 
> primarily still in development stages, users see the need to get their 
> software from upstream project managers. In essence, a Linux audio 
> distro initiative is a bleeding-edge initiative. Even a stable 
> platform like 64Studio may not be considered functional by the masses.
>
> The solution to this is to:
>
> (1) have a rolling-release cycle
> (2) provide only add-on packages; not a distribution
> (3) have a framework to easily build software from upstream and add to 
> the package manager
>
> For the vast majority, from what I have seen and heard (not 
> experienced though), Sidux meets these criteria. It is:
>
> (1) Debian-based; convenient
> (2) Rolling; accessible
> (3) There are tools to create a package from a local build
>
> For others, and from personal experience, there are Gentoo and Arch.


Hi,

This is the list of current distros (in no particular order) that I have 
picked up in this thread. If I have missed any please let me know. I 
will update the lau-guide with this list.


Sidux
Gentoo
Arch
64Studio
Transmission
Musix
Debian Multimedia Team
Gentoo ProAudio
ArchAudio
Planet CCRMA




Cheers.



Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd





> I can speak for both, because I've spent quite a lot of time on the 
> former, and am settled entirely with the latter for over 2 years. The 
> main difference between these two is that one is solely a source-based 
> platform, which I've come to find is more on the inconvenient side. 
> With a bleeding-edge initiative, one may have to compile software, but 
> not the entire platform. This is what Arch solves. To both sides of 
> the spectrum of Linux users (new and advanced), Arch has its demerits. 
> However, for a specialised platform, the merits are overwhelming:
>
> (1) Rolling.
> (2) No split packages; package foobar means software foobar; you get 
> what and how upstream intends you to get.
> (3) Easy and code-simple package management for both binary and 
> source, thanks to:
>     (a) simple buildscripts; it takes one mere minutes to add a local 
> build as a binary to the package database.
>     (b) (2) directly means there are no further headaches while 
> scripting a new package.
> (4) Due to the meta nature of the distribution, there's absolutely 0 
> need for another distribution if the intention is to make it 
> accessible for specialised use.
>
> However, both of these are not for the "masses" or mainstream Linux users.
>
> Conclusion: See the project highlighted in the previous mail? That's 
> the saviour. An agnostic repository (within the parent distribution 
> domain) serving a whole load of users - precisely what CCRMA (or the 
> other similar initiatives) is. It's really simple - you don't need 
> another distribution or installer disc. You just install your desired 
> Debian-based distribution and add packages from that repository. Make 
> that something like Sidux and you're rockin'.
>
> So I'd urge anyone thinking of creating an audio distro to put his/her 
> efforts into packaging for the Debian Multimedia Team (or help out in 
> others like CCRMA, Gentoo ProAudio, ArchAudio etc).
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Linux-audio-user mailing list
> Linux-audio-user at lists.linuxaudio.org
> http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-user
>    
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