[LAU] Laid to rest is Pro Tools LE"...

[Kim Cascone]

> Hello Kim,
>
> Yes I know that article, which is very biased I think, but I was
> referring to your article on CDM in which you state that for music
> production on Linux one only needs ALSA (or FFADO for FireWire) and JACK.
I see - this is correct and true - until one encounters other legacy 
layers which might present problems -- I have a vague memory of needing 
to add a Jack<-->ALSA midi bridge for Yoshimi synth as well as some sort 
of OSS ALSA mod for some other app to work - sorry but details are fuzzy -

and also true is that one can use a distro that makes all this invisible 
to the user and streamlines the work needed to set up a workflow and get 
things customized but finding these other (sometimes arcane) distros is 
not all that easy -- the low hanging fruit is Ubuntu Studio which is 
rife with issues and no easier to use really than installing Ubuntu and 
setting up your own workflow with apps and utilities - which is what I 
have done because I didn't want to switch to another distro i.e. staying 
with Ubuntu was easier and didn't interrupt my busy work schedule etc etc

>>> >>  As for tweaking conf
>>> >>  files, at the moment there are very few files you might have to tweak,
>>> >>  /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf (or /etc/security/limits.conf) for the
>>> >>  necessary permissions, maybe /etc/systcl.conf for some performance gain
>>> >>  and /etc/fstab to add noatime to the necessary mounts.
>> >  
>> >  yeah thanks, been there - done that -- sorry but that statement right
>> >  there is why most people working in music won't come anywhere near Linux
>> >  for production
>> >  
> Sorry Kim, I didn't want to sound patronizing:(  
not at all -- I was just pointing out that what works for you and me (as 
more technically advanced users) will NOT work for 99% of the laptop 
musicians we know who don't want to get bogged down in technical details 
-- really all they want to do is 2xclick on Albleton Live and start 
making music - having them tweak a .conf file just get xruns to a 
minimum is *not* going to happen...so that perception of Linux audio 
(right or wrong) is what keeps people from adopting Linux as a 
production platform - and I know this from traveling the world and 
meeting hundreds of laptop musicians every year...less than 1% are on 
Linux...the Apple logo glows from most of the laptops I see staring back 
at me in my workshops ;)
> There are people
> working on making it easier to set this up, I've seen some mock-ups for
> Ubuntu Studio and Filipe Coelho from KX Studio is working on something
> similar too.
true there are people working on making it easier - for years Linux 
audio has made slow gains in being more robust, stable and easy to set 
up a workflow rather than learning bash scripting - but there is still a 
mess of layers and conflicting services that make for a complex and 
confusing environment for most n00bs. Again, I refer you to the article 
I wrote for CDM where I enumerate the various ways in which this happens.
>>> >>  Imho I think you can add conservatism, sheer ignorance or simple denial
>>> >>  that stuff can be done with Linux;)
>> >  I'd say that 'simple denial' exists on both sides of the issue;)
>> >  
> You mean that I for example don't know about the needs and desires of
> potential Linux audio users?
I'd say that many Linux users who think nothing of suggesting that all 
someone need do is tweak a .conf file and enter the trial and error 
Linux dance of minimizing xruns are indeed in 'simple denial' about the 
needs of average laptop musician...not a criticism of you so much as an 
observation from having been a Linux user for nearly 6 years now and a 
100% Linux audio user for almost 2 years.

To wit: many responses from various Linux audio lists to obvious 
problems that stem from poorly thought out applications, and the bugs 
plaguing them, all suffer from the brow-beating and arrogance of those 
who are more technically advanced versus those who just want to make 
music and not get a degree in computer science. This is not an effective 
way to win friends and influence people into adopting Linux.

But again, it is true that if more people knew about Pure Dyne (an 
amazing distro), AVLinux (another top notch distro) or Tango Studio 
(http://tangostudio.tuxfamily.org/en) then less of these 'set-up' type 
problems would keep people from at least trying out Linux for audio 
production.

Now the 'crapplications' that exist are another story - getting crap 
software out of way involves both holding the developer's feet to the 
fire to squash bugs and not just leave development in limbo (how many 
Linux audio apps are there on Sourceforge that haven't been updated 
since early to mid 2000's?)  and to listen to and take seriously the 
suggestions and criticisms of those people who actually MAKE MUSIC and 
use the software. Bedroom software developers have never had to learn to 
eat their own dogfood.

But unfortunately the public perception of Linux is still that it is 
geek-ware and not user-friendly.

all in a days work,
kim
> Best,
>
> Jeremy