[LAU] Switching the distro

[Robin Gareus]

On 05/29/2011 12:55 PM, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> Hi all :)
> 
> any recommendations for a distro?
> 
> It shouldn't ignore settings in xorg.conf.
> 
> It shouldn't use PulseAudio, or if it does use PulseAudio, then at least
> it should be enough, if the user set up /usr/share/alsa/cards to be able
> to use his audio card(s).
> 
> Not that important, but an advantage if this should work too, at least
> the 32-bit version should be able to work with common proprietary 32-bit
> apps such as lightscribe apps.
> 
> Less important are audio and MIDI repositories and kernel-rt, I will
> build several apps and the kernel myself, but the environment to do this
> should cause less or no issues.
> 
> For Suse I experienced that 32-bit apps as lightscribe are ok on a
> 64-bit install, but Suse has several disadvantages for my palate.
> 
> For Ubuntu I experienced that it has less to do with Linux anymore, the
> reason why I'll switch to another distro. Don't get me wrong, I still
> make only good experiences when using the Ubuntu Studio repositories,
> but this isn't a help when the Ubuntu desktop is slow, the mouse doesn't
> work properly, etc..
> 
> I've got a absolutely stable and MIDI jitter free Ubuntu MIDI and audio
> worksattion, regarding to audio apps, but it was very time consuming to
> set it up

Do make a backup of the current setup!! That may come in handy.

>  and until now even the mouse wheel isn't working. The same
> mouse does work with Suse OOTB.
> 
> At the moment I still try to fix an Ubuntu Studio Natty install, but I
> won't waste my time any longer.
> 
> Anyway, I prefer a .deb distro to a .rpm distro, but this isn't that
> important. A distro where it's easy to get rid of PA without cheap
> tricks would be cool.
> 
> Important is that I prefer PCI, PCIe, parallel port PS/2 to USB gear.
> 
> My favorite distro was 64 Studio.

> I'll try to keep Ubuntu, as my distro, just for emergency cases I'm
> looking for another distro. At the moment there are Suse 11.2 64-bit,
> Edubuntu + Ubuntu Studio packages Maverick 32-bit and Ubuntu Studio +
> Edubuntu packages Natty 64-bit on my machine installed. I prefer using
> GNOME2.
> 
> My machine:
> 
> ASUS M2A-VM HDMI
> NVIDIA 7200 GS (I could switch to an on-board ATI Radeon X1250-based
> graphics, if this would be better when using a new distro)
> 4 GB RAM
> SATA drives only
> 2 TerraTec EWX 24/96 (UPS didn't deliver a RME HDSPe AIO + ADAT device
> last week, I should get it on Monday, but I'll keep the TerraTec cards
> for MIDI)
> A CTR-monitor, hence xorg.conf by default would be nice, not only
> regarding to mouse issues.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Ralf

All of your preferences will be met by debian. Pulseaudio is optional
and the debian-multimedia team are on the forefront when it comes to
pro-audio packages.

Also note that OpenDAW (64studio's successor in the making) is based on
debian/squeeze.


Other alternatives matching [most of] your criteria would be Arch and
maybe gentoo.

BTW vanilla 2.6.39 includes the relevant RT patches for pro-audio,
although there is no official package, yet. Meanwhile the OpenDAW kernel
does work on 64bit debian systems:
 http://apt.64studio.com/backports/pool/main/l/linux-2.6/

Anyway, choosing a distro for *Desktop use* is quite a personal thingy
and a matter of taste. Give it at least a week after install, else you
can't tell if it sucks or if it is just different from what you are used
to (and that includes Ubunutu).

ciao,
robin