[LAU] bitwig announcement

[James Stone]

On 1/16/12, Fons Adriaensen <fons at linuxaudio.org> wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 06:50:12PM -0500, Paul Davis wrote:
>> On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 6:12 PM, Alan Russell <ajrussellaudio at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > The platform,
>> > software and community are all part of the package when you invest in
>> > a new OS. And cross-platform software has zero impact on that.
>>
>> Well yeah, except that "there's no Ableton Live for Linux" is one of a
>> number of reasons, though a particularly good reason, why many people
>> could not possibly choose Linux as the platform for what they thought
>> they wanted to do.
>>
>> Bitwig Studio may change that. It certainly seems as if it will remove
>> that particular reason from the list.
>
> Another thing that could happen is:
>
> - A number of Linux users buy it and use Bitwig.
> - After some time, version N+1 adds some nice features and
>   at the same time drops Linux support - "we can't spend all
>   that effort/money on supporting such a small market".
> - Users want to keep using their toy and switch to OSX or
>   Windows.
>

Certainly possible, probably happened before. Doesn't seem to be an
issue with Renoise.

My take on it is that Linux is about freedom, and for me that includes
freedom to use proprietary software when I want/ if it's most
appropriate. I use Linux primarily because I like the OS. I also use a
lot of GNU/GPL software and have written and contributed to GNU/GPL
software - which will be what I primarily use if I can.

For me: Windows is crap because it does things behind-the-scenes that
are non-user editable - i.e. installing a load of files all over the
place which can't be removed/traced easily, registry bloat, inability
to lock things down effectively,.

Mac - really forces the user to do everything the "Mac" way. Trying to
do non-standard things is very difficult/impossible.

Linux is very configurable, has performance that doesn't degrade, and
I can usually work out how any single bit of the OS is operating if
needed.

Having proprietary software available only increases the
options/flexibility IMHO.

Of course everyone has different reasons for using Linux. Vive la difference!

James