[LAU] Linux Audio podcast. episode002

[Devin Anderson]

On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 1:00 AM, Louigi Verona <louigi.verona at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey fellas!
>
> This time talking of getting tired to file bug reports, get the podcast
> here:
> http://www.louigiverona.ru/?page=projects&s=writings&t=linux&a=linux_podcast
>
>
> Would be interested in what you think!

I just got around to listening to your podcast after seeing all of the
activity on the mailing list.

I'm aware that you're a user that contributes back to the Linux Audio
community.  I read your blog occasionally, and have listened to some
of your music.  I appreciate what you've done for the community.

That said, my first reaction to your podcast was quite negative.  I
thought you sounded like a whiny, spoiled brat.  To qualify my
thought, I'd like to add some context.

Here are some of my contributions for the LInux Audio community:

    * synthclone (50,000 + lines of code, and 2-3 years of spare time)
    * midisnoop (~ 3,000 lines of code)
    * JACK 2 contributions:
        * MIDI queue system for drivers
        * rewritten drivers (WinMME, CoreMIDI, FFADO)
        * alsarawmidi driver
    * minor code contributions to other projects

... and here's what I received from the community in return:

    * Linux Audio software I use: ALSA, JACK, Ardour, zita-a2j, patchage,
      Audacity
    * Other software that is no longer a part of my workflow
    * 16.43 USD in donations (thanks to those who donated)
    * bug reports
    * occasional praise

You'll notice that the list of what I've received from the community
doesn't include quality assurance, user experience design, graphic
design, the creation of test scenarios, written documentation,
translations, etc.  The software that I write was written by *me*.
The limited documentation available for my software was written by
*me*.  Same with testing and user experience design (if you can call
it that).

The software you're comparing Linux Audio software to has a lot more
money and work put into it than Linux Audio software.  Linux Audio
developers don't have the resources that these companies have.  What
Linux Audio developers *do* have is the motivation to fill a need in
the Linux Audio community, and the hope that the Linux Audio community
will do their part to help improve the software and motivate the
developers to continue.

So, when I first heard you complaining about filing bug reports, it
made me angry.

Now that I've had a bit of time to reflect and empathize a bit with
what you're saying, I can understand that it's frustrating to have
your workflow interrupted by a crash, unexpected behavior, pops and
clicks, etc.  Given the contributions you've made that I'm aware of, I
would guess that you do generally file bug reports and try to improve
the software you use, and that your podcast was probably inspired by
having your workflow interrupted in this fashion over and over again.
I get it.  That really sucks.

There's more I want to write about this, but I have to get to work.  More later.

-- 
Devin Anderson
surfacepatterns (at) gmail (dot) com

blog - http://surfacepatterns.blogspot.com/
midisnoop - http://midisnoop.googlecode.com/
psinsights - http://psinsights.googlecode.com/
synthclone - http://synthclone.googlecode.com/