[LAU] and now, what do you think RULES about Linux audio ?

[cunnilinux himself]

well, seems like the discussion has run out of interest when i was
away, and everything that does matter has been said for the moment,
but i'll try to put some my thoughts in english anyway.

so. why do i think linux audio rules:

1) because any gnu/linux system is the construction set by its nature.
2) because it is very well suited for advanced users (i'm not a
developer, that's important!) and gives us as much control over any
and every aspect of the whole system as we want.

in fact, linux audio is the niche thing for those reasons. it's
absolutely ok. it just uses a different approach than the mainstream
products, and this SHOULD happen with something in the audio
production realm. say, if i want to build a dedicated GUI-less
environment running MIDI-driven supercollider on a cluster of laptops,
there should be a construction set that allows me to do it. the
coolest thing about linux audio is that it is capable of doing such
things just right.

but on the other hand, that's why i am very sceptical about the idea
of keeping linux audio in line with mass products. don't get me wrong,
i'd like such things as wider range of suported hardware or more cool
soft synths. but the approach of hiding more and more internals behind
smarter and smarter single-buttoned user interface drives the whole
cool linux audio thing to nowhere. literally. consider playing with
system internals vs hiding them as two antitropic vectors. the
resultant will be zero.

there is a well known basic in unix-like systems: using the right tool
for right task.
so if one wants an audio production environment where everything works
out of the box, he/she should consider going mac.
and if one wants an audio production environment where everything is
believed to work right out of the box, he/she should consider going
windows.
and linux audio should stay primarily for those who want to know what
they are doing and why.
and there will feng shui and harmony be all over the world forever :)))))