[Consortium] Report: advantages, disadvantages, and strategies for Linux adoption in audio electronics

Greetings All, Once again, thanks for the highly-informative and friendly feedback I've received here. I figured that it was a good time to present the report that I wrote. The target audience is a company executive who might not have significant knowledge of Linux and open-source development. The data and the suggestions are fairly obvious. ...though the virtualization/emulation topics may be controversial (could invite TiVo-type troubles, or just violate the spirit of GPL). This is for another post... http://bryanthansen.net/linux-audio-proposal-edit.pdf The report is in the original form that I sent it, with the exception of replacing the company name with XYZ, Inc. I haven't updated it with information that I've received from the group. Any version 2 will be a significant step forward. Some of the key feedback that I've received from the group, which belongs in there, includes: * awareness of 64 studio, who seem to focus on exactly the type of work I'm trying to organize http://www.64studio.com/ * the existing use of Linux (and perhaps Ardour) in various products: - Korg Oasys Keyboard http://www.korg.com/Product.aspx?pd=214 - Harrison Consoles' Xdubber http://www.harrisonconsoles.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&tas… - Museresearch Receptor http://www.museresearch.com/receptor.php?r=why - Liontracks Mediastation X-76 http://www.gearjunkies.com/product_info.php?products_id=12502 - Hartmann Neuron Synthesizer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartmann_Neuron - Indamixx http://indamixx.com/ - Midas XL8 http://www.midasconsoles.com/xl8.php * a professional institute that trains all kinds of future studio/broadcast/live-sound engineers in the use of Ardour http://www.sae.edu/en-gb/content/80/Ardour_-_SAE_Edition * The Free Firewire Audio Drivers org (FFADO.org) http://ffado.org/ * the possibility that Linux support might not have much marketing impact with professional devices (as opposed to consumer devices that are more accessible to a wider range of developers) Cheers, Bryant