On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 6:24 PM, Kris Calabio <cpczk@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi all,

I'm new to the Linux Audio community.  Let me introduce myself:

(You can skip to "Ok getting to the point" if you like :P )

I'm primarily a rock musician and have a home recording setup with a Presonus Audiobox USB, Guitar Rig 3, and Reaper on a Windows system, and it works really well for me.  I've been using Linux ever since I started studying computer science in college since 2006 and immediately recognized it as marginally better than Windows.  I've considered switching my home system completely to Linux and free software (all knowledge must be free!), but I love Reaper too much.

So I decided to dual boot on my new laptop about a month ago.  I still have Windows 7 to get stuff done in Reaper quickly and comfortably, and Ubuntu Studio to experiment with.  I must say, this last month I've learned so, so much about Linux, DSP, and computers in general.  The flexibility of Jack is awesome.  I love how all my plugins don't have to be run all in one DAW application.  Jack with Ardour and Guitarix rivals my Windows setup, though I still prefer Reaper.

Ok getting to the point:

Does anyone have suggestions for diving into the world of open source development?  I've looked at some source code of applications I use but get pretty lost.  Are there any simple Jack applications that have easy to read code?  I'm all for taking baby steps.  I'm also open to reading suggestions (online resources, books, anything really).

The lowest level of DSP programming I've ever done was with Pure Data.  (I made a wavetable/FM synthesizer in pd that I could post if anyone's interested.)  Are there other programming languages I should learn?  I know C, C++, and Java.  I understand that FAUST is a good DSP language.  Are there others?

The Linux community is great and the free audio software is really powerful!  It's definitely THE ideal alternative for musicians on a budget like myself.  Unfortunately, you sort of have to be tech savvy to be a Linux musician.  The average musician is not.  I want to be part of the development of free audio software as my way of giving back to this wonderful community and helping the average musician.


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My best advice is to pick up a project that you are objectively interested in completing.  Pick a goal that you would be happy if *someone else* did.  That way when the novelty wears off, you'll still have some motivation to keep working and keep learning when you otherwise might tire of it.  So ask yourself:  What's something that you think linux audio is lacking?  Find something small, and find something you care about.

Jeremy