[linux-audio-dev] The Image (usablity) problem from a Musicians point of view

Hi guys, Most musicians I know really don't give a hoot for what OS they run or indeed what philosophy drove the development of the apps. All they care about is if it will do the job better then their current setup at a cheaper cost. Piracy is rife in the audio world which means people can get their hands on pretty decent software. This is what they'll be comparing LAD with. For Linux to compete in the audio field, I believe it must be able to do a number of things including the following: 1. Provide an easy to use system that is exactly that 2. Provide 32bit support where possible 3. Have the ability to use DirectX plugins Sure, there is probably a lot more but I'm just gathering my thoughts here. What I'm afraid of is that LAD will end up with the same problems as most Linux distros suffer from: Bloat. Choice is good, but do I really need 7 text editors on my system? No. What I believe would benefit LAD, and correct me if I'm wrong, is to create a 'big picture', a complete DAW system. It should consist of AN audio editor, AN audio recorder, A sample editor, etc. Like I said, choice is great but musicians don't give a hoot about choice, they want something that works, not 7 things that are half done. If all effort was pushed in this direction, I believe we would end up with a quality system that the world would take seriously. I don't know if the 3 points I've made have already been done, I'm new to LAD, but they are important. Especially 3 as it gives a "migration path" to existing windoze users. I know, I know, DirectX plugins are written against Microsoft libraries, but how come mplayer on Linux can use windows binaries (codecs) in it's system? Could the same not be done for audio? Surely it's the same principle? (Media data input, process, media data ouput). Maybe I'm going over old ground here but I wanted to say something anyway. Isn't that what mailing lists are for? I know people who would move away from windows at the drop of a hat. They hate windows. High latency, instability... So how about it? An integrated system using your good talents. If you have a waveform in an audio recorder you want to double click to edit it, not drop out, load up a different program and then search around the directories for audio_track_3_guitar_take_7.wav. Stupid stuff like this creates a good user experience which in turn wins people. I have a ton of ideas for audio editing that aren't in the 'big name' apps and if I had the time, would code them myself (but I'm sure there are people who could do it in half the time here :). Aaanyway, that's my brain dump for today. Hope I didn't lose you on the way :) Cheers, -Lea. PS: There was no criticism intended in this post.