18 Oct
2002
18 Oct
'02
6:23 a.m.
On Friday 18 October 2002 04:25, Patrick Shirkey wrote:
My opinion is that there is not enough people working
on the
promotional side of ALSA and Linux Audio.
ALSA/LAD is too geeky and too die-hard techno hardcore to appeal to
anyone but geeks. IMHO music geeks are the worst type of geeks and
Linux geeks are the worst type of computer geeks. This isn't a
ALSA/LAD problem - it's a general Linux image problem. Out with the
beards and fusty academia, kernel hacking and tweakery and in with the
primary colours and the big square buttons to get The Kids into it all.
The Linux desktop is now sufficiently advanced that this should all be
possible.
I argued all this with a guy from Newsforge when we showed at Linux Expo
last week. The article has typos all over it (including my name of
course) and it's a little quote light but:
http://newsforge.com/newsforge/02/10/14/196240.shtml?tid=23
The point is that selling Linux Audio isn't just about Linux Audio -
it's about selling the whole desktop. It's about letting people know
that if they want to make music they can just get on and make music.
People shouldn't have to have a degree to install music software and to
start using it. This problem is bigger that LAD/ALSA or even AGNULA
and it crosses that distasteful line between hobbyists twiddling and
research and big business. It treads on a lot of toes.
Yes, this is a troll and not a very original one at that, but it's time
that there was a clear distinction between Linux Sound/Audio and Linux
for Music. The latter has a clearly defined marketplace, the former
doesn't.
B