24 Jul
2005
24 Jul
'05
8:33 p.m.
Jono Bacon wrote:
Hi all,
As some of you will be aware, I wrote the following article:
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/7421
After seeing this long thread on this list
(http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/linux-audio-user/2005-July/025068.html),
I figured this poor schmuk should join up and share in some
discussion. :)
Let me be totally clear here - I am really keen to explore everyone's
viewpoints about this subject. Although my views still stand, I am
more than happy to debate them, and I figured it would be great to
hear your thoughts on the list.
Welcome,
The cool thing about folks in this community is they generally
appreciate people that are willing to be forthright and genuinely open.
In the article I clarify the position that
feature-wise, audio
production on Linux is pretty good. Many of the issues that I was
discussing were that some pre-requisite knowledge is required before
you can get started. It seems that to record on Linux you need to have
trawled through documentation, the archives for this list and read up
on the intracies of getting the different parts of the system working.
To me, this seems like a flaw in the offering - surely the user should
be able to get up and running straight away - they download their
package of choice, install and run. Would this not be better?
To direct the discussion further, I would be interested in your
thoughts on the following things:
- do you all feel that it is fairly simple to get stated with Linux
and recording? Am I smoking crack? :)
It was no simpler than the years I spent learning the limitations of 6
different releases of Windows! The upside of the lengthy learning curve
in Linux is that it resulted in MUCH more control over the actual OS and
it's hosted applications. I would not bother to know such things about
M$ OS because it gains me little for my investment of time.
- do you feel there is a seperation between a
professional and an
amateur?
I hope so...otherwise there'd be no Pro industry??
So, the software would 'just work' for the
amateur, but the
professional should really know the specifics of the system and how to
set it up.
This is the status quo IMHO anyway...for "the software should just work"
scenario, there is Demudi / Agnula, CCRMA, MDK w/thacs audio packages,
etc...these mostly just pretty much work> For the pro who wants nano
second latencies, glitch less and seamless audio production flow, etc,
he/she can tweak to their hearts content for efficiencies and hot rodded
performance. This is not going to cover all scenarios of course....Bad
drivers, crappy Bios IRQ management, etc. But of course Windows / Mac
NEVER has any of those issues right???
- if you do feel it is a bit tough to get up and
running without
reading up on all of this, what do you feel are the barriers, both
technical and socially? I am curious to see whether these barriers
could be solved.
The only tough part for me was I had to THINK and use my brain and ask
questions and read and test stuff and be ~patient~ (which I'm NOT very
good at). This as opposed to the M$ drone mentality (At least I call it
that) of years of mind numbing belief that there was "Nothing else out
there worth considering" that had the support, etc.
The investment in time on Linux Audio for me has been well worthwhile in
so many ways. I have been able to make use of lesser machines that would
have become doorstops...they can be if nothing else simple FX
processors. I have achieved latencies un approachable by any M$ system I
have ran. I have actually expanded my grey matter somewhat, and met some
really nice folks in this "community" to boot that just seem to get
along for whatever reason. The array of applications to use is very
expansive and oh, did I mention that it is all FREE~~~ :) And I dont
need to be concerned about the tinted, bullet proof window Surburban
pulling up next to my house when I mess with the code or tweak the OS, etc.
Soon you will believe! Resistance is futile...u will be assimilated! :)
Cheers
R
As I say, I am keen to engage in some constructive
discussion here,
and I look forward to your thoughts. :)
Cheers,
Jono