[linux-audio-user] Opening up the discussion

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. 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? :) - do you feel there is a seperation between a professional and an amateur? 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. - 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. As I say, I am keen to engage in some constructive discussion here, and I look forward to your thoughts. :) Cheers, Jono