30 Jul
2009
30 Jul
'09
5:43 a.m.
sonofzev(a)iinet.net.au wrote:
This is the big If?.. Why specifically a Debian based distro?
Are you looking for the best performing music workstation, a politically correct
distro, a server or a general purpose desktop?
If the answer is music workstation, why does the choice need to be limited to
Debian?
Many would argue (including myself).. that a ground up type of distro, like
Gentoo, Paludis or Arch are the best way to start. Although Debian if carefully
installed will fit into this category.
I have also found this personally in experience too. I've tried the pre-built
distros for music Studio64, Apodio and UbuntuStudio and GP desktops Mandriva and
Ubuntu and found they were
a) bloated
b) did not contain everything I needed or had old versions of what I needed
c) trying to add things not in the repos was more than trivial
d) did not perform as fast as as a ground up distro...
e) a nightmare come upgrade if any customisations have been made..
I agree completely with what you say here, and was trying to make the
same point - that a more general system like Gentoo or Debian [I
carefully mentioned both as examples, a couple of lines down the email
you quote!] was probably the best place to look, unless you are lucky
enough to have a preconfigured distribution that happens to meet your
needs well.
My choice happens to be Debian, probably just because I found it before
Gentoo - which would certainly do the job as well!
I'm sure you could suggest the easiest ways to get started with Gentoo.
I was suggesting that if you want to install a basic, up-to-date, plain
Debian system then maybe try Sidux for the installer. In the past
installing Debian Unstable and keeping it up to date has been a
challenge, but Sidux has helped a lot. It isn't a separate distribution,
it is almost pure Debian and has made Sid [= Debian Unstable] much
easier to install and maintain. For minimum bloat stick with the xfce
version, but a KDE installer is also there if you prefer. The
website/manual has become a great resource as well.
Simon
Agreed.
If you want a Debian-based system, Ubuntu is much more focused on
requirements for a general-purpose desktop. Not specifically for
musicians of course, but easier to adapt for that purpose.
maybe it is more of a
trade-off -