On 15 January 2012 12:11, Jeremy Jongepier <jeremy(a)autostatic.com> wrote: I have to disagree with the notion that paid-for software on Linux is going to damage the free software scene. Look at what's going on at the other end of the scale, in the closed-source, proprietary hardware world. Apple brings out the iPad, a tablet with multi-touch capabilities and obvious audio processing chops (it's the son of the iPod). The developer world jumps on it - mobile apps are new and sexy. The OS is derived from Mac OSX, itself a Unix variant, which they've been collectively developing on for decades. Audio apps start to carve out their own niche. The iTunes App Store must be the only app store where the 'Music' category has more synths and sequencers than MP3 players. The hardware itself is successful enough that Apple brings out a sequel, this time with USB connectivity which promises connection with MIDI and audio interfaces. Developers are just getting their teeth into it and apps are getting more and more 'pro' when Apple goes and ruins it. Last year they brought out Garageband. It's not the first DAW on the iPad, but it's by far the best. The problem for money-making developers is that Garageband is priced well below its competition - £2.99 in the UK. That's less than a quarter of the £13.99 price of both its nearest competitors, StudioTrack and Meteor Multitrack Recorder, and they still don't have anything like Garageband's feature set. The impetus for developers to develop a full-featured DAW on iPad has now gone. No matter how much innovation they throw at it, they're always going to be up against Apple's marketing clout. Apple know that for 3 quid, even people who wouldn't call themselves musicians will try out Garageband. And that company makes its money from hardware sales anyway, so an app like Garageband would always be a loss-leader for them. For the finished indie DAW product to be competitively priced, the developers are never going to be recompensed for their time. My point being that cheaper software outsells more expensive software, and free (meaning no cost) will win everytime. As far as Bitwig goes, I'm sure it will have its own niche of Linux users who made the jump from Win/OSX and miss Ableton enough to shell out, but it's not the first commercial Linux audio app either. The LinuxDSP plugins haven't put off developers. Neither have the cross-platform energyXT and Renoise. Linux FLOSS devs are always going to have the advantage of price over commercial developers. And just want to add that I'm actually pretty excited about a Bitwig beta or demo. I think it looks like more than Ableton, I see some modular-looking screenshots. If they've gone and 'borrowed' the Max functionality of Ableton (though it looks more like Reaktor to me), I'll be getting moist. -A