[linux-audio-user] ANN: JOST, a simple host for native VST

[Paul Davis]

On Mon, 2007-02-26 at 17:25 +0100, Ketil Thorgersen wrote:

> >> It shall be released in March under an open licence. He will build up this 
> >> small host JOST (Jack hOST) to a instrumentrack with basic sequencer 
> >> functions. Later he will build up a full sequencer named "Juggler", which 
> >> should be near to the commercial Tracktion. (JUCE is the framework behind 
> >> Tracktion1)

> This seem to me a very strange post! Why this frustration! Here this guy 
> is actually trying to improve what he (and probably others) figures is a 
> problem within the world of linux. So he begins to write a program to 
> fix it instead of moaning about it. And then he announces it - only to 
> get bashed by one of the key figures in the linux audio world. Strange!

what is the number one issue facing pro-audio/music-oriented linux audio
right now, other than the need for every single possible hardware
interface to work? *developers*. there isn't a single project that
couldn't use a at least a few more developers. every single project:
Rosegarden, MuSE, Lilypond, Aldrin, Ardour, JACK, Seq24, Ingen,
Hydrogen, even ALSA itself, plus many more fine efforts that i've failed
to name. they all need people to add new functionality, to fix bugs, to
grow, scale, handle new goals and more.

but instead, somebody plans to start a *new* project with essentially
identical goals in terms of functionality as several existing projects.
not only that, but someone speaking on his behalf even says "which
should be near to the commercial Traktion" apparently without even a
thought about what this actually involves. people say stuff like this as
if good audio sequencers (and Traktion, in its own particular way, is
really pretty good) are programs on the level of a new PHP module for a
CMS, or a python hack to do mail filtering. done properly, with proper
attention for what users actually need, these are deeply complex
programs, perhaps more complex than anything except an operating system.

nobody in the open source/free software world can force other people to
work on a given project, but i am certainly free to complain at what i
see as misdirected effort. i know how hard it is to write a good
GUI-driven audio application. having developers appear with the
announcement that they are going to write another one is frustrating.