[LAU] [LAD] Return with us now to those thrilling days !

[Dale Kazakore Powell]

On 26/03/15 22:46, Len Ovens wrote:
> On Thu, 26 Mar 2015, Brett McCoy wrote:
>
>> Ah, the good ol' days! I first learned how to recompile kernels in 
>> the 90s
>> primarily to add new support for audio card drivers (OSS).
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 6:05 AM, Dave Phillips 
>> <dlphillips at woh.rr.com> wrote:
>>       Greetings,
>>
>>       Something to put smiles on faces:
>>
>>       http://linux-sound.org/lms1999/
>>
>>       The state of Linux audio software, February 1999.
>
> Somewhere around 95 I switched my BBS to Linux from OS/2 so I could 
> add networking and email (I think the BBS died pretty soon after 
> that). I looked at audio SW, but it would be 2005 before I had the 
> hardware that could run Audio for anything but desktop use. Tape and 
> the Atari Mega2 were what I used for music.
>
It almost saddens me you guys talk about this as is if it is is Linux 
specific!

I would have been at college 1997-99 studying Sound Engineering and at 
the time remember Steinberg bringing out the first version of Cubase VST 
(before it meant the plugin system and actually meant Virtual Studio 
Technology, well supposedly...) And on the most powerful computers at my 
college, specifically bought to run just this, you could play a handful 
of audio tracks with minimal effects OK, or you could control some 
external MIDI ok. Try doing MIDI and internal audio and it was a nasty 
experience with near zero chance of timing success though!! no matter 
what the marketing blurb said!

In fact I would said both the Amiga and the Atari were ahead of the game 
of running both audio and midi on the same box at least 5 years 
previously! And even at that time people trying to use MacOS for it were 
struggling almost as much as PC users (maybe not quite and purely one or 
the other was definitely tighter.)

So please don't think only linux audio sucked in the late 90's!! (and 
beyond.......)