Marc Lavallée wrote:
"In the Beginning was the Command Line" (Neal Stephenson):
Hear the man. Things would be *so* much more clear if everyone read this book...
I somehow missed the original post that began this thread, but I'm assuming it was from Ken Locarnini, yes ? To be fair, IIRC Ken really has given Linux audio a whirl, and I believe he's still philosophically inclined towards open-source software in general. However, IMO it remains true that some higher degree of skill with computers and/or willingness to work with them is required to make a successful switch to Linux, especially for use with audio. And I'll add this URL again for the doubters who seem to think that we're all just twiddling bits here in Linux-land :
http://linux-sound.org/music.html
So please, don't say there's no-one making music with Linux audio software. I'm really tired of hearing that one...
I was a little surprised at the harshness of some of the comments I read (from Ken?) re: Linux playing catch-up. That charge definitely won't stick when Linux the system is under consideration. However, it definitely applies to most Linux audio software, but I'm not going to apologize for that condition. The plain fact is that there are a lot of people working like mad to turn Linux into an outstanding audio platform. I don't mean to be rude by saying this, but another plain fact is that if you're not going to help then go away and come back when we're ready for you. No hard feelings, we all just want to make some music here, but some of us have strong feelings about things like ownership of our tools, the ability to fix them if they're fucked up, and free access to their code if we suddenly want to write in an improvement or two. We might also have strong feelings (particularly if you're not from the USA) about shoving any more cash into the coffers of a monstrous monopoly that seems hell-bent on destroying the free software movement any way it can.
Now I realize that Steinberg != Micro$oft, but you can't do Steinberg without paying M$, and to me that's just not acceptable any longer. So I dedicate a lot of my time and energies into working to provide a better way for others who might also believe as I do (and there are a lot of us). I suppose I'm guilty of an altruistic impulse, but I'll feel good if I can help pave the way for a better experience for the next generation of musicians using free and open-source software.
Geez, I'm starting to sound like RMS...!
Anyway, I'm rambling and this whole discussion is 'way off-topic for the Pd list. I'll end by stating the following items:
1. I run Pd with GEM from the PlanetCCRMA release, it all works fine
here. 2. Projects such as AGNULA and PlanetCCRMA are the best way for a newbie to enter the world of Linux audio software. 3. ALSA, Ardour, JACK, Rosegarden, Hydrogen, and many other nice apps are creeping towards their 1.0 releases, indicating a first wave of reasonably mature native Linux audio apps. 4. A rather large number of MusicV-related apps are already quite solid, e.g. Csound, Pd, Common Music, CLM, and others. Lots of good music gets made with those apps, even on Linux. 5. Linux is not a perfect operating system. No OS is perfect.
Sorry for the rant. Ken, I hope you took all this the right way, no offense is intended. I sincerely hope everyone is doing the work they want to do, regardless of platform. But I actually do use Linux in my day-to-day music activities (composing, arranging, teaching, studying) and find it quite workable here, so I'm a bit prickly when I think someone is diss'ing the penguin... ;-)
Best regards,
Dave Phillips