A Good Linux Distro For Music Production?

[audiojunkie]

One of the problems is, at least with an mint edition, that reaper offers no debian file install. And also no text file how to install it. To me we should address reaper first to change that. To a new linux user it is to complicated, true.

Reaper's install file is this way for the best of reasons. You mention that you wish that you had a Debian install file. But Apt is only one of many package managers. What if you use RPM on Fedora? What if you use Arch? A shell script is a very common and basic Linux function that that performs the install on pretty much any of the 650+ Linux distros. It is this way for compatibility.

I personally use Fedora. I'm not a huge Ubuntu fan. I was once, about a decade ago, but some of their sneaky Microsoft-like corporate moves have made me dislike them. For example, putting advertisements into Linux for a revenue stream. Removing default support for Flatpak from all of its distros. is another disliked move. There are actually several. Fedora may get infrastructure support from Red Hat, but they are much more independently managed as far as distros go. I could go on and on about my Linux choice, but my point is that we each have our reasons for the distro we choose to use. Cockos, in order to provide support to the majority of distros, used a BASH compatible script to make Reaper available for all.

Linux does indeed have a learning curve. It is not in any way like it was just a few short years ago. However, learning how to run a script from the command line occasionally is a very basic thing that any Linux user should learn how to do.

EDIT: BTW, a shell script is just a text file. There are instructions in the text file that give you the information you need on how to install it. Try opening the script with a text editor to get more information about the install script.

[audiojunkie]

In an attempt to make distribution a bit more universal, a lot of devs are using flatpak now. If your distro doesn't have it enabled out of the box, enabling that will open up access to a lot more apps. In my Debian system Reaper is available as a flatpak in Gnome Software.

Out of curiosity, what plugins are working for you with your Flatpak version?

[audiojunkie]

I've been using Windows audio software for decades, and have never been a part of Windows OS communities.

That's because the OS is doing the job it was made to do - get out of the way. And of course, on KVR there are hundreds of Windows users, including myself, who communicate.

In contrast, Linux is still very geeky and hard to fathom at times. Last Friday I decided to give MX Linux a go. So I downloaded the iso and used Rufus to install it to a USB stick. Booted into the OS fine. I then downloaded the latest Reaper and tried to install it using the terminal. Gave up after an hour. Downloaded Linux Mint and tried to install Reaper on that OS, but found the whole thing hard to fathom and went back to Windows. I bet this same story is repeated by many people like myself every day.

It is possible. There is no question that the price of the benefits of Linux is the learning curve. Given the time and effort to learn how to use it, one can reap many rewards. But yes, there is a learning curve. The good news is that things are nowhere near as difficult as it was just 5 short years ago. Things keep getting better and better. There is no need to compile a custom kernel these days. With Pipewire v.1, there is almost no need to do much tuning or configuration in order to enjoy pro audio performance. But you still may need to use the command line to make a configuration change here or there or to add yourself to a group. But aside from that, most everything can be done straight from the GUI. Things are SO much better, and with a little effort, anyone can benefit from the customization and performance rewards of Linux.

[audiojunkie]

One of the problems is, at least with an mint edition, that reaper offers no debian file install. And also no text file how to install it. To me we should address reaper first to change that. To a new linux user it is to complicated, true.

- Run without installing:

You can run REAPER directly from the extracted tarball -- simply navigate to
REAPER/ and run "reaper".

By default configuration state will be stored in ~/.config/REAPER. If you want
to keep all configuration with the "reaper" executable, you can create a file
named "reaper.ini" alongside it, which will cause REAPER to use that directory.

- Installation:

If you would like to install REAPER to your system (either globally in /opt,
or in ~/opt) and/or integrate with the desktop environment, you can run the
included "install-reaper.sh" script from the terminal. It will offer you
choices on how to proceed. If you choose to install REAPER, the script will
also generate an uninstall script in order to remove it at a later date.

- Upgrading old versions of REAPER:

You can always install a new version of REAPER over the old version, there is
no need to remove the old version first.

-----

The above is from readme-linux.txt, within the Reaper installation archive you can get directly from their main download page. I've always used that, and it's never been problematic. Reaper, installed to a system which also has the MX toolkit (i.e. any MX-based system), even works straight from a USB boot when installed like this, no additional trickery required.

Well said!

[audiojunkie]

Reaper may work from MX Linux if it is installed to a hard-disk, but it would not work from the USB live version. I tried to "run Reaper", and also tried to cd into the folder to install it but gave up after an hour. I did get Reaper to run in Mint using the live disk, but was not able to install it. You Reaper guys need to understand that just learning how to cd into a folder is not easy for newbies. In Windows, or OSX, anyone can install stuff, no special knowledge needed.

I'm not sure what steps you did incorrectly, but I assure you that Reaper does indeed work from a USB, if installed properly. I would suggest that if you are indeed interested in using Linux, that you put some time into learning how to use Linux. Start with a turn-key distro, such as AV Linux or Ubuntu Studio, and get comfortable with learning how linux works. As you become more comfortable with using Linux, you will be more ready to start using general distros. Every one of us had to start at the beginning at some point. Consider getting a good beginner's book on using linux in order to get the basics down. Once you are able to work within the Linux ecosystem, you will become less and less frustrated. We are willing to help you where we can, but you do have to study and learn how Linux works differently than Windows or MacOS.

[dellboy]

Three years ago I saw a great deal on an Apple Mac Mini. Purchased it, installed everything, and was making music in under an hour? I had never owned an Apple computer before that. Its an OS thing. Linux has come a long way, but there is still some way to go.

I'd describe it as, the convenience being at different ends of the whole spectrum. Something is very convenient to grab and use, and get to grips with, just like that. Something else has convenience in aspects that aren't possible somewhere else, but you get there by accepting that it takes more work at first. It's nice to have that choice, and both kinds of systems have some way to go, in the respective direction that is outside of their comfort zone. I like using both kinds.

When I get a new computer, I'm making music on it in under two minutes. With all my tools set up and ready to go. If the internal system SSD of a workstation dies, and I decide to pull it completely, I can still keep working in under a minute, without that system drive.

This convenience doesn't extend only to audio/music software, either; I have my whole toolkit at my fingertips from the get go, set up for work. For example this type of convenience of portability and installability is not a Windows thing, and it's not a Mac thing. And it is convenience, just a different sort.

Yeah, I had a USB SSD with Linux Mint on it a couple years ago, it worked great with all my music apps working, including VSTs. I needed the drive for something else and I have never got around to remaking it. I am pretty sure you can now do the same with Windows OS on an external USB SSD. Not sure about Apple silicon though.

[audiojunkie]

You Reaper guys need to understand that just learning how to cd into a folder is not easy for newbies. In Windows, or OSX, anyone can install stuff, no special knowledge needed.

I agree. This is also a different matter.

If you want something that is easy to approach, and are not interested in tailoring your working environment before you use it, I would advise against Linux - and in maaaany cases even against Reaper, even though there are people happily using the latter as-is out of the box.

Things that are powerful and work extremely well, capable of working in use cases and circumstances not easily matched by something else, and faster than something else (both in the sense of CPU efficiency and workflow) might, at the same time, require work to learn. These things are not mutually exclusive, and if something requires putting in the work to learn it (if relatively unfamiliar with it beforehand, at least several weeks of intense learning) - it might be super efficient and fast in the long run (years of "it just works" reliability, fast, robust functionality and workflow).

If judging a tool, a working environment, an instrument, a field of study... anything, based on the amount of work you need to put in before getting the unique benefits of said thing, it's easy to emphasize the amount of work and not the benefits. Use what feels the most natural to you, and your interests and tendencies, and keep things in perspective. It's inevitable there are also tools that are just plain bad AND have a steep learning curve , but the latter doesn't necessitate the first.

I was running Red Hat Linux on a computer in the 1990s. I still have a CD disk from 2006 with all the earliest versions of Reaper on it. I still have a Reaper 2 licence.

Running Red Hat Linux in the 1990s is nothing at all like running a modern distro. If you indeed were a regular user of Linux at that time, then you surely know about all of the advances and improvements that have made things so much better than then. I've used Reaper since it was a beta, but that doesn't mean much of anything. Like I said before, if you aren't actively learning your tools and improving your skills, having worked with it for the past 30 years won't mean much. The point is, it's rewarding for those who are willing to put in the work (and it is continually getting easier and better), but for everyone else, there is Windows and MacOS.

[sprnva]

Out of curiosity, what plugins are working for you with your Flatpak version?

This isn't my DAW system so I only have VCV Rack installed currently. I don't use Reaper but dabbled with Bitwig when I was trying out linux distros. I think I used the flatpak initially for the convenience before switching to the .deb later and didn't run into issues loading any native plugins. I just copied them to the .vst, .clap and .vst3 folders in my home directory and they worked fine.

If the flatpak Reaper has issues seeing plugins it may need its folder permissions tweaked via the terminal or with Flatseal.

[audiojunkie]

Interesting thread, starting to sound more like a people problem more than what OS works IMHO.

Nope, its an OS thing.

Ask yourself why on Windows and OSX Reaper has a double click install, but in Linux you have to resort to a terminal? Why is it that VSTs on Windows and OSX its a double click install, but in Linux you have to set up something like Yabridge using a terminal before you can even start? Its a Linux OS thing.

Three years ago I saw a great deal on an Apple Mac Mini. Purchased it, installed everything, and was making music in under an hour? I had never owned an Apple computer before that. Its an OS thing. Linux has come a long way, but there is still some way to go.

Linux has lots of double click to install or right-click to install applications. You can double-click to install the Reaper script as well. Simply right-click on the script, choose properties, and make it executable.

It is not reasonable to blame all of your problems on the OS. That's a cop out. Many of us, who have taken the time to learn about linux, have no problems with Linux--in fact, to many of us, it is the best operating system we've ever used. Saying that it's an OS thing without bothering to properly learn how to use linux is like saying an automobile is garbage because you haven't bothered to learn how to drive it. If you prefer A Taxi or bus or a chauffer, that's fine. You can still benefit from an automobile. Likewise, if you don't want to learn Linux, there's Windows, or if you really need your hand held, there's MacOS.

[Guenon]

Yeah, I had a USB SSD with Linux Mint on it a couple years ago, it worked great with all my music apps working, including VSTs. I needed the drive for something else and I have never got around to remaking it. I am pretty sure you can now do the same with Windows OS on an external USB SSD. Not sure about Apple silicon though.

That is also very cool; I must say we are talking about slightly different things here as well. On Windows, this isn't "really" supported, and while it is possible to build a Windows live CD (this goes well into geeky territory as well; I have naturally done this in practice, too, at some point ), it requires extensive trickery with WinPE to get a full production environment going. You cannot trivially replicate your running system in live booting form, and it isn't useful for creating live versions of your working environment in a known state, when ever you do significant changes to that environment, production software updates, and so on.

What I mean instead is, first having a system that runs in a completely normal fashion, installed on a computer or in a virtual machine, and then creating a bootable universal version out of that 1:1, which can be booted and installed in that state, on dissimilar hardware. An ISO that you can make a USB device bootable with, without requiring additional installations or customizing the live/installation ISO as a separate entity on separate terms. Much more usually, custom ISOs are done in explicit containers of some kind, based on the official installation media, and so on. So, instead of that, just your running "master" system, as extensively customized and built as you wish, and then creating a live version of that, which boots, runs live, and installs in any x64 computer, boom.

[dellboy]

What I mean instead is, first having a system that runs in a completely normal fashion, installed on a computer or in a virtual machine, and then creating a bootable universal version out of that 1:1,

Yes, this was the reason i chose MX Linux, because of its "snapshot" tool.

[dellboy]

If you indeed were a regular user of Linux at that time

I wouldn't like to give the impression that I was a "regular" user, but I did try to get a working music machine out of Linux way back. It was before the days of broadband downloads when the only way to get Linux was on PC magazine cover-disks.

[Guenon]

Yes, this was the reason i chose MX Linux, because of its "snapshot" tool.

If I had to name just one single thing of that distro that makes it special, I'd mention that tool. They achieved something very cool with that one. Heck, if I had to mention just one single thing out of any distro, I'd probably elevate that feature above anything else, it's so rad.

[uOpt]

Yeah, I had a USB SSD with Linux Mint on it a couple years ago, it worked great with all my music apps working, including VSTs. I needed the drive for something else and I have never got around to remaking it. I am pretty sure you can now do the same with Windows OS on an external USB SSD. Not sure about Apple silicon though.

Apple doesn't allow any change of installation medium anymore. Exchanging the internal SSD using soldering will not work. Booting a full install from a USB drive will not work. That is the case since M1.

[stoopicus]

Yeah, I had a USB SSD with Linux Mint on it a couple years ago, it worked great with all my music apps working, including VSTs. I needed the drive for something else and I have never got around to remaking it. I am pretty sure you can now do the same with Windows OS on an external USB SSD. Not sure about Apple silicon though.

Apple doesn't allow any change of installation medium anymore. Exchanging the internal SSD using soldering will not work. Booting a full install from a USB drive will not work. That is the case since M1.

Try harder next time.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

They even provide instructions themselves for doing so.