Linux Users, What's You Distro Experience?

[j_e_g]

from Mint Linux, ... trying to get Studio One to work... and have decided to give up.

Didn't you say you just upgraded to a new version of Mint, whcih was released like days ago?

When was that version of Studio One created (ie, compiled)? Has it been created within the past couple of months, for example? Or do you have some version that's like 2 years old.

The reason I ask is because not each update to the linux OS (kernel) is 100% backward compatibile to older versions. Sometimes, if you're trying to run software that was created under an older linux version, some backward compatibility issue (usially referred to as a "regression") will come into play under a newer kernel,

If you still have a copy of your previous version of Mint, try using that. You may find that your Studio One version runs well under that, likely because that's the versions of OS libraries and support files it was created with.

You need to be judicious with updating your operating system, and applications. Try to avoid updating them separately. If you've got a brand new kernel update, hold off on upgrading it until such time as you also have recent updates of all your needed apps. Don't install today's kernel if you have an important app whose latest version was created 3 years ago (and that's all that is available). That's asking for trouble.

[dellboy]

from Mint Linux, ... trying to get Studio One to work... and have decided to give up.

Didn't you say you just upgraded to a new version of Mint, whcih was released like days ago?

When was that version of Studio One created (ie, compiled)? Has it been created within the past couple of months, for example? Or do you have some version that's like 2 years old.

The reason I ask is because not each update to the linux OS (kernel) is 100% backward compatibile to older versions. Sometimes, if you're trying to run software that was created under an older linux version, some backward compatibility issue (usially referred to as a "regression") will come into play under a newer kernel,

If you still have a copy of your previous version of Mint, try using that. You may find that your Studio One version runs well under that, likely because that's the versions of OS libraries and support files it was created with.

You need to be judicious with updating your operating system, and applications. Try to avoid updating them separately. If you've got a brand new kernel update, hold off on upgrading it until such time as you also have recent updates of all your needed apps. Don't install today's kernel if you have an important app whose latest version was created 3 years ago (and that's all that is available). That's asking for trouble.

I take your point, but you need to read the Studio One Linux forum for yourself to get an idea of what is going on. In contrast to Studio One, Bitwig shows how to do it right, it just works in Linux as if you were on OSX or Windows.

https://forums.presonus.com/viewforum.p ... 86065a870b

[j_e_g]

read the Studio One Linux...

Well if it's that bad, consider yourself lucky that it wouldn't run on your computer.

[glokraw]

if time matters to you, its best to stick to OSX or Windows.

To the extent that 'time is money', what many hobbyist musicians, and most musician stores, would recommend as a needed collection of gear and software, is quite expensive, unless one is a diehard no-brainer-sale comparison shopper.
( then again there are members of forums far and wide driving $20K and $30K cars, who might be happier and healthier with a $16K or $26K car, and a $4000 spending spree on music gear ) Mac is too expensive for many, and windoze is far too boring for me. YMMV, and I hope quite happily

I am writing this reply from Mint Linux, and I have just spent an hour trying to get Studio One to work on this OS, and have decided to give up. And this is a paid for DAW that is supposed to be Linux native.

Mint is a soho general-purpose distro, does a good job at that, and can be re-purposed for audio, and un-needed things uninstalled.
Linux Studio One appears to be the ugly beta stepchild of a successful hardware company, and maybe it's windows version is great for windows users. Not my arena. Their linux effort seems pathetic, and I suspect it is more aimed at gaining familiarity in case m-soft goes berserk, or apple implements some massive requirements that reduce sales and increase support costs with macs. Maybe they plan to release products using embedded linux that could possibly integrate pipewire functionality...or maybe it's a mis-guided pet project of the bosses nephew

Is newer better? I use an old i7 with 8 gig ram, 4 cores/8 threads, Reaper, a few different AVLinux distros, and have Mixbus 6 and Bitwig 8Track should some need arise. The bigger issues are needing better musician skills, and not being so dumb

Is the linux audio future bright? Not in all categories. But the old things needed won't vanish, and new things can be easily tested without wreaking havoc on a needed system. I may have to stock up on elderly computers, to be on the safe side of modernity
Cheers

[glokraw]

I take your point, but you need to read the Studio One Linux forum for yourself to get an idea of what is going on.
https://forums.presonus.com/viewforum.p ... 86065a870b

First thing I see there says in part:
"Internet connection (needed for installation, activation, and Cloud, Shop, and Exchange integration)"
thud ...for a free daw primitive beta? They are throwing good money after bad if trying to support all that stuff. Looks more like a sales platform for sounds and gear, than a serious attempt a a better DAW Not like the linux musician userbase is going to cover those developement costs. Unless the bosses nephew is coding it all for free.
Cheers

[glokraw]

I'd like to be in the market for Presonus hardware, if well supported in linux, to do recordings like this, a home recorded prayerful song (acknowledging some of church audio leanings that show up in some Presonus google searches) My money is not easily pried away. And 150 megabytes for Reaper
and it's data is easy on the disk space.

[j_e_g]

"Internet connection (needed for installation, activation, and Cloud, Shop, and Exchange integration)"

No wonder why it didn't run. What competently configured linux distro would allow some inconsequential music app a level of access _that_ potentially dangerous?

And I don't care if a product is expensive, cheap, or even free. If I see the words "requires activation", then I'm about as likely to entertain it as Hamas is likely to be invited to Netanyahu's next birthday party (even though by that time they'll both be locked up in the same israeli prison).

[FranklyFlawless]

Two questions were asked, so I will address them in order.

Linux Users, What's Your Distro Experience?

• AV Linux 'MX Edition'
• Debian 12 'Bookworm'
• Fedora 40
• Nobara
• PureOS
• Qubes OS 4.2.2
• Ubuntu Studio 24.04 LTS 'Noble Numbat'
• Whonix 17

My very first experience with Linux was with Ubuntu over a decade ago. Currently I use Qube OS with Debian, Fedora, and Whonix TemplateVMs on my Librem 14, while using PureOS 10.3 'Byzantium' on a live USB for music production purposes. I also currently use PureOS 11 'Crimson' on my Librem 5 USA.

Linux users, what did you like or not like about some Linux distributions that you've tried?

What I like:

• Debian:
  • GNOME 43
• Fedora:
  • Software repository has updated packages
  • Xonotic
• Nobara:
  • Turnkey Linux gaming and livestreaming distribution
  • Proton-GE
• PureOS:
  • Absolutely efficient and dead quiet
  • FSF-endorsed
  • Apparently handles 5ms latency using Surge XT 1.2.3, Ardour, and a Shure KSE1500
• Qubes OS:
  • Highly organized and structured workflow
• Whonix:
  • Bleeding-edge anonymity operating system
  • Seamless Qubes-Whonix integration

What I dislike:

• AV Linux:
  • Enlightenment
  • Third-party software demos (bloatware)
  • Icon animations when clicked
• PureOS:
  • Various default settings
• Ubuntu Studio:
  • Unstable/crashes often

[dellboy]

read the Studio One Linux...

Well if it's that bad, consider yourself lucky that it wouldn't run on your computer.

I did manage to get it working in Mint Linux in the end.

I first made a Ubuntu Studio USB stick and booted into that,and found that it worked OK in that OS using jack. The onboard synths would not load in Mint, but did in Ubuntu Studio.

So with this new knowledge I booted into Mint and installed the Ubuntu Studio setup from software centre. Studio One now partially worked,but the onboard synths still refused to load. I then tried loading Wayland Plasma at login,and that worked. So I now have Studio One working in Mint.

[j_e_g]

Mint is a good first distro for a newbie moving over from Windows/Mac. But if that person is a musician, then I instead recommend AV Linux. This is because, for music work, the best performance requires the os to be finetuned in certain ways. For example, a low latency version of the kernel is desirible, as well as increasing the resolution of clocks, etc. AV Linux has all those settings already made for you.

And of course, being new to the linux ecosystem, you'll want to evaluate all the popular linux music apps. You can go to various sites and download/install those apps yourself. But since AV Linux is a distro for musicians, it already has those apps installed for you, including demos of commercial music apps. (And sometimes, it's harder to install programs than it is to use them). After evaluation, you can easily uninstall programs you don't wish to use.

Finally, AV Linux includes significant documention beyond what many distros contain. It has effectively an entire book (in pdf format) that tells how to make various adjustments to the OS. This can save you lots of time/trouble searching the internet looking for solutions that aren't obsolete, or not applicable to the version of kernel/desktop that you're using.

[glokraw]

Here's a link to load that AVLinux manual:

https://bandshed.net/pdf/AVL-MXE-User-Manual.pdf

@dellboy thanks for posting your success. The more the merrier

[dellboy]

Mint is a good first distro for a newbie moving over from Windows/Mac. But if that person is a musician, then I instead recommend AV Linux. This is because, for music work, the best performance requires the os to be finetuned in certain ways. For example, a low latency version of the kernel is desirible, as well as increasing the resolution of clocks, etc. AV Linux has all those settings already made for you.

And of course, being new to the linux ecosystem, you'll want to evaluate all the popular linux music apps. You can go to various sites and download/install those apps yourself. But since AV Linux is a distro for musicians, it already has those apps installed for you, including demos of commercial music apps. (And sometimes, it's harder to install programs than it is to use them). After evaluation, you can easily uninstall programs you don't wish to use.

Finally, AV Linux includes significant documention beyond what many distros contain. It has effectively an entire book (in pdf format) that tells how to make various adjustments to the OS. This can save you lots of time/trouble searching the internet looking for solutions that aren't obsolete, or not applicable to the version of kernel/desktop that you're using.

I downloaded AV Linux and booted into the live CD. After 15 minutes I gave up. I have to say I thought it was awful compared to Mint. There is nothing in that distribution that I would personally use anyway, and quite a lot of the stuff is in the Ubuntu Studio addon to Mint already. Coming from Windows, Mint is so easy to use, and I have Bitwig, Waveform, and Studio One working on it, so why switch.

[EnGee]

Mint is a good first distro for a newbie moving over from Windows/Mac. But if that person is a musician, then I instead recommend AV Linux. This is because, for music work, the best performance requires the os to be finetuned in certain ways. For example, a low latency version of the kernel is desirible, as well as increasing the resolution of clocks, etc. AV Linux has all those settings already made for you.

And of course, being new to the linux ecosystem, you'll want to evaluate all the popular linux music apps. You can go to various sites and download/install those apps yourself. But since AV Linux is a distro for musicians, it already has those apps installed for you, including demos of commercial music apps. (And sometimes, it's harder to install programs than it is to use them). After evaluation, you can easily uninstall programs you don't wish to use.

Finally, AV Linux includes significant documention beyond what many distros contain. It has effectively an entire book (in pdf format) that tells how to make various adjustments to the OS. This can save you lots of time/trouble searching the internet looking for solutions that aren't obsolete, or not applicable to the version of kernel/desktop that you're using.

I downloaded AV Linux and booted into the live CD. After 15 minutes I gave up. I have to say I thought it was awful compared to Mint. There is nothing in that distribution that I would personally use anyway, and quite a lot of the stuff is in the Ubuntu Studio addon to Mint already. Coming from Windows, Mint is so easy to use, and I have Bitwig, Waveform, and Studio One working on it, so why switch.

Because it is for a newbie

[glokraw]

AVLinux is made by a guy with a band, over many years, for his personal use, according to his needs. He makes it available, and has made an effort over the years, to include things that might appeal to a broader group of users. Currently, it's debian based, using a good deal of configuration from the MX Linux distro. Anyone familiar with debian systems, linux eye-candy, and synaptic package manager, can transform both the desktop and underlying system. Same is true for the many ubuntu spinoffs. Same is true for Suse, Fedora, and their various spinoffs. Linux systems consist of a kernel, system tools and libs, a collection of configurations files, and a choice of desktop gui's,
followed by various graphic themes for apps. The desktop gui's have a wide range of preferences and capabilities, causing some consternation at times, but anyone with a mouse, a keyboard, and a weekend, and the internet, can get the record button doing something useful. Whatever you don't like, can be removed or replaced, and what you do like, can be enhanced

[glokraw]

@ EnGee: Do you mean a newbie to linux? A newbie to audio prodection? A newbie to computer-based audio production? Or? AVLinux has wine-staging, a plugin wrapper (with a gui), a Reaper daw, and a variety of plugins and instruments pre-configured, so only a few configurations will be needed to start. This makes new, or repair installations quite useful, from a time savings standpoint. I wouldn't recommend trying to get by on a single installation, regardless of the chosen distro(s). I have three different AVLinux setups for different purposes, and things change quickly enough, that I'm a newbie several times a year, or more if other peoples opinions are counted