Why Linux is Becoming Impossible for Audio Developers to Ignore

[stoopicus]

Grizzellda's 0.02 $$$ ...

Future of Linux = "steady as she goes" :

...and there's nothing wrong with that- linux is in a very good place for enterprise adoption, it's only desktop usage that is its weakness.

I use it literally every day at work and for how we use it it is best in class.

But we all have Mac laptops/desktops for desktop usage.

[Freaqpeak]

Modern Linux distros are easier to use and install than windows 11. and way faster to manage and install.
Bought a cheap HP laptop for my 8 year old, after trying win11 which required online MS account, added really bad ads+news on start menu.. and missing drivers.
So I installed PopOS as a test.
Took a minute to install and then it just worked. Wtf. Takes seconds to boot.
Even gaming has better performance than in Windows 11.
Just impressed that my kid now can play all games on Steam, Minecraft native, and also install music software (Reaper) and graphics (Gimp and Sketch type tools) software with just a click via the distros Appstore!
No logins, no ads, no need to find installers.
No driver issues or need to download drivers or software via HPs website, which Windows 11 required... the way it used to be 5-10 years ago, the user experience has reversed.

[Morphoice]

Genuine question, asked in good faith. From what I can tell, the big commercial DAWs (Ableton, Pro Tools, Cubase) are Windows/Mac only, with Linux mostly served by Bitwig, Reaper, Ardour and the open-source crowd. Is that roughly right?
I've got real respect for Linux on the stability and security side, for server applications etc. What I'm trying to understand is the practical reality: my sense is that getting a solid audio setup going on Linux often takes a fair bit of configuration and know-how, and a lot of musicians just want to open a DAW and make music rather than tune an OS to do it, get comfortable in a shell etc. Is that a fair impression, or has it gotten a lot more plug-and-play than I think?
So I suppose my real question is: are pro studios actually running Linux in practice, or is it more home-studio and enthusiast territory? Anyone with hands-on experience, I'd love the real picture.

[Tiles]

The latter. Even in DAWs that support Linux, Linux users are a very small minority, as the REAPER forums make pretty clear.

The setup isn’t even the main issue. The bigger problem is the lack of VSTs and ecosystem support.

[TechHaus]

Fender Studio / former Presonus and Harrison Mixbus are also petty popular DAWs on Linux.

And it is very plug and play. The most you have to use a shell is many plugins need you go to ./install.sh

[Morphoice]

That matches my experience exactly. From the developer side it shows: I put out Linux builds and the uptake has been minimal, a single sale so far. Hard to justify deep investment against numbers like that, which I suspect is the same quiet calculation a lot of devs make. Bit of a chicken-and-egg thing, the interest and the actual sales never quite meet in the middle.
I wonder if part of it is that the open-source ethos runs so deep in Linux culture that it just isn't really a commercial target platform. Plenty of enthusiasm, but the expectation leans toward free and open rather than paid software, which makes it a tough sell for a small commercial developer.

[TechHaus]

I mean, where are you selling it? There are like 5 active Linux users on here from what I see in the posts.

Bro, your plugin is already a 1.0+ when it doesn't even have all of the features. These are YOUR unforced errors.

Sorry, I am not diplomatic like AudioJunkie. I was ready to buy from you but you are flailing around as a developer, thinking "if I build it, they will come."

Building the plugin, just like writing music, is only part of the job if you are trying to be commercial. Maybe 20% of the job.

[Morphoice]

it might have slipped your undiplomatic persona that your information is outdated. The plugin by now has all it's features plus many additional ones that people requested.

Still 99,7% of the sales are for MAC and PC so the reason is (to quote your own wise words)
probably not
"Because the plugin doesn't have all of the features"
but more likely because
"There are like 5 active Linux users"

but thanks for playing

[TechHaus]

You ain't ever getting a cent from me. dufus.

When you hit your feature list, that is version 1.0. No?

Remember i was ready to buy and it is YOU that fumbled the bag.

Not to mention the whole calling out TAL thing.

[Morphoice]

You ain't ever getting a cent from me. dufus.

When you hit your feature list, that is version 1.0. No?

Remember i was ready to buy and it is YOU that fumbled the bag.

Not to mention the whole calling out TAL thing.

Sorry but who are you and what plugin have you made? That "now I'm not buying because" is the oldest tantrum in the sulking playbook. That is totally fine with me and not at all the point of the thread. Moving on.

[TechHaus]

You ain't ever getting a cent from me. dufus.

When you hit your feature list, that is version 1.0. No?

Remember i was ready to buy and it is YOU that fumbled the bag.

Not to mention the whole calling out TAL thing.

Sorry but who are you and what plugin have you made? That "now I'm not buying because" is the oldest tantrum in the sulking playbook. That is totally fine with me and not at all the point of the thread. Moving on.

Keep roasting your potential customers. You keep exposing who YOU ARE. Feel bad for 100% of your customers, not just the .3%.

I took the time to download your shit. You should be thankful. Go fix your buttons. Bye,

[Morphoice]

You ain't ever getting a cent from me. dufus.

When you hit your feature list, that is version 1.0. No?

Remember i was ready to buy and it is YOU that fumbled the bag.

Not to mention the whole calling out TAL thing.

Sorry but who are you and what plugin have you made? That "now I'm not buying because" is the oldest tantrum in the sulking playbook. That is totally fine with me and not at all the point of the thread. Moving on.

Keep roasting your potential customers. You keep exposing who YOU ARE. Feel bad for 100% of your customers, not just the .3%.

I took the time to download your shit. You should be thankful. Go fix your buttons. Bye,

Thing is, you're not a customer — you're just here to stir the pot. And honestly, I'm not sure what's going on in your life that makes this your hobby, but I hope things get better. Have a great weekend.

[TechHaus]

Right, we keep discussing the reasons that I am not a customer, no? I know you read the posts from AudioJunkie about them.

Keep dissing me, I don't care! You saved me from giving YOU money. I win by keeping my money. Oh no I don't get a Juno with broken buttons.

[audiojunkie]

Genuine question, asked in good faith. From what I can tell, the big commercial DAWs (Ableton, Pro Tools, Cubase) are Windows/Mac only, with Linux mostly served by Bitwig, Reaper, Ardour and the open-source crowd. Is that roughly right?
I've got real respect for Linux on the stability and security side, for server applications etc. What I'm trying to understand is the practical reality: my sense is that getting a solid audio setup going on Linux often takes a fair bit of configuration and know-how, and a lot of musicians just want to open a DAW and make music rather than tune an OS to do it, get comfortable in a shell etc. Is that a fair impression, or has it gotten a lot more plug-and-play than I think?
So I suppose my real question is: are pro studios actually running Linux in practice, or is it more home-studio and enthusiast territory? Anyone with hands-on experience, I'd love the real picture.

The big studios are largely the territory of Pro Tools. The studios mostly use what OSes Pro Tools supports. But that’s only part of the picture. Because of the costs of studios, most musicians use their own project studios, or work totally “in-the-box” on home systems for the tracking/recording part of the process.

When submitting to studios, most these days submit in one of two formats: a Pro Tools project or in multitracks. Only those who use Pro Tools submit their projects as “Pro Tools projects “. Everyone else submits their projects as multitracks (usually with the effects removed, so that the engineers can do the mixing and mastering with their own tools.) Along with the project, they usually also submit a reference track of another song that has the qualities that they want the engineer to mimic—to make the song sound like the reference track.

The point of all this explanation is that nowadays, what DAWs and plugins are used is mostly irrelevant for all but the most rich and exacting. Everyone else, pros included (for the most part), do all of the creative writing/recording away from the pro studios, and don’t involve the studios until they are ready for the mixing and mastering parts of the process—at which point, they submit their Pro Tools project or their multitracks (usually as WAV files.

Now, most hobbyists don’t involve the pro studios at all, but instead, try to learn to mix and master their projects themselves. But the reality of it all, is that this is how things are being done for most people in the industry these days.

So, to answer your question, what OS or what DAW, or what plugins are used is largely irrelevant—pros and hobbyists all are mostly using the same type equipment and DAWs and plugins, and what is used really doesn’t affect the pro studios positively or negatively, since the multitracks are all WAV files anyway.

So, what it all comes down to, is who is doing the buying? The number of Pros out there are much fewer than the number of hobbyists. Also, there is ample evidence (as seen multiple times on YouTube, that just as many “pros” pirate their software as do others. In fact, one could reasonably argue that software developers for audio products make as much or even more money from hobbyists. Most developers don’t care who is buying, as long as they are buying. The hobbyist’s dollar is just as welcome as the pro’s dollar.

I hope that answers your question.

[Morphoice]

Right, we keep discussing the reasons that I am not a customer, no? I know you read the posts from AudioJunkie about them.

Keep dissing me, I don't care! You saved me from giving YOU money. I win by keeping my money. Oh no I don't get a Juno with broken buttons.

To clarify: there are no known issues with broken buttons in the current or recent versions. If you're experiencing something specific, or if you're referring to features that weren't in earlier versions and clearly communicated as added later, I'd genuinely invite you to try the latest release, or should you discover a real issue, file a proper bug report through our website with system details and steps to reproduce — we take all reports seriously and issue fixes promptly when warranted.

That said, I'm not aware of any such issues. If you've decided not to purchase, that's entirely your prerogative — no hard feelings. We're here if you change your mind or if there's a genuine technical concern to address. Have a good weekend.