Why Linux is Becoming Impossible for Audio Developers to Ignore

[Largos]

This is actually a really good approach, much more so than trying to argue market adoption. Celebrate the developers that support the platform and support them by actually buying their software. You want *them* to be the ones saying linux is important to them.

For developers to target the platform it needs to make financial sense for them to do so. Once it does more will.

This will require a mental shift for the FOSS purists.

It requires nothing of the sort. As a "FOSS purist" I haven't stopped financially supporting developers, I just only support FOSS developers. If a developer wants money from me, they have to provide a service acceptable to me. The question is why is poor service acceptable to the majority of those who use software. This is where the mental shift needs to take place.

Everyone would have better products if you stopped believing this company bullshit that for good software to exist you have to submit to hideous licenses and install tertiary bullshit to "lock" your products. These things only happen because people let it.

[Tiles]

That's a valid consumer choice.

But developers also get to choose which markets they serve.

If a market rejects their products, licensing model and business practices, they may simply decide not to enter that market at all.

[Largos]

That's a valid consumer choice.

But developers also get to choose which markets they serve.

If a market rejects their products, licensing model and business practices, they may simply decide not to enter that market at all.

That would be a good thing. In reality, a short while back customers rejected waves idea to cancel their perpetual licenses. This caused a back track. There's plenty of reason to assume that if such a brand will fold under consumer pressure then there is no reason to accept poor licenses.

[stoopicus]

And this is exactly why Linux is largely ignored by many developers.

[audiojunkie]

IIRC, Minimal Audio experienced the same type of backlash for the exact same reason, and back tracked for the same reason as well, when they released their new version of Current. There is power when people group together.

[audiojunkie]

And this is exactly why Linux is largely ignored by many developers.

Do you have evidence that this is "exactly" why Linux is largely ignored by many developers? You've been demanding evidence and numbers, so I'd like to see some on this aspect. I personally haven't found any.

[Largos]

And this is exactly why Linux is largely ignored by many developers.

I don't care why they ignore. I don't share the idea that lots of audio devs should start providing for linux. I feel it would ultimately end in enshitification. Proprietary program users have a bright future of vibe coded garbage protected by iloks to look forward to. Tiles telling people that's what "professional" users use.

[ghettosynth]

I'm not a FOSS purist. I will run closed source software on my Linux boxes. However, there is a value*trust product that I take seriously. Uhe and Cockos both sit at the very very top of that for closed source. Serial number only, specific Linux support, great product. Yes, I like open source and will sometimes choose it for audio software, but not always. Other domains, the calculus is different. BitWig has much lower trust owing to their copy protection scheme, however, it has some boost because of their longevity and product quality.

Newcomers with C/R schemes are simply not going to get my attention. It's not about being a purist, it's just too much risk. My machines change all them time, especially the high powered machines that I'm likely to run audio on. The risk is related to the low market share. I don't believe that you can stay focused on Linux if you are new and trying to establish yourself.

[Tiles]

That’s a reasonable risk assessment from a user perspective.

From the developer side, the constraints are real: smaller market, higher support burden, and higher fragmentation risk.

The result is a feedback loop where limited software availability and limited adoption reinforce each other.

Even if I want to, for many of my tasks I simply cannot migrate.

That’s true even as someone who already uses Linux.

[stoopicus]

And this is exactly why Linux is largely ignored by many developers.

Do you have evidence that this is "exactly" why Linux is largely ignored by many developers?

That's fair, nope. It's an opinion.

You've been demanding evidence and numbers, so I'd like to see some on this aspect. I personally haven't found any.

Wait. Did I? Mostly I have been providing them, not demanding I think?

[Tiles]

And this is exactly why Linux is largely ignored by many developers.

Do you have evidence that this is "exactly" why Linux is largely ignored by many developers?

That's fair, nope. It's an opinion.

You've been demanding evidence and numbers, so I'd like to see some on this aspect. I personally haven't found any.

Wait. Did I? Mostly I have been providing them, not demanding I think?

You don't need to defend yourself. I wouldn't claim it's exactly why. But it certainly doesn't make Linux more attractive to commercial developers.

If a platform is comparatively small and a significant part of its user base is openly hostile towards common commercial licensing models, that is hardly an incentive to invest more resources into supporting it.

We've already had developers in this thread explaining exactly why they chose not to support Linux. Or how they do.

[TechHaus]

Even if I want to, for many of my tasks I simply cannot migrate.

That’s true even as someone who already uses Linux.

Can you share your specific audio tasks that you can't migrate?

The only thing I can think of is if you are dependent on big proprietary sample libraries (I am so happy I just found that ConvertWithMoss utility on here recently...but still, I wouldn't use Linux for these use cases, personally), or maybe if you have to do some heavy Melodyne (there are some tuning alternatives).

What else? Curious.

EDIT: It's especially suitable if you are not so in the box, to use Linux.

[Tiles]

I can't even open my DAW, is that specific enough?

And before this goes further, the question isn't whether alternatives exist or whether workarounds are possible.

The question is whether I can migrate my existing workflows without replacing significant parts of them, and without spending hours, days, or even weeks adapting everything.

For many of my use cases, the answer is simply no. Not possible. For some, it is technically possible, but the drawbacks are too significant to justify the switch.

And that even applies to areas where Linux actually performs well. I mentioned AI video generation before, which runs faster than on Windows. Yet in practice, the additional maintenance overhead outweighs the performance gains.

EDIT: It's especially suitable if you are not so in the box, to use Linux.

No.

Linux is not the goal. Getting work done is.

The operating system is just part of the toolchain, and it only matters insofar as it supports that goal efficiently.

In my case, migration costs, missing software, and workflow disruption outweigh any theoretical benefits of switching for its own sake.

[TechHaus]

Weak.

[ghettosynth]

Even if I want to, for many of my tasks I simply cannot migrate.

That’s true even as someone who already uses Linux.

Can you share your specific audio tasks that you can't migrate?

The only thing I can think of is if you are dependent on big proprietary sample libraries (I am so happy I just found that ConvertWithMoss utility on here recently...but still, I wouldn't use Linux for these use cases, personally), or maybe if you have to do some heavy Melodyne (there are some tuning alternatives).

What else? Curious.

EDIT: It's especially suitable if you are not so in the box, to use Linux.

Agreed. This is one of the reasons that it has become easier for me. I moved back out of the box a few years ago, and I'm staying for good. I don't record on computers very much anymore. I use an Allen and Heath digital mixer with direct recording to SD-Card for nearly everything. That's a function of the music that I write and the way that I work most of the time now.

I have a bunch of commercial plugins that I'm not ready to say goodbye to, but I'm also not giving them new computing resources. An old M1 Mac is the home for them, Ableton, and Max. That's where they will die. They are not in the mainstream anymore, but they are still available to me.

Those tools are mostly a "just in case" kind of digital hoarding.