KVR Audio

Z3R0T0N1N · Post by **Z3R0T0N1N** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:58 pm

once Energy XT gets a linux version i will be switching for good.

i look forward to that day with great anticipation.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 4:19 am

Lunch Money wrote:I've half a mind to try an install just to prove you wrong, but if I toast my system, I have nobody to blame but myself.

I've installed Linux dozens of times, there is no way you are gonna "toast" your system. If you find Linux useless then at most you'll be out a few Gb on your hard-drive.
I first got interested in checking out Linux in about '98 and back then some distro's were a nightmare [Caldera] but others were just as easy as Win95 and took only slightly longer, mostly because they were installing app's as well as the OS. After a couple of years I lost interest due to the chronic shortage of useful applications being ported and went back to a single OS.
In my new job, the software I am responisble for is Win/Linux so I am just getting reaquainted with it and I cannot believe how slick everything has become. Before, I would never have even considered trying to install it on a laptop but when I did it a few weeks ago, it correctly identified all the hardware and installed everything with an absolute minimum of fuss, in about the same time as it takes to install WinXP. RHE4 only installed KDE and Gname so I had to find an RPM of my favourite, WindowMaker, but that was easy and the installation was effortless. Now I have my favourite operating environment on my laptop.
What hadn't changed is the dearth of decent app's available. Its really disapponting that none of the big software vendors seem interested in supporting Linux.
Then, like a miracle, a week later Xara announced that they are going open-source and that Xara eXtreme will be ported to Linux. For me, that is the killer app and I will leave Windoze and never look back for graphics work [my job], given that the GIMP is great and Blender3D has also come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years [after a period in the wilderness]. Although, now that we are acquiring Alias, I could learn to use Maya.
eXT could also tip me over the edge for music, provided that I can find something to replace my beloved WaspXT.
I've never downloaded a distro, I have always used CD's from a magazine or bought boxed product. Its worth looking for a Fedora or SUSE box as you get heaps of printed manuals and stuff that will defintiely give you confidence. Also, some of our local computer mag's occassionally put out linux "Pocket Books" with a distro or two and instructions on how to get up and running. They are cheap and a decent resource - a good way to dip your toe in the water. Or you can get the Studio to Go... CD [the subject of this thread] with RoseGarden and a bunch of VSTi, including some of mine, that I think will boot from your CD drive.

Z3R0T0N1N · Post by **Z3R0T0N1N** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:28 pm

@BONES

nice to hear your input on this.
SUSE is indeed a very good distro for everyday use. Even my mom could use that. Last version i tried was 9.1 downloadable, and i hear that it has been improved even more, especially with the pro boxed version - a steal in terms of VFM

I am a big fan of DeMuDi myself, as there is nothing quite like 'apt-get' for people like me who are not good with the console, compiling, and stuff.
For those who like SuSE and RH/FC there is apt-get for RPM.

(edit) if you are a newbie, try the KDE desktop / window manager; it is simply elegant.

jorgen · Post by **jorgen** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:35 pm

its all gnome for me

jorgen

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:57 pm

SJ_Digriz wrote: So, I'm not fanboying Windows or Mac, as much as I was commenting on the claims of that web site.

You didn't wait half a beat before going on the attack, casting aspersions at the very notion.

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:16 am

Do most of those distros allow me to keep Windows as my primary boot partition right from install, or do I have to fart around?

And hey, it's not like I NEVER tried Linux. I even bought Mandrake 8.1 in a box, and later tried some distro of RedHat. I haven't any recent experience (that was... 2 years ago? Don't remember) but I remember how annoying it was to try to install software even from the supposedly "automatic" RPM system.

Greg

jens · Post by **jens** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:21 am

Lunch Money wrote:Do most of those distros allow me to keep Windows as my primary boot partition right from install, or do I have to fart around?

yes!

unic · Post by **unic** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:26 am

there is nothing quite like 'apt-get'

or burn to cdrom, cd and dpkg -i * - if your deps are sorted.

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:37 am

Lunch Money wrote:Do most of those distros allow me to keep Windows as my primary boot partition right from install, or do I have to fart around?

There is much to be said for using a completely separate drive for the OS. Some Windows XP licenses are a bit of a problem, since they are OEM installs that ghost onto the drive, and the activation may depend on that particular install scenario.

Most Windows installs assume that the single drive be a single partition of NTFS, and OEM systems don't give you much choice, although some do allow you to fart around.

There are partition resize programs, such as Partition Magic, that can handle NTFS. I understand that FIPS can do it now, but have never tried.

The problem here is not that Linux has difficulties, but that Windows tends to be a monster, particularly with regard to the rigidly closed and intractable NTFS.

That said, Knoppix is supposed to do the job nicely.

Personally, my linux boxes are linux boxes plus vmware, my windows boxes are windows boxes plus cygwin, and any interaction between them is done with ssh or X. I recognize that most people don't live in a lab, but then, if you're not a 100% total geek in the first place, why are you doing any of this stuff?

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:22 am

Z3R0T0N1N wrote:if you are a newbie, try the KDE desktop / window manager; it is simply elegant.

I actually don't like KDE or GNOME as they are just a little too Windoze-like and yet completely and utterly not. I prefer a window manager that reminds me constantly that this isn't Kansas, or Redmond or wherever, if you know what I mean. But KDE and GNOME are impressively powerful and very elegant.

jtxx000 · Post by **jtxx000** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:00 am

I prefer a window manager that reminds me constantly that this isn't Kansas, or Redmond or wherever, if you know what I mean.

such as....

kenn · Post by **kenn** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:29 am

Hi,

Since this is a Linux/sequencer thread I just wanted to make you aware of another effort aimed at producing a "Linux for music/audio" distro called Musix, put out by some guys in Argentina.

http://www.musix.org.ar/

(The website language is Spanish, but there is english documentation, and the downloaded distro gives options for selecting English as the default language)

The download is a CD-ROM image (.iso file) which you burn to a CD-R. You can just stick the CD-ROM in and boot from it; no install or system config changes necessary, although you can later install to HD for faster performance. It booted and ran just fine on my P4 with an Audiophile 2496 card.

To the timid or the Linux doubters... me too, I didn't want to get a CompSci degree just to run an OS. But I urge you to try this, or another simple CD-bootable distro like Knoppix. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised about how simple and non-geek it can be to use, how in some ways the desktop GUI is better than Windows, and just how good the various open-source Linux audio and music apps are getting.

(disclaimer - I heard about this distro from a friend in Argentina, and I've helped them a bit with translating some documents)

Z3R0T0N1N · Post by **Z3R0T0N1N** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:37 am

Hi Kenn;
Thanx for the tip

also, as it looks like this was your first post here, Welcome

Alsways good to have another Canadian around.
Cheers
I will check out Musix.

Reverse Engineer · Post by **Reverse Engineer** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:08 am

If someone could point out in simple terms the benefits of *nix over windows then you're likely to get (more) people to listen. So far not one single point has been made that gives *nix any added credibility.

As for hardware that uses *nix as an OS, that's such a moot point it's not even worth bringing up, just like it's not worth bringing up the fact that there's a lot of hardware (especially in the mobile/pda world) that uses windows as its OS. but we're talking fully fledged computers here, not pieces of hardware that need minimal instruction and 0 need for the code to be flexible.

cost? How many people actually "bought" their version of windows? Unless you build your own system, then you're more or less gauranteed to have windows on it anyway, plus you can get an OEM version for next to nothing, so cost isn't an issue.

Hardware compatability? Don't make me laugh. Some hardware actually needs the firmware itself to be modified so it'll work on a *nix comp rendering dual booting a complete waste of time, unless you're prepared to change the firmware depending on what OS you're using.

Ease of use? Someone said their "mom" could run suse. Well, mines couldn't, but she sure can run windows fine.

Apps?

Maybe if you're into retro.

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:36 am

Well, I have plenty of download bandwidth left this month, so I might give that CD-based distro a whirl just to see what kind of fun I can get into.

BONES, I'm sure you mentioned it in your post, but could you remind us which windows manager you use, and is it easy to switch to it from one of these distros' defaults? (usually you can easily switch between KDE and Gnome, but I've never tried switching to another)

Greg

Studio....to go Linux OS sequencer