Linux...anybody using it?

[chk071]

i'm sure you got pretty good evidence for that ?!

I was just joking. Obviously you can use Linux for music...

Well there's one thing that's for sure, And that's linux people are pretty tolerant towards bugginess/instability. In my experience (using Linux since 2007 or so) there is always a couple more bugs than on Windows/MacOS. Another thing is that, using commercial products is another thing than using free stuff. If stuff you paid for won't work, you always will be angry and will complain that you paid for something which doesn't work, while on free software you have another attitude, because it is free.

That said, i'm pretty sufe you can make music with Linux. But i'm also pretty sure, you will run into more issues than when you make music on a Windows or Mac PC.

[gabebrunogarza1021]

The showstopper for me is the lack of instruments available compared with other platforms.

or it could be that the big players simply don't see a potential revenue stream there, or both.

The last thing I want to do in the evening is to start work all over again when I could be doing something "musical"

3 more great points not to go with Linux.
Again, I'm not bashing Linux but saving the OP time if he doesn't do his homework.

[lockheart]

But i'm also pretty sure, you will run into more issues than when you make music on a Windows or Mac PC.

... AND more problems, for the reasons you state. Most Linux people are tech/hackers.

[stanlea]

I'm not a tech or a hacker. Honestly, here are the steps :

- first thing is to choose a sound card working with linux, you'll avoid hours of "homeworks"
- second thing is to choose a dedicated living audio distro : Tangostudio, KXstudio, AVLinux - they all have helpful forums
- third thing is not to try to use windows apps for daily use - some will work, others not, some will work and stop working after an update - use the apps provided with your distro
- fourth thing is to learn *a little* to use a terminal for typing some shell commands

I had many issues using windows for audio : a little less with linux.
And it's free.

[pc999]

I think I will take back what I said

SEE THIS VIDEO

http://youtu.be/qReySX7TIxs

(how do you embed yt videos?)

I am going to try UbuntuStudio on a virtual machine again, that seems pretty easy to use !

[gabebrunogarza1021]

And it's free.

This is not a reason to use Linux.
Regarding VST support, read up on any software that uses Linux.
In other words, you're limited to what ever native instruments that any software that runs Linux has to offer, which is not much when compared to Windows and MAC.

[VitaminD]

I'm not a tech or a hacker. Honestly, here are the steps :

- first thing is to choose a sound card working with linux, you'll avoid hours of "homeworks"
- second thing is to choose a dedicated living audio distro : Tangostudio, KXstudio, AVLinux - they all have helpful forums
- third thing is not to try to use windows apps for daily use - some will work, others not, some will work and stop working after an update - use the apps provided with your distro
- fourth thing is to learn *a little* to use a terminal for typing some shell commands

I had many issues using windows for audio : a little less with linux.
And it's free.

But with Windows, I don't need helpful forums.. it just works wayyyy more than Linux out of the box. The beautiful thing about open source is, well its open for anyone. The bad thing about open source is.. it is open to anyone and thus there are twenty kabillion flavors. And fewer people using them so the driver and app support is much more limited.

If the apps provided for my chosen Linux distro don't do what I want to do, then what? I'll need to go back to Windows and use the app I did have that did what I wanted already, natively.

I don't need to learn a little to use a terminal since I never hit the terminal in Windows.

I'm not sure you've made the case for Linux.



And for reference, I suppose I could be considered a techie. I find Windows 7 on modern (<5 years old) hardware is A LOT less hassle.


In the time it would take to research and do 'homework' in Linux, I could have made more than enough money to buy a Windows license and not have to worry about it. No, im not flaunting money but the am appealing to the notion that time is valuable. As is stress free time.. actually making music, not fiddling with linking, compiling, or any of the other hooey I've done in Linux.

I will say though.. if you DO enjoy fiddling with an O/S then understanding how to fiddle well can come in very valuable.. as in.. a profession. Linux Admins can do pretty well.

[ford442]

thought i would make sure you guys are aware of Ubuntu Desktop where you get to install Ubuntu alongside Windows, in fact inside your windows NTFS partition, but then in fact boot into Ubuntu at your OS select menu.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/ ... -installer

you do not have to repartition your hard drive and you can uninstall it later via 'Add/Remove'

i sure learned about choosing an interface - my Profire 610 has serious issues being firewire - DO NOT choose firewire for linux!

[seismic1]

I don't need to learn a little to use a terminal since I never hit the terminal in Windows.

But when you do............Oh, the joy.

That is where Linux begins to shine. It IS intuitive. Even the date command is a work of art

[Jace-BeOS]

Great joke.

[glokraw]

That said, i'm pretty sufe you can make music with Linux. But i'm also pretty sure, you will run into more issues than when you make music on a Windows or Mac PC.

Reaper runs just well enough for a basic linux daw, and it's output is
just another instrument, to be routed wherever in the signal chain.

A user who chose the instruments Yoshimi/zynaddsubfx, Calf Monosynth,
Phasex, Hexter, and Hydrogen, and using Rakarrack, Calf plugins,
and Invada plugins for fx, would find very deep sound options.
Added to whatever one cooks up with reaper,
I have never felt deprived.

Using E17, compared to any windows variant, is great fun.
The desktop becomes mine, and configuration of the various elements
and work flow, is not dictated, but unleashed to be freely exploited.

http://forums.bodhilinux.com/index.php? ... __st__3560

most of these 179 pages have various peoples E17 customized to taste.

I have not tested windows 8 yet.
Cheers

[glokraw]

I don't need to learn a little to use a terminal since I never hit the terminal in Windows.

But when you do............Oh, the joy.

That is where Linux begins to shine. It IS intuitive. Even the date command is a work of art

rm -R baby!

[glokraw]

I don't need to learn a little to use a terminal since I never hit the terminal in Windows.

But when you do............Oh, the joy.

That is where Linux begins to shine. It IS intuitive. Even the date command is a work of art

I tried the date command on a cute receptionist, but all I got
was a segmentation fault

[seismic1]

I tried the date command on a cute receptionist, but all I got
was a segmentation fault

Less painful than a floating point exception or all that java palava

[glokraw]

http://www.linuxmusicians.com/

It's getting better and better every year!
Ardour 3 with Midi is coming
Harrison Mixbus
Renoise
Bitwig is coming

http://www.kvraudio.com/q.php?search=1&os[]=lin32

Well, there's the rub. I've been hearing "it's getting better and better every year!" for the last dozen years!

There's a strong odor of "when the revolution comes..." or "we'll see who is laughing on Judgement Day..." to the audio-in-Linux scene. It is understandable- a Linux box really is slick as all hell in action. But it is going on 2013 and where are these killer Linux music production systems?

I think I have a very good explanation as to why Linux audio is not swaggering about kicking everything else's ass, but I probably shouldn't say it out loud.

As a linux audio user, my take on the slow uptake, is
1. "Show me the money!" (Little market-driven demand)
2. too much fanboism
3. too much FOSS religion
4. too little cooperation between devs.

This lack of cooperation, is not necessarily a negative, but the reality
of coders scattered across the world, each with their own personal motive
for allowing others to use the fruit of their work.

The fanboism consists largely of gleeful users vastly underestimating the difficulties a windows user may experience, then failing to invest
the long forum hours needed to walk people through the issues at hand,
which may be the wrong hardware, the wrong chipset, poor software choices,
a daft tittle in an obscure config file, simple revelation
of different jargon, or just bad luck out of the gate.

The FOSS cult can fail at many levels, but to me, at least, it comes off as
a drooling "occupy" front group for coders, some of whom would be
clean shaven, bathed, rich, and well able to help the poor,
if they would take off the rose tinted blinders, and work for,
or create, a business that makes excellent software tools.

I posted a video I found, about the Peavey Musebox recently,
in the hardware forum, a full in-the-box linux setup,
running some nice windows staples, Camel Audio fx,
with lots of i/o options. If evil corporate knuckledraggers like Peavey
can master linux, anyone can!