[ubuntu-studio-devel] Elementary OS

[Ralf Mardorf]

Antoine,

there already was Dynabolic, an OOTB working Linux audio
distro, used by many Linux users, at the time when Ubuntu's initial
release wasn't used by many people. Shortly afterwards JAD, a Suse
based audio distro, followed by 64 Studio, first Debian based and later
Ubuntu based were popular. IOW since around 10 years we've got audio
distros that work OOTB.

I started in 2003 with Suse 9.0, when Ubuntu wasn't released. It wasn't
an audio distro, but it shipped with a user manual, with > 450 pages, 50
pages were about ALSA, buffers and latency, qjackconnect, MIDI. In
addition it shipped with a > 600 pages administrator's manual, for
53,48€ including shipping.

At that time even in Germany the Internet already was a better source
than those books and it already was possible to get audio, graphics
etc. working without much issues. And a few month later I discovered
Dynabolic, followed by JAD.

However, from 2006 to 2008 64 Studio existed. At that time already most
of the usable apps we have today, already were usable. Yes, there was
some progress and also some regresses, but Linux isn't state-of-the-art.

The problem isn't that people want a better OOTB experience.
The problem isn't that people want hipper graphic design.

A lot of people want to be able to make popular music, so they need the
wobble bass, supersaw, auto-tune, orchestra, world-music sample player,
morphing synth, vinyl break etc. that isn't provided by Linux. They
want to store and restore sessions, they don't want to lose data while
making music, they don't want to run in one after the other issue.
Linux is for enthusiasts only. You perhaps can use it to record classic
music and similar, but not in the way popular computer music is made.

Sure, you can make a supersaw sound with Linux synth foo and we have
something similar too auto-tune etc., but it's not usable in a sane way
and/or years too late.

Even those who want to record classical music, a garage band or similar
expect that e.g. Fon's parametric EQ is the default for each channel,
that aux sends are default etc., they expect a sequencer such as
Qtractor, with audio latency compensation as provided by Ardour.

Most people aren't interested in a Bob Katz meter, they want mastering
software that is state-of-the-art.

Most people want loudness-war mixes.

Another issue are the Linux (audio) communities. There unlikely is a
place with more narrow-minded narcissist then Linux (audio) communities.

IOW the problem are missing software and a friendly place for
communication and support.

The bottom line is that you need to use Linux the way it is and if you
expect an easy way to make music in the way as most people do it
nowadays, then don't use Linux. If you want to make music in an old
fashion way without experiencing issues, then don't use Linux.

What you want stays out of reach.

2 Cents,
Ralf