netbooks etc

[Eric Hedekar]

On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 8:38 PM, Kim Cascone <kim at anechoicmedia.com> wrote:

> hello
> first let me say that even though I've been sub'd to this list a
> short time I've been very impressed with the level of signal to noise
> as well as the thoughtful and considerate answers given to questions
>
> that being said,
> I've been a Ubuntu user since 4.10
> mostly on PPC - until an upgrade hosed Ubuntu on my iBook
> then I got too busy with my music career to maintain Linux on PPC -
> the audio never worked on PPC anyway
> so I went back to my PB G4 and coding in Max/MSP
>
> I was at BEK in Bergen Norway last spring when a teacher there turned
> me on to UbuntuStudio
> I was thrilled to see this
> but I knew Ubuntu development was pretty much stopped for PPC - no
> longer a supported platform
> so I couldn't run the latest Ubuntu on my PB
> I know I could run Debian PPC but that is another debate
> I really wanted to get back into Ubuntu again but I was just too busy
> touring and didn't have enough money to afford even a Dell refurb'd
> laptop
>
> then the appearance of cheap netbooks prompted me to buy a mini9
> running Ubuntu
> I wanted to see if I could use a netbook as a supplementary laptop
> for my performances
>
> so here is my situation and question:
> I'd like to use my Dell mini9 for one or two two tasks:
>
> situation:
> - run audio from Max/MSP into the mini9 - running baudline - which is
> then projected via a beamer during performance
> - run a 4+ tracks in Ardour as an ambient 'bed' while I improvise in
> Max/MSP on my PB G4
>
>
> FWIW: having a RT Linux kernel is not important to me as I don't
> expect to use the mini9 for tracking or precise midi control
>
> q:
> I'm curious if there are any musicians on the list who have
> UbuntuStudio running on a netbook and if so what the limitations are
> for them
>
> thanks again for running a great list!
> :)
>
>
>
>
>
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Hello and welcome!  I'm quite glad to see you considering Linux for your
music (after having to sit out of your Audio Cubes workshop in Vancouver
because I only had a Linux box ;-).  But in all seriousness, it's wonderful
to see your name appear on this list!

First, as was recently made mention on this list, (under the Puse audio
conversation) Ubuntu PPC is still in existence, but only as a community
project rather than an official release.  More info can be found here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=427714
But that unfortunately means there's no RT kernel for PPC (though the rest
of Intrepid doesn't fair much better).

As for the mini9, I've never owned or touched one, but from the specs on
Dell's website, you should have no troubles with it from the setup you
describe.  You may find that if you get into quadraphonic or octophonic
tracks in Ardour the processor may be less than what you need.  But,
provided tracks remain stereo or mono, you should have no troubles working
with multiple tracks.  Another limitation you may find with the mini is the
harddrive space - the specs say up to 32GB, but some of the customer reviews
mention theirs only had 8GB and that's probably too small for lengthy
high-quality multi-track audio sessions.  Baudline has very little overhead,
so that part of the setup should be simple.  It would probably benefit you
to strip down your system to the bare essentials (turn off the print server,
use a lightweight window manager, etc...) since it sounds like this will be
a dedicated audio box.  You may also want to take a read through: http://www
.ubuntumini.com or this google group:
http://groups.google.com/group/UbuntuMini for some useful info.

Hope this all helps.
-Eric Hedekar

-- 
_______________________________________
    http://greyrockstudio.blogspot.com
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