Jun 06, 2008 01:40 pm wait for "zekthedeadcow"...he'll talk your damn ear off about this.
Linux?
Posted on Jun 06, 2008 01:38 pm
TyphoonCutter
Oversexed Lord of the Dance
Member Since: May 30, 2008
Recently, I planned on eventually buying a MacBook and a cheap interface for some decent and immediate recording (as well as basic word processing, net surfing, etc.), but my roommate has a Linux-equipped PC, and he highly recommends using Linux as a free alternative to a pricey Mac. I was informed by a few people that both Linux and Mac operating systems were based on the same basic programming, and they are similar systems. My roommate never really uses his computer for much other than some basic, everyday tasks and some programming, but he has reportedly never had any problems with the Linux OS, and he loves it.
I was wondering if anyone had used Linux for home recording, and whether it was worth using instead of dropping $1200+ on a Mac. Also, any cool open-source recording programs? The only open-source recording program I've ever seen is Audacity, and I'd like something a little more user-friendly. Suggestions?
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Jun 06, 2008 01:40 pm wait for "zekthedeadcow"...he'll talk your damn ear off about this.
Jun 06, 2008 02:09 pm while not zek, i've dabbled in the penguin pool a little.
There's a few distrobutions (distro) for different types of Linux to be used with Audio.
Of these, I've played with UbuntuStudio. It has loaded pretty well, and while I've removed it for dual-boot problems, it was working as expected for a bit. There's not a whole lot of support for multi-input cards, and my ESI ESP1010 would use 2 inputs. I couldn't figure out how to get 8 working. I think the maudio delta line is pretty well supported in the linux community.
Jack is a service, running in background that connects audio devices (programs, hardware, etc). It is like a 'overseer' of the audio streams.
Ardour is a 'pro-tools' type of audio program, and I think there's a fair amount of people using it. There's a bunch of other free (opensource) programs for synths, drums, midi, etc.
Over on the reaper board, a few people are running reaper under wine in linux. They're having very good luck, so that's an option as well.
Linux needs to be configured after you get it loaded. sometimes it runs well out of a fresh load, but often you need to tweak and configure several things to get it up and running like you want. Sometimes those 'fixes' and changes are easy to figure out, sometimes not. The internet is pretty much your support system for linux, leaving you to find your own solutions. Hopefully someone else has had the same problem, and you can use their fix.
The ubuntu forums are pretty decent, and have a lot of good info in there for basic linux desktop running. Studio stuff may be a little more sparse, but there is some floating around.
here's a link to some ubuntu studio stuff:
www.ubustu.com/
here's the ubuntu studio site:
ubuntustudio.org/
Ubuntu studio isn't the only distro out there for audio, but it's one of the big ones. There's 64studio, musix, and I think suse may be good for audio too.
Jun 06, 2008 02:28 pm Thanks for the info, pjk. Ardour looks a lot more exhaustive than Audacity, by far. The Ubuntu distro definitely looks similar to Mac OS, as far as functionality. Cool stuff, I'll look into it.
What were your specific dual-boot problems? Was it possibly due to lack of memory or other hardware problems? I'm looking for a new computer, so I'd like to know now if memory or storage is going to be an issue with dual booting a Linux version and either Mac OS or Windows.
Also, I've heard that having a Mac kinda defeats the purpose of having Linux. Do you think that's true, or are these Linux programs worth the use of a Linux distro alone?
Jun 06, 2008 06:54 pm I'm here... :) bear in mind I just worked a bunch of long days hanging trusses for a barn and now have a massive sunburn... so:
Personally, I use UbuntuStudio.
If you have a roommate who knows linux this is usually much easier...and learning linux will make you a Mac Super User Power Genius From Hell...really... doesn't seem to get chicks though...
Linux and OSX are very similar, however things are different enough to now allow application to directly be dragged over like you would between Win95 and Win98. But most applications available on limux will be available on OSX before Windows... Commercial applications can sometime be run though an emulator likw Wine or Cedega... Some companies have been extremely against Linux support...particularly MOTU and Adobe... MOTU I don't think knew what was going on... Adobe was just being stupid as they refused in the face of millions of dollars of hollywood pressure...
The most user friendly software for audio is probably going to be Rosegarden www.rosegardenmusic.com/
Aurdour is intended to be used with JACK (which is like Rewire) and that is intended for more intensive audio processing...Ardour is what I think most people use (self included)...
Probably the best feature of linux is that you can try it out for free and if you don't like it you've only lost a little time...pay $1200 for something, you'd get pretty upset if it didn't do what you want.. :)
Jun 06, 2008 08:28 pm I've been introduced to Linux in the past several weeks.
The college where I work replaced a couple dozen tired computers, and the director decided to sell them. We couldn't sell them with the XP Pro on them due to the obvious licensing issues. It was my job to find a suitable (free) OS, so Linux was the obvious - and only - choice.
After a bit of research, not really knowing much about Linux, I tried a couple of the Ubuntu versions, and decided on 7.1. It seemed to be the best version for the slower machines, while still having the right kind of functionality.
I really like Linux, from what I've seen of it so far. The only thing stopping me from installing it on one of my four home PCs is the pain-in-the-*** of configuring it for my Linksys network.
On that subject, maybe zek or pjk have hacker info that doesn't involve endless command-line work? Email me if you do..
Jun 06, 2008 11:49 pm Yeah, command line is your friend on Linux. I keep trying to float to the GUI side of things, but real control lies in the command line.
I've used webmin for server functions, but it has some issues too, mainly not running SSL virtual hosts correctly. I still had to edit the config files directly.
My dual boot started out fine, it loaded, and came up quite nice. But after a few days of tinkering with it, the lilo or grub boot loader couldn't find the linux partition, so nothing would boot. I loaded it again with a different version of ubuntu-studio (either 7.10 or 8.04, then swapped) but got more grub errors. I eventually used my XP disk to re-build my master boot record, and it was up again, but without linux. I wiped the linux drive after that.
This was on my studio rig: 3500+ amd, 1g ram, and was on it's own 160g drive. My next foray into linux audio will probably be on it's own box. Loosing my XP partition is not a great option.
If I had to guess on why my dual-boot bonked, I'd start with the sata controller. This system is 2~3 years old, so the SATA II may not be robust as it should be. The first 2 drives are sata2, while the linux 160 is sata1.
Mac and Linux definitely in their own worlds, even though some core stuff is similar. You can relegate a lower intel PC to linux work, and it doesn't mind. Can't do that with OSX. It has to be on a MAC. Also, many apps for linux are open source (free), but without commercial backing, some of them aren't totally user-friendly. Seems with Mac, you get the hardware, with included software. Linux, you can put on most things.
Jun 07, 2008 12:04 am Eventually the Linux gurus (?) will get the OS to be as friendly as Windows or Mac. It will happen.
The downfall of Windows is imminent.
That's the short story, because you all know the rest.
Jun 09, 2008 12:01 am Another linux geek here. I work on the RHEL5 based servers 4hr a day at work. At home, I'm (planning on) upgrading to ubuntu-studio 8.04. Just havent' gotten around to it yet.
For configuring networks 3 things in particular are your friend on the command line: ifconfig, netstat -rn, and route add or del. And I know a smidgeon about setting ports in the iptables. Although I'm still kinda learning on the networking side of things. All in good time though!
Anyhoo, with ubuntu-studio, there's a few things that are up and coming, and getting better and better. Rosegarden had another pretty big update recently. And I use it primarily for its notation interface. Ardour is coming along nicely as well. Also there's a guy out there developing native-vst functionality.
Which you can check up on here:
www.anticore.org/jucetice/
I'm looking forward to seeing how Ubuntu 8.04 handles. I hear they're butting heads with Fedora Core 9 in the reviews.
-J
edit: oh, and i'd also recommend getting cozy with vim. :)
Jun 10, 2008 01:25 am Thanks for the input, I'm definitely slowly warming up to the idea of having a Linux-running PC. Being a Mac user definitely doesn't appeal to me as much as being a Mac Super User Power Genius From Hell. :)
Ubuntu with Ardour seems like the way to go. Now, the ever-present issue of hardware...
Jun 10, 2008 07:36 pm Ah yes, Hardware.
Well the good thing is ALSA has a compatibility list for different audio interfaces, and a good number are supported by the Linux ALSA drivers.
Video card side of things, i'm not quite as familiar with. I know the ATI cards depend on the fglrx driver, but I don't know how far along they are with the latest cards. (My AIW-9600 works fine though, yeah, i know..it's dated.)
-J
Jun 10, 2008 09:01 pm Firewire cards are covered by the FFADO project... I use an Edirol FA66...
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