linuxaudio.org

Patrick Shirkey wrote:

quoted text
> On 10:48:40 pm 03/09/07 Robin Gareus

>> I was under the impression that linuxaudio.org is a NPO, implying a

>> mission not a profession.

>>

>

> Daniel setup LAO as a focal point for the professional market to come to

> and for the professionals among us to have a representative contact point

> that other professional companies would feel comfortable interacting with.

> The full mission is clearly presented on the main page at

> www.linuxaudio.org.

>

>

> I'm a professional Linux Audio Developer and there are several others who

> have contributed the lion share of the audio backend who are too.

>

>

> Being a professional Linux Audio Developer is something to be proud of and

> is even a marketing angle that gives a certain level of immediate respect

> when dealing with companies that come from a windows or more traditional

> commercial dev background.

>

>

> The way Thorsten chooses to work with us on his design projects is

> certainly different to most companies but I think in only one major

> respect. He doesn't waste time to get the ball rolling. We aren't left with

> long delays to justify the enormous charges that most designers attempt to

> invoice.

>

>

> IMO self deprecating comments about the so called "unprofessional" approach

> of yours and others obvious hard work because you/they are not being paid

> in dollars and cents is unnecessary. Even more so when you are contributing

> to the Linux Audio.org family of projects.

>

>

> I'll attempt to state this again now.

>

> It's a good thing to be a professional Linux Audio Developer!!! We are

> different from the rest of the pack. It's something the rest of the pack

> respects. It's a way of increasing your marketability in a highly

> competitive industry. It's a badge of honor to be worn with pride. Anyone

> who says otherwise is mistaken or misinformed. If you can do it, do it well

> and enjoy it when you do.

>

>

> Nuff said?

dear patrick. thanks for being honest! I have a different point of view,

but I agree with you on many counts, and think we're mixing up a few issues.
I was not criticizing linux audio software development or developers!

I respect and even love this distinct pack of LAD's! I'm familiar with

"professional grade" R&D and QA for open-source software. The standard

of most linux-audio hard/soft/firmware is quite high!
- linuxaudio.org is different. Ico has put up a great one-man-show, but

without any backup-singers and until a week ago even without (automated)

server-backups.. there are various holes in the setup and only few who

bother... things are improving, but still linuxaudio.org is no

professional [community] platform!
linuxaudio.org will neither be in a position to offer pro-grade support

(24/7 linux-audio.org hotline - for license-issues press '1' , for

bug-reports press '2',.. and nine nine nine for the kernel helpdesk :) )

-  although many mailing-list discussions are much better - they're not

always reliable.. or professional! - but have proven to forge fruitful

professional collaborations!
anyway I've only jumped in on Thorsten exercising /the word/ in the

first place,.. but IMO _professional_ software is like _organic_ fruit!

nowadayz just a matter of definition in the marketing department.

I should have said "we're no professionals, just a bunch of nitpickin'

bastards who have no time for a web development ourselves, but we're

running this server." that would have been rude and at least half untrue

:) - anyway I never said that, did I?
If linuxaudio.org's quest to emphasizes on _professional tools_ is aided

by non-professional work techniques, who cares if the end product

satisfies professionals ????!

Sometimes I'm getting into an ideological state of mind and reserve the

right to get angry. but in this case I just wanted to play advocate on

how some open-source techniques can out-smarten professional approaches.
BTW. I did not intend to associate "unpaid" \equiv "unprofessional"

(with the English definition, whatever that is).

It's the motivation and intentions that make the difference for the

individual and individual freedom is quite important for open-source

development! - Aiming towards professional quality is great as long as

it keeps the GNUs wild and not in a Zoo! compared to gnu/linux

database-devel, the gnu/linux-audio world is a wild and gorgeous jungle.

 let's keep it like that!
cheers,

robin