linuxaudio.org

M-.-n wrote:

quoted text
> My point was that when I decide to do music I don't have hours to kill

> and reading man pages/collecting contradictory information on the web

> is the last thing I feel like doing... In my eye, "ease of use" should

> never be sacrificed against flexibility. In malte's case it could be

> just a shell script that fires both exes.

Hi Marc,

I understand your point, but I'll take power over ease any day.
Nevertheless, I agree with you re: the new user. If new users are going

to get into this stuff they need a lot of hand-holding, and this is true

regardless of platform. It is a matter of design.
> In my view, It's up to the developpers to sort out the issues of

quoted text
> 'getting started' and make his/her work usable... and it's all to his

> benefits, otherwise his work is going to be restricted to a few

> die-hards and all the time and love spend coding stuff is going to be

> 'wasted'...

This argument assumes that "more is better". In my personal world,

"better is better".

Again, I still agree with your basic contention. Software should never

ignore the user's potential for confusion, especially when the software

in question is complex by nature. Ah, but how to balance access and

power, that is the question. Classic Csound resolves the issue by

tossing it out the window, i.e. you are required to learn its language

or you will be limited by the design limitations of whatever front-end

you prefer (though some are certainly better than others). I don't

disagree with that tack, but it's difficult to attract new users without

giving them polished and shiny GUIs. That's not a complaint, it's just

"where we at" in the general sound & music software world.
> Linux is a great platform but it has miles to cover before it can

quoted text
> 'compete' with the mainstream players in term of audio. And I'm not

> talking about capacities, inventivity or available software but only

> due to the fact setup is a bitch: I consider myself not being a retard

> and I haven't been able to get a rt kernel working properly on any of

> my machines.

You're not using one of the optimized distros ? If not, you've set

yourself up for (IMHO) needless mucking about with kernel compilation

and other unnecessary activity. I've been at this Linux audio game for

long enough, and I don't care if I never compile another kernel.

Happily, the maintainers of 64 Studio, JAD, Planet CCRMA, MusiX, and

everyone else listed at http://linux-sound.org/distro.html have made

that involvement a dim memory for me.

In other words, if you want a better out-of-the-box Linux audio

experience then you should open a more appropriate box.
Btw, please don't take this commentary as a personal jab. I truly

believe that more problems come from new (and not so new) users naively

believing that *any* Linux distro is good enough for pro-quality audio

performance, if they just toss in the right kernel, and set those

priorities, and find the necessary drivers and firmware, and tweak those

JACK and ALSA settings... Gahh, what a pile of work, and it usually

results in the conclusion that Linux just isn't up to the task. The

conclusion is wrong because the starting premise (i.e. the distro) was

wrong.
Setup for my last two installs (JAD and 64 Studio) was anything but a

bitch. Yes, I still had to tweak a few things, because I have a rather

complicated setup here, but I have an advantage in knowing exactly what

I'm doing (or who to ask ;).
Of course, if you *are* using an optimized distro then you're having

problems that need to be communicated to the maintainers.
> Usability out of the box is the biggest challenge. Everyone working on

quoted text
> any piece of the puzzle should focus on it.

>

> I guess I'm going to get fragged for saying that :)

Not at all. Your points are generally valid, regardless of what distro

you've used. Typical software shouldn't present hurdles for the new

user, though I will add that more specialized software may require more

specialized knowledge before its capabilities can be more fully appreciated.

Thanks for sharing your POV, Marc. Please continue to do so. :)
Best,
dp
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