Linux drivers

[Dockheas23]

Why not?

[gregwhartley]

MOTU stretches their reach just to produce Window$ drivers, honestly there really isn't any reason for them to spend the money on Linux driver creation/support. First off, there are no where near as many DAWs in Linux as there are on PC or Mac. Secondly, they would have to not only pay to build the drivers, but they'd have to take the extra time/money to support customer issues with them (a feat many would say they are currently struggling with - not me though, I've always gotten good service/support from MOTU )

Considering Linux's developer base, if you really want the drivers you should try to push the Linux community to build and support them .

[James Steele]

Yeah... basically "market share" I imagine. I doubt there are many people doing audio on Linux... and even if there were Linux drivers, I don't think it would change.

[arth]

Considering Linux's developer base, if you really want the drivers you should try to push the Linux community to build and support them .

And indeed they will, as long as the manufacturer publishes the API. There's now Linux drivers for most of the Echo Audio cards (Layla, Gina, Darla, Mona), Delta cards, RME, and quite a few other pro sound products, but there won't be anything for MOTU until MOTU decides to let others develop drivers.

Unless the opening of the API happens, it's going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy that there won't be drivers for Linux, because people won't use MOTU on Linux, because there are no drivers...

As for support, I wager there is less support needed for Linux users than others, if nothing else because Linux isn't truly ready for those who can't figure out things on their own. So the average technical skill is likely to be higher, and the support calls more likely to be for hardware than software, and without having to walk the customer through lots of steps (and reboots) to arrive at a conclusion on whether it really is a hardware issue or not.
Even better, some of the users will even have skills to fix the problems and hand the fix on a plate to the manufacturer, something that can help users of other operating systems too.

But, again, nothing is going to happen as long as MOTU refuses to release the hardware API to the public.

[James Steele]

I guess I just don't get it. Is there some superior DAW built for Linux only that I'm not aware of? What's wrong with OS X or are you a PC user? I understand Linux is popular for servers, etc. but why would one choose to use Linux for audio production?

[Dockheas23]

A big reason for using linux is that it's free.

A second one is that the linux system is completely customisable. There are distributions of linux being developed which are specifically optimised for audio production. What's the point of an OS with a load of shite that you don't need.

Also, the linux community aren't at the mercy of a faceless company in order to get fixes and updates to software. I know that many people have been left stranded because a company decided that they weren't going to support something. The company will only ever do what's profitable (legally they have to). If they think that releasing a patch will not be met (directly or indirectly) with a worthwhile increase in profit, then they won't do it.

I'm guessing that's what is happening here. I don't want to make assumptions about MOTU's motives for cutting off a percentage of their market, small as it may be. I can only guess that releasing the API would damage their profit in some way.

I have been using OS X at home on my power mac for a while now. There's nothing wrong with it. But my new laptop is a HP and the new Intel mac OS X will only work on Apple laptops.

I know there is some guy trying to make a third party linux driver for MOTU hardware by reading the data streams directly through the firewire port... best of luck to him! Until then, it looks like I have to use Windows on the laptop (I hate Windows!).

[emulatorloo]

A big reason for using linux is that it's free.

Is there some great DAW on Linux that I have missed? I would love to know about it!

--

[daniel.sneed]

I have used Audacity on Mac and PC for small projects with succes.
There is a Linux version.
Nothing to compare with my DP projects anyway.

And it's an audio only software.

But i's free and open source at :
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

BTW latest Mac version is Intel compatible.

[arth]

I guess I just don't get it. Is there some superior DAW built for Linux only that I'm not aware of? What's wrong with OS X or are you a PC user? I understand Linux is popular for servers, etc. but why would one choose to use Linux for audio production?

One good reason to want to see pro audio software and drivers under Linux is because Linux, unlike MacOS and Windows supports "realtime", both for processes and for drive operations. As in a guarantee for how long operations maximum can take. Which means you won't ever get a drop-out in sound or in a recording because something else was happening - recordings can go to a guaranteed rate-io (grio) partition, and the audio driver run IO as a real time process, so you won't have to redo the recording just because someone hit the CD eject button or a virus scan just started.

Another HUGE wish is to see APIs go open source so we aren't at the mercy of the hardware vendor to provide drivers and driver fixes. I've waited for nearly a year now for fixed Windows drivers - that would NEVER have happened with open source drivers.

It's not because of what software is there now, but because we want to see the software go there. If all the DAW software worked under Linux, what would be the argument for NOT using Linux, and gain the benefits this OS can give?

[arth]

A big reason for using linux is that it's free.

Is there some great DAW on Linux that I have missed? I would love to know about it!

--

Tried Ardour? There's a Mac version too.

[James Steele]

If all the DAW software worked under Linux, what would be the argument for NOT using Linux, and gain the benefits this OS can give?

But it doesn't. Hence the argument stands.

[arth]

If all the DAW software worked under Linux, what would be the argument for NOT using Linux, and gain the benefits this OS can give?

But it doesn't. Hence the argument stands.

I don't accept your chicken and egg arguments:

1: People shouldn't use Linux because the software they use doesn't run on it.
2: The software they use shouldn't be made to run on it it because people don't use it.

If people always followed that kind of circular logic, nothing new would ever appear. Including DP -- if following that logic, DP wouldn't have been made for the Mac either. You wouldn't be using a Mac for music production at all if others hadn't seen past the chicken/egg circular logic, cause there would have been no software for it.

Heck, I would still have been hacking on a cembalo, because no-one in their right mind would have written music for the pianoforte before everybody had one, and no-one would buy it without music to play on it...

As it is, there is interest for Linux for music production too, and the hardware support is getting quite good. There's even enough support for Linux right now that commercial Music production distributions have appeared, like Studio to go!. And I have seen quite expensive DAW solutions that do less than Ardour+Rosegarden can do.

With Linux support of devices from RME, Echo, M-Audio. Yamaha, Edirol and pretty much everything except MOTU, it's not just a wild guess that Linux is going to make a serious impact, it's almost unavoidable. Be there, or sit on the fence, it's your choice. You won't have to sit long enough for it to hurt.

For a sample CD of Linux-only-using artists, try this link.
To see a Linux based recording studio in action, try this link.

The party has started, and MOTU is going to be late.

[James Steele]

Whatever... tell you what... you just go about your Linux thing and I'll just stay busy working on Digital Performer on OS X.... software that works in the here and now. Linux is still a fringe OS no matter how you want to spin it. Perhaps there's a good Linux zealot board that this would be more appropriate for?

[James Steele]

Linux is going to make a serious impact, it's almost unavoidable. Be there, or sit on the fence, it's your choice.

Tell you what-- I'll sit on the fence right here with Mac OSX and Digital Performer and try not to lose sleep that I and millions of others are going to miss out on the Linux audio revolution.

[arth]

Linux is still a fringe OS no matter how you want to spin it.

Silly me, who thought that "fringe" was a good word when talking about music and creativity. Let's all use the same instruments, play the same music, use the same DAWs, and conform as much as we can.