Ableton 8 for debian/ubuntu?

[Idonotlikebroccoli]

I'd like to see a linux distro built solely for Ableton Live, nothing else running at all. I recon that's as close to software running like dedicated hardware as it's ever going to get. It's very possible too.

Not a bad idea. Could even run off of a live CD (no pun intended) or a USB key - stick them into your PC and boot up to make music. Plug in a hard-drive for larger scale file storage.

Again, nice idea!

Now that would really be something

[nbinder]

As an addition, yes... but not for the normal use. This is one of the things I hated about FinalScratch1 back then. I had to reboot to linux to run it. Yes, it WAS stable, but I had to reboot. Later with 1.5 I was able to chat while playing some tracks etc....

Music is even worse... I wouldn't want to wait for a reboot if I had a musical idea in my mind.

On stage? Perhaps stability would be better. Perhaps. Live has been tested on Windows and OS X for quite a while and the Linux version would be completely new.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Linux and one of the reasons to buy a mac was Ableton Live... but you should also see that a new Linux version _will_ have some issues.

[Spy47]

If Ableton users honestly think Windows is stable and memory efficient, then they must be really ignorant (well, most Windows users are). Too bad, as the development team is great.

[adventurepants_]

Nec-ro, Necro Man!

You wan-na be a Necro man!

[alex.the.forge]

Get real, nobody will spend their resources developing software to be used by elite.
...
Ableton and other software companies are not evil or stupid, they just cannot afford it, it is a matter of surviving in this industry.

+1

it will never happen

[shatzer]

If you want audio production for Linux you can use this....and its FREE! Also for Mac. Never used it myself but it has a huge fan base. I prefer Windows. And Ableton.

http://ardour.org/

[3osc]

Wow. I <3 necro posting.

If you want audio production for Linux you can use this....and its FREE! Also for Mac. Never used it myself but it has a huge fan base. I prefer Windows. And Ableton.

http://ardour.org/

Ardour is great. I've cut a few songs on it and they sounded pretty good. What I hate are the LADSPA plugins. Most of them sound good enough, but the UIs are unintuitive and clunky, and many of them result in audio glitches or crashes - sometimes even segfaulting the host. There's also a lack of sonic virtualizers in Linux. In fact, there are lots of little things lacking in FOSS audio programs that I am glad I have in commercial apps.

One thing I will suggest people try from the world of FOSS is ZynAddSubFX. It remains one of my favorite synths of all time. Again, the UI is almost criminally bad, but the sound engine is glorious!

[Trent]

FYI, I actually installed Live 8.0.5 via Wine on Ubuntu and it works pretty well. I have only done playback with it and it works. It still have a few little bugs when it comes to the visual aspect, ex. if you click on a drop down menu it shows up else where on the screen instead of dropping down. But regardless it works, but you have to fully update Wine for it to work correctly. It doesn't really help me, I installed it on a Dell Studio 1737 because of DPC latency problems but the spikes are still here with linux. It looks to be BIOS or hardware related.

[skipkent]

Linux is plenty stable if you don't touch it. Stand back, let it run and it will run forever. No viruses, nothing.

But...try to change it, configure it and so on. Load this interesting-looking package and it's dependencies, and unload that one. Lather, rinse repeat.

Before you know it, nothing works, libraries and dependencies are all screwed up and you're either trolling every message board in sight (on your mac or xp machine) into the wee hours, or re-installing to start with a clean slate.

Yes, Linux is stable. Yes, it's well-nigh virus proof.

Free?

Maybe, if you have all the time in the world and don't mind spending it on Linux.

Me, I'll take my home-built $400 quad core XP machine any day. Runs like a top. All I ever have to worry about is "what note shall I play next?" I'm sure I'd be just as happy with a Mac. For me, Linux will always be for firewalls and web servers, and very little else.

And yes, Mac is a variant of BSD which is great, but for all intents and purposes it's a closed proprietary system. That's why Ableton and other high-end developers are willing to take the time to code for it and Windows alike, and why they will probably never take the time to code for (let alone support *shudder*) Linux.

[skipkent]

All that said, Ardour and JACK are great. I don't use either at present, but there's a lot of power and utility there for the persistent. Linux for music is best taken on it's own terms. WINE is fun for experimenting, but never seems to approach let alone surpass native OS performance and stability.

[Trent]

I am experimenting and looking for contingency plans in case my 3.6Ghz Core 2 Duo and 8GB of ram custom built PC racked in a road case dies on the road. We are now running alot of loops for the show and about to start processing guitar effects on it. I have a Dell Studio 1737 with DPC problems out the wazoo, I have tried XP and it still has issues so I just tried linux for the fun of it. (I work in computers for a living so I enjoy it, sometimes anyways...) Either way I just ran into this post and figured I would share my results. At the end of the day a solid XP PC will do for me! Infact, XP is probably a firmer foundation for Ableton Live anyways.

[ambesound]

Linux is plenty stable if you don't touch it. Stand back, let it run and it will run forever. No viruses, nothing.

But...try to change it, configure it and so on. Load this interesting-looking package and it's dependencies, and unload that one. Lather, rinse repeat.

Before you know it, nothing works, libraries and dependencies are all screwed up and you're either trolling every message board in sight (on your mac or xp machine) into the wee hours, or re-installing to start with a clean slate.

This man speaks the truth. Linux is nowhere near user friendly enough to be taken seriously as a competitor to Windows or OSX. Recent distros look very pretty on first boot, but then if you scratch the surface its still the geeky technical OS it has always been. Very few users have the time and patience to arse about in a command line editing config files, which you will have to do at some point when running Linux.

It would literally be a support nightmare for Ableton. I'd say they would end up with at least 3 times as many calls supporting a Linux version of Live than Windows or OSX.

Incidentally before I read this thread I installed Ubuntu 9.04 within Parallels on my Macbook to give it a try again (I tortured myself using Ubuntu verions 6-7 for about 12 months before it would no longer boot and was irrecoverable) . Installed fine, went to login, desktop appears, bombs out back to login screen - keeps repeating no-matter how many times i log in. So I thought 'nope, still not usable' and gave up on it and went back to trusty OSX. I have never had this happen on Windows or OSX and I know that most users would have had the same 'gave up on it' attitude.

[skipkent]

I am experimenting and looking for contingency plans in case my 3.6Ghz Core 2 Duo and 8GB of ram custom built PC racked in a road case dies on the road. We are now running alot of loops for the show and about to start processing guitar effects on it. I have a Dell Studio 1737 with DPC problems out the wazoo, I have tried XP and it still has issues so I just tried linux for the fun of it. (I work in computers for a living so I enjoy it, sometimes anyways...) Either way I just ran into this post and figured I would share my results. At the end of the day a solid XP PC will do for me! Infact, XP is probably a firmer foundation for Ableton Live anyways.

For the money and time you could do a lot worse than picking up a couple of off-the-shelf Gateway core2quads. The hardware will be identical, so you can set up one the way you like and then ghost the drive for the second. Stash them in a case somewhere and they'll be there when you need them! These things go for ~$500.

You could also go to TigerDirect or wherever and pick up a core2Quad motherboard and processor, to have ready as a replacement for the custom built PC / road case. Easier still would be to get the exact same motherboard/processor combination as you already have in there, then everything should 'just work' without having to re-install the OS. Whomever built the road-case setup for you should be able to offer some good advice.

I no longer see the need to spend more than $800 for an audio PC. Leave the bleeding edge to the die-hards and trust-funders. ; ) Until the next big shift in must-have software design hits, power is cheap.

[nbinder]

Recent distros look very pretty on first boot, but then if you scratch the surface its still the geeky technical OS it has always been. Very few users have the time and patience to arse about in a command line editing config files, which you will have to do at some point when running Linux.

Disagree. My mum's using Linux for about one year now and NEVER... really NEVER! had to do anything like this. Ubuntu worked OOTB and she's doing all her everyday's work just fine. (I should add that - like most mums - she isn't that firm on computers)
A lot of my friends are using Linux as well, without having to do anything like command line editing and stuff, and guess what: most of them don't know more about computers than my mum does.

There ARE cases where you have to dig deeper into the OS, but that's usually when windows users have to stop. Of course support for Windows drivers etc. is much better, but the argument that Linux is sooooo geeky just isn't true any more.

MY EXPERIENCE.

Oh and I also don't see the point why Ableton SHOULD port Live to Linux. Most users are on Windows/OSX and there are much more important things to do. Don't get me wrong, I have 3 machines running Linux (2 servers, 1 workstation), but a Linux port remains one of the less important jobs to do for Ableton.

[Trent]

skipkent, I have thought about that to. I have everything in a RAID just in case one of the hard drive dies. I'll probably just get a second PC identical to it. Or I could always burn down the mixes to a CD. I configured Live so we have 25 channels going. Not saying each are going the whole time...I have the following; Metronome, Que Track, 3 Acoustics, Mandolin, 3 Electric, 4 Keys(Synth, Piano, Nord, and Organ), 5 percussive tracks, 3 backing vox, and a few for effects(such as nature, rain and anything else). We group them together into group mixes(Metronome/Ques, Percussive, Acoustics, Electrics, Keys, and Vox) and push those to the FOH for mixing. Atleat this has been the best way for me to organize the show. I am open to other ideas.