I agree with you but only partially. I give your father kudos because mine, is not even close to using a cell phone, think a computer! Linux is ready for prime time for the masses as your experience with your parents states but not for other areas IMHO.The Asus Netbooks are that gorgeous because of Linux.. Android will use Linux... but Hollywood and studios have IT Geeks to keep the stuff running. I think that the worst thing is to be forced to become a do-it-yourself IT dept, for the joy of composing music. Ardour (one of the best Multi Track Recorder) is distributed as a source code tar ball that you have to compile on your system. This is not for the most of us. Even with my Linux experience I had to give up some time ago. I believe Linux is far superior when compared to everything because you can 'develop' your personal OS like no other. Do you like Gnome, KDE, XFCE E17? do it. It's YOUR system. However I think that is not (still) ready to be deployed to the DAW folks. The examples you reported belong to the Movie industry and that's not a case you need Servers and horsepower to render FX and make montages. Linux provides brute force with a fraction of the cost but implies that you can manage the beast without getting bitten.raapie wrote:@photonal I do not agree. My 75 year old father can work with Ubuntu and runs updates on it. The installation is easier than installing Windows XP. Even partitioning is much easier than with other systems.
Linux is as good as it can be. All Disney/Pixar movies are renderend on Linux for example. And Hollywood prefers Linux over Windows and OSX and that's a fact! The Matrix, Titanic, Gladiator, Superman Returns, What Dreams May Come, Cats and Dogs, Shrek, The Perfect Storm, Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Antz, Chicken Run, Deep Blue Sea, Star Trek: Insurrection, Fantasia 2000, Men in Black, Hollow Man and many many more, were created with Linux software such as RAYZ, Maya or Shake.
And that software they are using is not for free. Not cheap, thousands of dollars. Expensive stuff. Yes, on Linux, because it rocks!
If Hollywood can't live without Linux, the internet can't work without Linux, what's the next step?
Ableton forum is running on Linux as well and free software. Open up your mind! Be creative!
Beside that: Long Live the Penguin!

- Best
- Pasha
GAFM ***