futureSol wrote:Funny thing is that Max OSX is based Unix - which Linux is based on too.
Linux isn't based on UNIX, it is a clone of it.
Most programmers use linux or macs anyway,
I'd hazard the guess that most Windows apps are developed on Windows...
so providing a stable linux version would really only require someone to write and implement a good compiler
Err. Do you know what a compiler is? Linux and OS X use the same compiler, GCC.
I think its more of an issue of releasing Ableton to Linux users who are more likely to hack the software and do things like release it as OpenSource or propagate free or cheaper versions.
Err again. What do you mean by 'hacking' the software? And how would turning a Linux binary delivered by Ableton into (readable) source code be any different to doing the same to Macintosh binary? Your statement makes no sense. It's not really possible.
True, only a small amount of the general computing public use linux but its performance is far and away better than windows...
I dare say a Linux+GNOME+Compiz environment (ie. a default Ubuntu installation that most Linux desktop users would use) is as resource hungry as Vista. But that just says that 'Linux' without qualifications is a pretty meaningless term.
especially Vista, i have 2GB of ram in my laptop and Vista uses 35-40% of it just to run. Same laptop with Linux runs at about 8% memory load.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperFetch
Why do you think Macs run so well... its just a flavor of linux on controlled hardware. Linux is made to run on any machine
It is nothing remotely like a 'flavour of Linux'. It may be source code compatible with most free software that people use on Linux, but the reverse is not true: ALL the userland software that comes with OS X is non-free and written for Apple-specific libraries (Cocoa, Carbon, CoreFoundation, etc.), which are non-free, not at all UNIX-like and unavailable in source form - and they are a much, much more important and visible part of OS X than anything that OS X has in common with Linux (which is mostly some very basic design decisions and POSIX API compliance - a set of APIs, mind, that aren't used by most software that you actually use on OS X). I'm not even sure the OS X userland would compile cleanly on Linux if you had the source for it, as it most likely depends on specific functionality in the OS X kernel that are not available on Linux.
- which is why people run into problems b/c hardware vendors don't support linux - so you have to hack your hardware (even your mouse) to work right.
WTF do you mean by 'hack' in this context? I have never heard of anyone modifying hardware for it to work with Linux. Writing drivers sometimes involves quite a bit of detective work, especially if the hardware manufacturer is being unhelpful - like all manufacturers of Firewire audio interfaces* seem to be, for instance.
However, the power of Ableton combined with the easy of changing how hardware works in Linux, could really lead to some really cool outcomes using customized/hacked hardware. Also with retailers starting to sell Linux based systems (WalMart sold out of their $200 Ubuntu based desktop the day they released it) it [linux] will become more and more popular operating system.
We agree here. Linux-based operating systems are bound to become more and more popular, and the customisability of free software presents possibilities that aren't really possibly with Windows and OS X. How well Live fits into this I'm not sure though.
*It is interesting to note that one of the few - if not the only - FW audio driver for Linux supports a very wide range of audio interfaces from several manufacturers (
list here) that all use the exact same chipset and firmware. Think about that for a while, especially if you've ever had problems with your manufacturer's drivers, or you bought a new computer with a newer operating system and had to buy a new interface to go with it...