live on linux

thump · Post by **thump** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:27 am

so i've been doing some research recently into the current state of audio on linux, and holy shit, i am just blown away by how far it's come in the last couple of years. with the current state of ardour, i'm most definitely going ot go dual boot, rather than shell out for wavelab as a mastering suite as i had long planned. in fact, between ardour, jamin, and the port of energyxt to linux on the horizon, i can confidently say that if live was ported, i could make do without everything else untl the jack plug-ins caught up, and make the switch to being primarily linux-based.

my question is, would you leave windows (or macos) behind, or at least use linux as an equal partner in your audio endeavors, if ableton ported live?

some pros:
- i can't speak from experience, but all the anecdotal stuff that i've encountered seems to indicate increased cpu performance across the board.
- so much for so little! ardour and jamin are said to be approach professional-grade quality, and they're free free free. this is true for most stuff in the world of linux, of course.

some cons:
- until linux audio catches on in a big way, leaving windows and mac means leaving behind most or all of the vsts and vstis that we normally work with, at least for a while (a year? 2? probably not more than that, but i'm pretty optimistic about it).
- linux is not as "user-friendly" as mac and windows (say many). of course, windows isn't nearly as user-friendly as it claims to be, and in fact, if it weren't for long-familiarity, it probably wouldn't seem that much more user-friendly than linux at the stage that it's currently at, imo.

linux supporters, be heard! let's get this ball rolling!

elemental · Post by **elemental** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:15 pm

IF all my Windows VST's could be moved easily into Linux, I would def consider it.

But we're prob gonna have to wait for that...

thump · Post by **thump** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 4:27 pm

"using vst/vsti plugins in linux":

http://www.djcj.org/LAU/quicktoots/toots/vst-plugins/

this is a short tutorial by dave phillips, one of the big linux audio guys. basically, you emulate the necessary windows apis using a package called wine. no idea what the latency's like, and there's sure to be some plugins that work better than others, but it is possible.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 6:03 pm

I'd be extremely tempted. During beta-testing I've been doing a lot of work using only live plugins, and the sound is blowing me away!

I could definitely see myself using a dualboot system to generate loops/waveforms in XP (reaktor,sampletank, that kind of stuff) and then switching to a stripped down linux setup, which would probably breathe new life into my laptop!

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:09 pm

Yeah, I'm going dual boot very soon for the same reasons. There's some great stuff happening.

I recently tried Apodio which is like Knoppix only full of audio software, that Jamin mastering suite is fantastic.

louZ · Post by **louZ** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:55 am

Imagine running Live on a modded X-Box (running Linux)!
Tres cool

braj · Post by **braj** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:44 am

louZ wrote:Imagine running Live on a modded X-Box (running Linux)!
Tres cool

Tres slow would be more like it! A 700MHz P3? With 64 MB RAM? Now, if you could get it to run on a GameBoy that would be something.

louZ · Post by **louZ** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 4:56 pm

braj wrote:
louZ wrote:Imagine running Live on a modded X-Box (running Linux)!
Tres cool
Tres slow would be more like it! A 700MHz P3? With 64 MB RAM? Now, if you could get it to run on a GameBoy that would be something.

X-Box 2

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:24 pm

louZ wrote:
braj wrote:
louZ wrote:Imagine running Live on a modded X-Box (running Linux)!
Tres cool
Tres slow would be more like it! A 700MHz P3? With 64 MB RAM? Now, if you could get it to run on a GameBoy that would be something.
X-Box 2

i heard live runs like crap on PPC chips

Malicine · Post by **Malicine** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:29 pm

Everything I have moved over to gentoo has had at least a 20% performance gain, including games.

If Live had a tux native version I would have no reason to use windows!

I cannot justify buying an entire OS just to run a single program.

Live via "Win4Lin" is ok, but if your doing that you may as well run dual boot in the first place.

(my) Reasons for using ableton in linux:

1. Mac OS and Windows are process intencive and scale to a percentage of your system. Only small gains are made with hardware upgrades.

2. RME are developing very good support for tux, I am sure other manufacturers are too. (M-audio have previously released drivers for (some of) their devices).

3. Distro's like "Ubuntu" are so used friendly these days I would reccomend it over any other OS for someone new to using computers (old folk etc.).

4. Live distro's like "Knoppix" allow you to run an entire OS, pre customised to your needs with the apps you want off a CD/DVD/Flash card that you can take to a gig and put in someone elses laptop. There is your system, not affecting anything on the random machine.

There are many more reasons but these are main ones for me.

Go Ableton Linux!

amo · Post by **amo** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:04 pm

That would be the greatest thing.
Not easy maybe, as applications on linux are free etc... I don't mean not to pay a license, but I'd like to see Live working on it !
Would be nice to hear a word on that from ableton, though I doubt they have much time right now....

Regards,
amo

Kas. · Post by **Kas.** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 10:17 pm

I found Demudi easier to install then any version of Windows. It´s a free download as a one cd ISO and comes with lots of toys.

motionsiren · Post by **motionsiren** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:52 am

I'd LOVE this to happen.

Can we get an answer from someone on the dev team? Whats the status?

Im already a serious, daily Linux user. It's learning curve is much steeper then OSX and windows, but lemme tell ya, it has a huge user base. you know this already. lots in which are serious music heads, but they keep a windows box around cause we're lacking quality sound apps.

yea, it's work to port but come on...

milfbait · Post by **milfbait** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:38 am

Anytime I've download a Linux distro, I've destroyed it within a week and the disc has gone in the trash. I don't think I'd wanna fuck with it for music. XP is absolutely rock stable for me, why mess around with some beta software and risk it?

Last time I tried Linux, I tried to update the Jack audio drivers (cuz the sound would not work), and it took down the whole fucking kernel, I couldn't recover or anything, it was fucked. People talk about how robust it is, well I can fucking destroy it, I promise. Now in XP, installing sound drivers is not going to tank the whole OS. So I just don't see it. If you like Linux, more power to you, but from my experience it is shit and most of the people into it are anti M$ zealots who are just using it so they don't have to use "windoze". No way, I'd pay $3000 for a Mac before I'd dick around with Linux again.

teraya · Post by **teraya** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:14 am

And how many folks have had a Windows system tank out completely after a simple driver upgrade ? (Never happened to me... -ahem-).

live on linux

would you switch to linux if ableton was available?

live on linux