But I think the music/audio system on OLPC is an outstanding "proof of concept" to show that if they are implemented creatively neither linux nor csound necessarily have to be hard to use.

I don't use VST anymore after my Vista box ate itself. While I can't argue that VST or AU isn't powerful, its not unproblematic.

All the compositions I wrote in csound 10 years ago still compile today. But God help me if I want to work with the compositions I wrote using Studio Vision for Mac OS 8.

What we need is something like Tam Tam for Ubuntu. Right now Ubuntu is perhaps the easiest install, but its audio/music support is really pretty mediocre "out of the box," it would be a huge "shot in the arm" for the power of Ubuntu for musicians to have csound5 just sitting there as a synthesis/audio layer with software that is easy to use running on top of it.

On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 9:44 PM, Josh Lawrence <hardbop200@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 12:22 PM, Steven Yi <stevenyi@gmail.com> wrote:
> This kind of thing has really been an issue for me, that closed source
> software that goes into an unsupported state severely limits the
> lifespan and history of computer music works.  I've discussed
> long-term software in lectures and about considering what you are
> investing time/money in in terms of future work.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this recently, and as someone
who actively uses both closed and open source software, I would like
to chime in.

I am not a programmer, but a simple user.  As such, I am frequently
overwhealmed at the complexity of getting certain things going on
Linux.  For example:  If I want to use Ardour on Debian testing, it
simply isn't available, so it must be compiled by hand.  Issues and
problems abound, and thus begins the (sometimes) hours of research to
learn what needs to be done to make it work.  Reaper on Windows XP?  A
new version comes out, I install it, and it works.  So for me,
closed-source software wins in the "ease of use catagory."

Another example:  If my favorite application on Linux is abandoned, I
do not have the skills to resurrect it.  If my favorite application on
Windows is abandoned, I do not have access to the code to resurrect it
(even if I could).  So on this front, it's a draw.

Software synthesizers.  Csound?  Yes, for sure, hands-down the winner.
 But for simple, "stick it in and play" functionality, you just can't
beat VST instruments.  And God help you if you try to get that working
on Linux.  Closed-source software wins on this front.

Some open-source advocates might respond that my lack of skill is at
fault here, and they would be correct.  Yet, I am not interested in
becoming a programmer, I simply want to make music with my computer.
For me, I need the complexity to get out of the way so I can focus on
what interests me most.  I suspect that there are many musicians just
like me that would happily use open-source software, if they could
just get it to work - consistantly, easily, etc.  Windows is, by most
accounts, an inferior OS to Linux, yet they have done an outstanding
job of providing a consistant infrastructure, promoting it, and making
stuff "just work."

Until are addressed in Linux, I honestly can't see a compelling reason
to move 100% to open-sourced software.  So I use a mix of both.

--
Josh Lawrence
http://www.hardbop200.com


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