I also think about this a lot. It was a long time before I became aware
of Csound, and for me, Csound, as it is now, is the ideal computer music
instrument, so I don't want it to change too drastically or go away. I don't
want the drum to suddenly become obsolete, or the piano either. What would
happen if people stopped making them? Those instruments have been around
for quite a while and people are still doing beautiful things with them,
just as they could be doing a hundred years from now with Csound. The
mathematics, physics, and basic computer science concepts behind the sounds
that I like is something that I can continue to learn about, and be
confident that the knowledge will probably not become obsolete. A good solid
investment. However, investing a lot of time in getting comfortable
with a sound synthesis/signal processing environment that functions partly
because of relatively timeless concepts in these disciplines, but
is implemented in complex and constantly evolving programming languages and
hardware, is not such a sure bet. I hope I can do my part in the future as
part of an unofficial society for the preservation of Csound as a musical
instrument, and C as a computer programming language.

On 7/23/08, Michael Gogins <gogins@pipeline.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for raising this important issue!
>
> I've been concerned about this ever since I started working with computer
> music. As you may or may not know, there are several classic works of
> computer music, or computer music software, that have been lost due to the
> obsolescence of their computer hardware, operating system, or programming
> language -- including John Chowning's classic pieces, initially realized in
> SAIL, now fortunately re-realized.
>
> I've personally experienced this kind of obsolescence. I used to use a
> freebie PC sequencer that went obsolete, so all the pieces I did in this
> sequencer are now toast. I have the MIDI sequences so I can re-render them
> in Csound, but I can't edit the compositions (which were hierarchies of
> sequences).
>
> And I've experienced it in my own software! I have migrated my
> compositional algorithms from standalone Windows C++ programs, to the Java
> version of Silence, to CsoundAC. Pieces done in the old software are now
> dead. I still have the MIDI sequences and the Csound orcs and scos, so I can
> improve the Csound arrangements and rendering quality, but I can't edit or
> vary the compositional algorithms any more.
>
> Obviously, open source tools are essential for serious music that has some
> aspiration to live for more than a few years.
>
> The hope is that basic programs such as Csound and Python will continue to
> be maintained with backward compatibility, and if backward compatibility
> breaks, it will still be possible to rebuild the older versions from sources
> and run them, if necessary on emulators. After all, people are still making
> "chip tunes" for the Yamaha SID and Commodore 64 on PC emulator software.
> This is the model for us!
>
> I think that if the software in question is central enough -- C, C++,
> Python, Java, let's hope Csound -- it will still be possible to build and
> run the software indefinitely into the future, thanks to scholarly interest
> in the history of computing and the maintenance of compilers, emulators, and
> so on.
>
> Regards,
> Mike
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Steven Yi <stevenyi@gmail.com>
> >Sent: Jul 23, 2008 1:22 PM
> >To: csound@lists.bath.ac.uk, blue users mailing list <
> bluemusic-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
> >Subject: [Csnd] The case for open source
> >
> >Hi All,
> >
> >I just saw a link to this from a Linux Audio mailing list that Tascam
> >is ceasing development of Gigastudio:
> >
> >http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=1738
> >
> >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 have referenced
> >the issues that affected Apple users moving from OS9 to OSX, then
> >again from PPC to Intel, how my friend was affected in half of his
> >plugins were never ported to Intel, thus severely limiting his ability
> >to open or reuse aspects of his project (basically he would need to
> >keep an OSX PPC machine around if he ever wanted to look at the
> >project again).
> >
> >Anyways, it's these kinds of situations that I am very concerned about
> >when I think about computer music and the history of it.  I am a
> >strong advocate for open source as well as investing in technologies
> >based on virtual machines or interpreters where possible to protect
> >investments of time/work.  Just wanted to bring this up for discussion
> >as I think it's an important point involving our our work.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >steven
> >
> >
> >Send bugs reports to this list.
> >To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body "unsubscribe
> csound"
>
>
>
>
>
> Send bugs reports to this list.
> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body "unsubscribe
> csound"
>