Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] "pro" soundfile editors for linux
From: Dave Phillips (dlphilp_AT_bright.net)
Date: ti helmi 08 2000 - 12:44:20 EST
Paul Barton-Davis wrote:
> There is this general issue that we in the open source community face
> a lot these days: there are libraries out there that do things we
> want. They come in nice neat packages. They work. But if we use them,
> we have to tell both compile-oriented users *AND* people using
> non-statically linked binaries "you need this library". And that
> library. And the other library. And that one over there. Worse, when
> the libraries alter, we face the problem of either keeping up with
> them in our apps, or telling people "use an older version". In some
> cases, we have to tell them "use the new version". Its an ugly, ugly
> mess.
Amen. I've compiled and run almost all the apps listed on the Linux
soundapps site. In the course of doing so I've made a mongrel out of my
system, complete with multiple versions of Qt, Java, the C/C++ compiler,
and god knows how many scripting languages (along with their inevitable
bindings to Tk, Gtk, or whatever).
In my book, I've tried to minimize the number of applications requiring
"non-standard" dependencies. I've rather arbitrarily determined Java,
CORBA, and most of the "script language + GUI binding" thingies to be
non-standard, i.e., they aren't usually found in mainstream Linux
distros. Where an application requires anything extra, I make specific
mention of the fact, with a guide to the distributing Web site. Kinda
sucks, but I don't know how else to handle the mess. I can't imagine
many casual users getting excited at the prospect of finding,
downloading, compiling, and installing some "unusual" package just to
run a relatively lightweight application.
But I won't complain too loudly. IMO, Linux is still a developer's
paradise, but it's no safe haven (yet) for the casual Windozer coming
from the comforts of Cakewalk, Cool Edit, and Sound Forge. It gets
better all the time though.
== Dave Phillips
http://www.bright.net/~dlphilp/index.html
http://www.bright.net/~dlphilp/linuxsound/
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