Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] Pro Audio Software RANT!!!
From: Linium (intent_AT_club-internet.fr)
Date: Sat Jan 26 2002 - 22:49:14 EET
Le Vendredi 25 Janvier 2002 21:50, vous avez écrit :
> One aspect I think is good to note are the motives behind writing free
> software. As for myself, my own need for an multitrack recording app has
> been the main driving force behind ecasound. Nowadays it does just what I
> need. Many people find it hard to believe, but I'm not lying when I say
> it's just the kind of app I want for recording.
They are several ways to do things. No problem with that.
But you say that the motives behind writing free software is the personal
need of the author.
It is very important to understand that at one point a project has to find
its user-base. Because if not, it won't be a living project anymore.
What will probably make Ardour a succesfull project, is that from scratch it
has been designed for a specific user-base, for the others and not for the
simple use of its author. The proof of this, is that there is even a keyboard
only way to use Ardour for blind people.
So a big Cubase-like thing or Ecasound can both be widely used, what imports
is that at one point it turns to be the project of people using it and not
the simple author's toy.
That's why i believe that money can play a role in the GPL way of doing
software, as far as i am concerned i don't see any reason for not giving
money to the free projects i like, if only it could foster the link between
authors and users. They are too much nice projects starving, and people
(making music and therefore not programming) have not way to influence this
situation.
On another hand you are talking about organisations helping big projects.
I agree with you they are usefull, but it is because there is currently no
real way to do micropayment, thus theses organisations play the role to
gather the capital and redistribute it. But it is not very straigthforward
for the end users. It is the same problem that we have with politics, they
represent the people but soon they are under the influence of various forces
(lobbying) and tend to take decisions that are no more following the people's
interests.
But if such an organisation has to exist to adress the specific needs of free
softwares multimedia projects, do you think that a specific distro like
Demudi could and should play this role ? Do you have an idea about what
should be such an organisation ?
Best regards,
Linium
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Sat Jan 26 2002 - 22:37:26 EET