Subject: [linux-audio-user] icky low level linux stuff
From: Rob Kudla (lau_AT_kudla.org)
Date: Thu Jul 25 2002 - 17:43:38 EEST
On Thursday 25 July 2002 02:19, Joseph Zitt wrote:
> >I think that Joseph has got what it takes. It's just unfortunate that
> > he has decided to give up on the GNU way so quickly.
> FWIW, it wasn't quickly. I've been using Linux in various forms since
> 1996. After all these years, it finally became time to stop the endless
> puttering and get some work done.
This brings up a question I've been meaning to ask for a while: are there
any mainstream (non-specialized) distributions that ship the kernel with
the low-latency patch already in there? Are there downsides to the
low-latency patch that prevent the desktop-oriented distributions from
including it? (i.e. does it break other apps or compromise stability?)
If not, should we be lobbying them to do so? (I'm a Mandrake Club member
and would be happy to put in a request for a low latency kernel package
for example, if there are others who'd do the same since requests that
don't get seconded within a month go away.)
I ask this because while I rebuilt my kernel a bunch of times in the dark
days of Slackware circa 1994 and downloading 31 floppies to get a basic
install, I haven't done so in 4 or 5 years and if I can avoid it for the
rest of my life, I will. It is a pain in the ass and breaks my RPM
database. As a result, while I do editing using Audacity and stuff under
Linux, I still do realtime recording and MIDI stuff using my Win98 laptop.
I've thought about experimenting with Demudi but I don't have a dedicated
audio workstation and I'm just too wed to Mandrake to switch to a
Debian-based system on my main machine.
In the words of some web pundit a few years ago, "if the revolution
involves me learning how to recompile my kernel, count me right the fuck
out." And I think most musicians are going to be of that mentality. I
know a guy who runs a recording studio who is jonesing to get into Linux
for audio stuff and what's preventing him (aside from lack of Event
support as he's a big Event user) is knowing that he won't be able to just
install and work at his usual level.
I'm going in the opposite direction from Joseph - I've been running it
fulltime for 2 years, I've just converted my very non-technical partner
from Windows to Linux, and the biggest issue we've run into so far is that
the latest version of Pan won't launch his attachments. But for music I
still tell people to stick with Windows or the Mac, and it's things like
"oh, just get the low latency patch and rebuild the kernel" that are
behind my doing so. I'm hoping there's a way out available now, or soon.
As an aside, I built an Audacity 1.1 package for Mandrake 8.2 (I got the
Cooker source RPM to build) and if someone would like to host it I'd be
glad to make it available. I may have built some of the recent
plugin-related stuff too (I think I built CMT for example.)
Rob
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