Pro Audio and Linux ?

[BeatNursery]

Hello,

I am looking at other possibilities than Mac OS or Windows. I run pro-audio recording software as well as some graphics software. I am also in school to learn programming. Is there a Linux Operating system that will allow me to handle these types of applications? Further more on a PC. a Quad 2.4Ghz 4 gigs ram.


Cheers,

[deathadder]

If the recording software isn't directly ported to Linux, it may run under Codeweavers CrossOver, http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/. You can have a look at the audio recording software already available in Linux like Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

What kind of graphics software do you need? Theres The Gimp, http://www.gimp.org/, or if you 'need' photoshop you can, from what I remember, get it working via CrossOver.

Each Linux distribution will let you run gimp/crossover/audacity/etc have a look at Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/ for an idea of the different Linux distributions about.

[ph34r]

There is actually a dedicated linux distribution for audio and video work. Check out dynebolix - while it is far from polished and a bit hard to work with, it does have all sorts of good tools for A/V work.

[paj12]

The distribution doesn't really matter, since the software needed for audio recording is a distrubtion unto itself. The most mature Free Software program for audio recording is Ardour (http://ardour.org/). To route audio through your system, you'll need JACK (http://jackaudio.org/). If you're using softsynths or multitrack recording techniques, you'll also need a Linux kernel that has been patched to provide real-time, low latency operation (http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/).

There are some distributors, however, that will packages all this up for you:
Ubuntu Studio (http://ubuntustudio.org/) is based on the ever popular Ubuntu distribution. It can either be installed on top of an exisiting Ubuntu system, or can be installed from an image that's slightly too big for a CD-R and, hence, requires a DVD-R.

Planet CCRMA (http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/software/) is a set of RPMs released by Standford University. These RPMs install on top of an existing Fedora system. It's probably the most comprehensive distribution for audio.

dyne:bolic (http://dynebolic.org/) is a Live CD that goes a little further than just audio recording. It will let you create any kind of content, set up a cluster of PCs, encrypt your data, and set up a server for streaming audio and video. It uses Window Maker, a less resource-intensive window manager, so it may feel a little unpolished, but all the applications are there.

This should be enough to get you started. There's a wide world of multimedia Free Software just waiting to be discovered. It exists because many people have realized that they don't want tot be beholden to a software proprietor in their quest for creativity.