[ Thanks to Robert
McMillan for this link. ]
“A couple of weeks ago, I attended a major book industry expo,
and chanced upon a booth for the No Starch Press publishing house.
As I browsed through their Linux titles a very nice publicist
started pushing their upcoming book, Linux Music & Sound, on
me. Linux music and sound? I did a double-take. The shock wasn’t
because I’m completely skeptical about Linux as a platform for
creating music and sound, it’s just that I’m still smarting from
experiences struggling with OSS (Open Sound System) and anything
other than a plain-Jane Sound Blaster AWE64 or earlier. And I don’t
think I’m alone. Many of the “install/configure” Linux books I’ve
read and reviewed are conspicuously light in the audio section
simply because if the installation goes south, it’s very difficult
to describe the fixes.”
“Looking at the software landscape, it’s clear that Linux needs
quite a few fundamental improvements before it can be considered a
legitimate player in the audiovisual arts industry. We’ve got Flash
players and RealNetworks has finally seen fit to catch Linux
development up with the rest of their supported platforms, and
these are good things, but they don’t do much for the creative
side. Yes, there is The GIMP, a truly excellent still-image
program, but one battle does not win the war….”
“The thing to remember about digital artists is that while some
are hard-core hacker types who don’t mind applying kernel patches
and editing scripts, many find the concept completely alien.
There’s a reason the Mac is so successful among creative types,
and it’s not just the translucent plastic.“