Comments on: my selfish reasons for making free music with free software http://wootangent.net/2010/06/my-selfish-reasons-for-making-free-music-with-free-software/ lsd's rants about games, music, linux, and technology Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:17:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: lsd http://wootangent.net/2010/06/my-selfish-reasons-for-making-free-music-with-free-software/comment-page-1/#comment-5580 lsd Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:43:32 +0000 http://wootangent.net/?p=632#comment-5580 No, it's not a strong philosophical stand, but that's the point! The pros and cons of both proprietary and open-source software in general have been discussed at length by people much smarter than I, and their arguments are just as relevant for music software as they are for anything else, so I'd just be wasting everyone's time by writing yet another article about open-source's fundamental advantages. The point of this article was to show that, even if you ignore the open-source vs proprietary discussion, using Linux for music production is not just a viable alternative, but a preferable one in some very simple, tangible ways. I don't use Ardour, Qtractor, Hydrogen, et al just because they're open-source -- I use them because they're cheap (well, free!), flexible, capable, and run on my preferred OS. I'm guessing you have some fundamental problems with proprietary software, but I don't necessarily. I certainly prefer open-source, but I don't think proprietary apps are evil, and if they fill a need for me, I'll certainly investigate them. Pianoteq is a great example -- it's a very niche application with no direct open-source alternative (LinuxSampler can also produce great piano sounds, but it's a fundamentally different tool), and it has an excellent Linux port. It's not free, of course, but the price is reasonable, and I'm quite willing to pay it to help its developers continue to develop it. No, it’s not a strong philosophical stand, but that’s the point! The pros and cons of both proprietary and open-source software in general have been discussed at length by people much smarter than I, and their arguments are just as relevant for music software as they are for anything else, so I’d just be wasting everyone’s time by writing yet another article about open-source’s fundamental advantages.

The point of this article was to show that, even if you ignore the open-source vs proprietary discussion, using Linux for music production is not just a viable alternative, but a preferable one in some very simple, tangible ways. I don’t use Ardour, Qtractor, Hydrogen, et al just because they’re open-source — I use them because they’re cheap (well, free!), flexible, capable, and run on my preferred OS.

I’m guessing you have some fundamental problems with proprietary software, but I don’t necessarily. I certainly prefer open-source, but I don’t think proprietary apps are evil, and if they fill a need for me, I’ll certainly investigate them. Pianoteq is a great example — it’s a very niche application with no direct open-source alternative (LinuxSampler can also produce great piano sounds, but it’s a fundamentally different tool), and it has an excellent Linux port. It’s not free, of course, but the price is reasonable, and I’m quite willing to pay it to help its developers continue to develop it.

]]> By: Louigi Verona http://wootangent.net/2010/06/my-selfish-reasons-for-making-free-music-with-free-software/comment-page-1/#comment-5572 Louigi Verona Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:31:44 +0000 http://wootangent.net/?p=632#comment-5572 "adopting open-source software for pragmatic reasons leaves me ideologically free to buy commercial software for pragmatic reasons, too" Not a very strong philosophical stand, though. “adopting open-source software for pragmatic reasons leaves me ideologically free to buy commercial software for pragmatic reasons, too”

Not a very strong philosophical stand, though.

]]> By: AutoStatic http://wootangent.net/2010/06/my-selfish-reasons-for-making-free-music-with-free-software/comment-page-1/#comment-5034 AutoStatic Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:42:17 +0000 http://wootangent.net/?p=632#comment-5034 Amen to that! Best, Jeremy Amen to that!

Best,

Jeremy

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