Does anyone use open source in their audio production workflow? There are dozens of free alternatives to M$ Windows and Mac operating systems. Everyone should check out the following free Linux "distributions" that feature complete operating systems bundled with audio production software:
64 Studio A “collection of software for digital content creation on x86_64 hardware… based on the pure 64-bit port of Debian GNU/Linux” but with a specialised package selection and lots of other customizations. APODIO APODIO is a 5 years old Gnu/Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, dedicated to multimedia tools for audio/visual creation, to run your own radio, TV, make your own film, animation, art installation, Live Coding and other A/V performance. (This means you can try the fully functional OS before installing it) ArtistX ArtistX is a free live GNU/Linux DVD which turns a common computer into a full multimedia production studio.
It is based on Ubuntu GNU/Linux and contains nearly all the available free audio, 2D and 3D graphics, and video software for the GNU/Linux computing platform. (This means you can try the fully functional OS before installing it) Demudi The Debian Multimedia project aims to make Debian a good platform for audio and multimedia work. This basically means packaging/maintaining multimedia applications and libraries, and collaborating with other maintainers or teams in order to improve audio/video support in Debian. Dynebolic dyne:bolic is shaped on the needs of media activists, artists and creatives as a practical tool for multimedia production: you can manipulate and broadcast both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode and stream, having automatically recognized most device and peripherals: audio, video, TV, network cards, firewire, usb and more; all using only free software! (This means you can try the fully functional OS before installing it) Jacklab An openSuSE media-optimized Linux distribution. Media Linux A Knoppix-based Linux distribution focused on multimedia Musix A "live" music and sound distro. (This means you can try the fully functional OS before installing it)
CCRMA a.k.a. "Karma"
RPM packages of the Linux sound and music software used at The Stanford University Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. Pro Audio Pro-Audio is an overlay for the Gentoo GNU/Linux portage system. MDE Mandriva enhanced audio RPMS by Zé & Thac. TurnKey Linux Audio A Linux audio distro from Kevin Ernste at the Eastman Computer Music Center. Ubuntu Studio A multimedia editing/creation flavor of Ubuntu
Caveat: It comes default with a realtime kernel and when you run jack interfaced programs, which also sample in realtime, it can cause the system to become unstable.
M-Dist A SlackWare-based "live" Linux system specially tuned for MIDI and audio use, now very old (based on Slackware 9.1) Pure
yne PureDyne is a GNU/Linux live distribution based on Debian. (This means you can try the fully functional OS before installing it)
Truth be told, GNU Linux is a
completely modular operating system that can be built to suit your needs. You can start with any distribution/distrobution and "roll your own" (a.k.a. install applications as needed). Several of them can be downloaded, burned and used as a "Live CD," so you can experiment with the operating system and software without overwriting your existing system. If you are experimental, tech savvy, on a budget, or a proponent of freedom and personal choice, you owe it to yourself to give open source a try.
More to come...