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Are There Any Audio Only Based Distributions?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:01 pm
by TygerTung
I read the thread down below, but it is a little bit old now.

I was wondering if there were any distributions based solely around audio? All the ones I have found seem to be multimedia focused, but I don't wish to do any video editing or animation or image work or anything like that on my studio computer.

I only use old hardware to save money and to try to reduce e-waste.

I am currently using Ubuntu Studio 18.04, and I tried to uninstall all the programmes I didn't want, but it somehow broke the desktop environment, and I couldn't log in anymore, but I was able to get into the command line and reinstall the desktop environment.

I hear talk about KX studio, but it doesn't seem to be a distribution anymore, just a set of packages.

Do I need to just install a base system of Debian or Ubuntu or something and then install a lightweight window manager like ICEWM and then just the audio software I want to use or something? I've got two small children so don't have a great deal of spare time, so can't spend endless hours customising.

Re: Are There Any Audio Only Based Distributions?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:06 pm
by Michael Willis
I understand the time constraints with trying to take care of the little ones! If you are comfortable using a distro that isn't based on Ubuntu, then try AVLinux. Yes, it includes other stuff like video editing and such, but I don't think they are hurting anything unless you have a tiny hard drive. Also you can likely remove them without breaking the system.

Re: Are There Any Audio Only Based Distributions?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:16 pm
by TygerTung
Thanks, I'll give it a try. The hard drive isn't too much of a concern as they are so cheap these days, but my concern was that the more stuff installed on a system, the higher the chance of it slowing the system down.

I have a Asus eeePC netbook with a Intel Atom N570 duel core 1.7 GHz as my portable/general purpose computer, and for my studio I have a 5 year old computer that my work got rid of as being too old which has a Intel Celeron N3060 (I think) which seems to go lightening fast with Linux installed.

I'll give the AV Linux a whirl and see how it goes. I installed the base Ubuntu Studio with no desktop selected, but it did install a basic Xubuntu. (I have a spare ex-work computer to test on)

Re: Are There Any Audio Only Based Distributions?

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:13 pm
by Openmastering
Video programs will not slow down your system. They are just "doing nothing" except taking up disk space.
If you really want to optimize your system, check which desktop environment fits the best.
Optimize your kernel

Uninstalling useless software is always a good idea, but I don't see how a non-running program should impact your performance. Linux is not windows...

Re: Are There Any Audio Only Based Distributions?

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 1:42 pm
by lmaudio
You can install an "normal" Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian and add the KXStudio-Repositories.
Also you can choose only the audio-based meta-packages (with Synaptic) and leave the video and graphic-part blank.

The same you can do with the Ubuntu Studio-Repositories on a "normal" Ubuntu system.

I prefer the KXStudio-Repositories because they have a big focus on audio and giving a great bundle of all the great stuff in Linuxaudioworld.

An alternative to Ubuntu Studio could be the unofficial community-project QStudio64, which is a modified Linux Mint 19.1 MATE with KXStudio-Repos inside: https://qstudio64.tumblr.com/

It's main focus is basicly on audio - but it brings a lot of stuff for video-, photo- and graphic-production too.
If you don't want to uninstall this or keep it, I think the best is to build your own studio-configuration like written above!

Good luck!