There are a couple dozen great softwares in debian sid, and similar competing collections,funkmuscle wrote: So does Linux have a serious roll in pro audio's future or is it just for the home based, having fun musician?
that cover most sonic territory. Maybe the round-robin/articulations of multi-sampled sounds,
as found in the $400+ sample libraries, ala kontakt, machV etc are the last main limitation at this time?
And even that is a more a limitation on music assemblers, rather than musicians. A lot of people are both.
If someone wants to produce great orchestral scores, across all musical genres, in a lone-wolf studio,
they will embrace the pricetag, sooner or later.
Can the question be accurately answered in either/or terms, when a lot of 'amateurs' and indies,
are deadly serious, and even some name-recognized 'pro's' squander their talent on frivolous living,
rather than working on their art? At least someone gets paid to mask their failings with a plethora
of plugins and edits.
Even socio-economic settings can broaden the possible range of answers. A 'poor' person in the
first-world, has a far better chance saving up for useful gear, than a poor person in third world regions.
Linux on an old recycled computer, could enable productivity for someone willing to learn,
to whom spending a $grand or $two on gear, is not on the horizon, or the map.
And then, the monetary choices of software authors, and consumers,
plays a role. Is paying a coder any different from paying a farmer, a doctor, a mechanic, a lawyer?
If the answer is 'no', there is hope. If the answer is yes, and linux musicians are seen by
contemporaries as a kind of floss welfare state, within an isolated enclave,
it will be a hard label to shake. Even then, labels do not mean one must own commercial
software, or even complex freeware, to produce great music. A symphony can consist
of simple parts, well composed, well played, and creatively arranged.
Stir in soundwaves, effects, a record button, and speakers to hear it on, and call it dinnertime.
Cheers