Reddit: what OS you use to produce music

[tavasti]

For reddit users, please go and vote linux:
https://www.reddit.com/r/musicproductio ... roduction/

[merlyn]

I voted. The results so far are :
780 Windows
676 Mac
41 Linux
32 Other

That's 2.7% use Linux. It's interesting that the Mac and Windows figures are comparable, while for general desktop use Mac has about 10%.

[raboof]

That's 2.7% use Linux.

Wow, that's much higher than I expected - that's one in ~37 users. Of course reddit is not your typical crowd, but still cool.

[Basslint]

I voted. The results so far are :
780 Windows
676 Mac
41 Linux
32 Other

That's 2.7% use Linux. It's interesting that the Mac and Windows figures are comparable, while for general desktop use Mac has about 10%.

Mac has a larger share among creatives, AFAIK.

[bluzee]

Mac like Linux is well suited for media production.

[sysrqer]

It's interesting that almost all of the comments in that thread are about linux.

[tavasti]

It's interesting that almost all of the comments in that thread are about linux.

Linux users have need to promote their OS. Just reason why I posted this here and in irc also

[merlyn]

The Reddit poll has now closed and the final results are :

796 Windows
688 Mac
44 Linux
32 Other

Linux gets 2.8%.

Mac has a larger share among creatives, AFAIK.

Certainly seems to be that way from these results. I didn't realise it was a roughly 50/50 split. That makes the situation worse than I had previously thought as I was thinking if Linux got to 10% of desktops hardware manufacturers would start to support Linux, as they support macOS, which has 10%. If it's a 50/50 split in music production it makes sense to support macOS, and for Linux to get traction a figure of say 30% in music production would be more like it.

Mac like Linux is well suited for media production.

The lack of Adobe on Linux is a deal breaker for a lot of people.

It's interesting that almost all of the comments in that thread are about linux.

Yes. Linux users are more engaged with their OS, and it would seem a lot of people on Reddit are using Linux. I've seen that presented as a bad thing by software developers. Specifically games where e.g. 90% of the bug reports came from Linux users, and Linux users only made up 10% of the users! Linux users are more likely to notice and report a bug, and this wasn't something the company wanted to deal with.

There may inherently be a conflict between Linux and profit driven commerce.

But ... the Steam Deck would say nay to that. The Steam Deck may be the start of Linux going mainstream and we finally get support from hardware manufacturers. To be clear I'm perfectly happy with music on Linux. Is this the year of the Linux desktop? Probably not, as the question has been asked every year and the answer was always 'no', and that's fine as speaking for myself music on Linux is do-able.

[Linuxmusician01]

The lack of Adobe on Linux is a deal breaker for a lot of people.

The Adobe company still exists? Thanks for the info!

It's interesting that almost all of the comments in that thread are about linux.

Yes. Linux users are more engaged with their OS, and it would seem a lot of people on Reddit are using Linux. I've seen that presented as a bad thing by software developers. Specifically games where e.g. 90% of the bug reports came from Linux users, and Linux users only made up 10% of the users! Linux users are more likely to notice and report a bug, and this wasn't something the company wanted to deal with.

That is a very good point and it worries me.

[Largos]

Macs have always been highly represented in music production. Back from the days when people preferred macs because they didn't have all the compatibility issues of adding extra stuff to pc's. They're also well represented on music production courses. On the PC pro tools is the "industry standard" because it came as a package with the hardware. Producing music on desktop PC's using a linux OS will never ever be popular because of the extra knowledge and effort required to use it. All these "top end" DAW's like pro tools and cubase will never ever be ported for use on desktop linux. It's all too locked down and late in the day to meaningfully change.

That said, IMO, Desktop computing is on borrowed time. What Valve is doing with the steam deck is pretty indicative of the future, moving away from desktop because the power of mobile computing is increasing to a point where for most a desktop will be pointless. Large companies like Valve will now create their own devices, which will function as walled gardens. A portable music production machine, using a customised linux based distro put out by some company like Steinberg or Ableton could actually be quite popular.

[Linuxmusician01]

Macs have always been highly represented in music production. Back from the days when people preferred macs because they didn't have all the compatibility issues of adding extra stuff to pc's. They're also well represented on music production courses. On the PC pro tools is the "industry standard" because it came as a package with the hardware. Producing music on desktop PC's using a linux OS will never ever be popular because of the extra knowledge and effort required to use it. All these "top end" DAW's like pro tools and cubase will never ever be ported for use on desktop linux. It's all too locked down and late in the day to meaningfully change.

I agree with you on Linux not ever becoming very popular. Let alone for Music Production.

However, if Pipewire really solves the confusing situation with ALSA, Jack 1, Jack 2 and PulseAudio then, if applications like Reaper will work out of the box without additional config or installation of "bridging software/drivers", it might catch on. Reaper is used by people who earn their daily bread with producing music. See this guy on Youtube who made a few video's about why he uses it.

Additionally, lots of people still think Linux is more stable than Windows and less susceptible (if at all) to viruses. MacOS has gotten a few fan boys to turn on it. MacOS is notoriously non-backwards compatible. And thus the latest and greatest version of your favourite software will not run on your old Apple computer. Millennials, for who the environment is sacred, are not gonna throw away something that still works because Apple says it's "depricated". Enter Linux.

That said, IMO, Desktop computing is on borrowed time. What Valve is doing with the steam deck is pretty indicative of the future, moving away from desktop because the power of mobile computing is increasing to a point where for most a desktop will be pointless. Large companies like Valve will now create their own devices, which will function as walled gardens. A portable music production machine, using a customised linux based distro put out by some company like Steinberg or Ableton could actually be quite popular.

I've seen people say the same thing after the Asus eeePC's used Linux. When the average person has to do things on the command line they run away screaming, tearing their hair out. I don't know what the Steam Deck is, but I think it's a portable gaming system. A small screen, IMHO, ain't no replacement for my (cheap!) desktop PC with a large screen. But it does sound like something worth my attention and might enter my house to play the latest and greatest games.

[Gps]

Macs have always been highly represented in music production. Back from the days when people preferred macs because they didn't have all the compatibility issues of adding extra stuff to pc's. They're also well represented on music production courses. On the PC pro tools is the "industry standard" because it came as a package with the hardware. Producing music on desktop PC's using a linux OS will never ever be popular because of the extra knowledge and effort required to use it. All these "top end" DAW's like pro tools and cubase will never ever be ported for use on desktop linux. It's all too locked down and late in the day to meaningfully change.

That said, IMO, Desktop computing is on borrowed time. What Valve is doing with the steam deck is pretty indicative of the future, moving away from desktop because the power of mobile computing is increasing to a point where for most a desktop will be pointless. Large companies like Valve will now create their own devices, which will function as walled gardens. A portable music production machine, using a customised linux based distro put out by some company like Steinberg or Ableton could actually be quite popular.

In the good old days Cubase had two versions, one for mac, one for Atari ST. ( same cpu or at least same family)

No dos, no windows version.

[Largos]

However, if Pipewire really solves the confusing situation with ALSA, Jack 1, Jack 2 and PulseAudio then, if applications like Reaper will work out of the box without additional config or installation of "bridging software/drivers", it might catch on. Reaper is used by people who earn their daily bread with producing music. See this guy on Youtube who made a few video's about why he uses it.

Additionally, lots of people still think Linux is more stable than Windows and less susceptible (if at all) to viruses. MacOS has gotten a few fan boys to turn on it. MacOS is notoriously non-backwards compatible. And thus the latest and greatest version of your favourite software will not run on your old Apple computer. Millennials, for who the environment is sacred, are not gonna throw away something that still works because Apple says it's "depricated". Enter Linux.

Pipewire is not going to change the issue of Windows being pre-installed on almost every retail PC and the majority of people having neither the knowledge or will power to install a new Operating System. This will always be the insurmountable problem for desktop PC's to the point where people expect Windows to be there because it's culturally associated with desktop PC's. Most people don't even recognise Mac's as a PC because PC's have Windows installed right.

Glenn Fricker does use Reaper and he also uses RME interfaces. He uses windows and mac though and has said that he knows nothing about Linux. I'm not sure you would want him doing a video on Linux though as he'd put any problems he'd have on full blast.

I've seen people say the same thing after the Asus eeePC's used Linux. When the average person has to do things on the command line they run away screaming, tearing their hair out. I don't know what the Steam Deck is, but I think it's a portable gaming system. A small screen, IMHO, ain't no replacement for my (cheap!) desktop PC with a large screen. But it does sound like something worth my attention and might enter my house to play the latest and greatest games.

The steam deck is a portable gaming system, yes. It's run on a customised version of Manjaro. Valve have invested a lot in Proton, the technology that allows Windows games to be played on it and all Linux is downstream of this. Proton is really good. The steam deck has HDMI output, so can switch from being a portable to being a console. IIRC there is concern about Microsoft's app store becoming the predominant way to install programs. This could leave companies like valve either out in the gold or sharing their commission.

[Largos]

In the good old days Cubase had two versions, one for mac, one for Atari ST. ( same cpu or at least same family)

No dos, no windows version.

When I was at school, the music room had an Atari ST with Cubase on it and also a Roland JV 1080 . Trouble was, they were put in by the previous teacher and the current ones were classical musicians with zero idea what to do with them. So they remained unconnected and unused. I could have had years playing with those if I knew what I found out after.

[merlyn]

Something that was interesting was the Universal Audio on Linux episode. From UA's point of view the OS is not an issue -- it's the DAW. When one of the UA staff was making his point that Linux is a non-starter for UA he linked a table of the most popular DAWs then asked "Do any of these run on Linux?". They were 1. Pro Tools 2. Logic 3. Ableton. UA have their own DAW, Luna, so that suggests that UA's focus is getting the UA hardware and software to integrate well with a DAW, the OS the DAW runs on is a secondary consideration.

Crystal ball gazing is notoriously unreliable, but the big three DAWs are not going to be ported to Linux this week, or this year.

Large companies like Valve will now create their own devices, which will function as walled gardens.

As far as I know the Steam Deck is open and hackable, so it's not a walled garden.

A portable music production machine, using a customised linux based distro put out by some company like Steinberg or Ableton could actually be quite popular.

That would involve porting the DAWs to Linux, so that's a win for us. Paul Davis pitched this to the industry years ago, with the idea that the big audio software companies could cut themselves loose from the whims of Microsoft and Apple. As you may have noticed they didn't go for it.