48 lines
1.8 KiB
HTML
48 lines
1.8 KiB
HTML
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<p>
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It is fairly understandable that existing proprietary DAWs do not run on
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Linux, given the rather small (but growing) share of the desktop market
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that Linux has. However, when surveying the landscape of "popular
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operating systems", we find:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>older versions of Windows: plagued by abysmal stability and
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appalling security</li>
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<li>newer versions of Windows seem stable but still suffer from
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security problems</li>
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<li>OS X: an amazing piece of engineering that is excellent for
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audio work but only runs on proprietary hardware and still lacks the
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flexibility and adaptability of Linux.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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Security matters today, and will matter more in the future as more and
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more live or semi-live network based collaborations take place.
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</p>
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<p>
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Let's contrast this with Linux, an operating system which:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>can stay up for months (or even years) without issues</li>
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<li>is endlessly configurable down to the tiniest detail</li>
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<li>is not owned by any single corporate entity, ensuring its life
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and direction are not intertwined with that of a company (for a
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contrary example, consider BeOS)</li>
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<li>is fast and efficient</li>
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<li>runs on almost any computing platform ever created, including
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old "slow" systems and new "tiny" systems (e.g. Raspberry Pi)</li>
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<li>is one of the most secure operating systems "out of the box"</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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More than anything, however, Ardour's primary author uses Linux and
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wanted a DAW that ran there.
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</p>
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<p>
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Having written a DAW for Linux, it turned out to be relatively easy
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to port Ardour to OS X, mostly because of the excellent work done by
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the JACK OS X group that ported JACK to OS X.<br>
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Although OS X has a number of disadvantages compared to Linux, its
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ease of use and its presence in many studios already makes it a
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worthwhile platform.
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</p>
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