Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Discuss anything new and newsworthy! See http://planet.linuxaudio.org and https://libreav.org/news for more Linux Audio News!

Announcements of proprietary software may fit better in the Marketplace.


Moderators: raboof, MattKingUSA, khz

folderol
Established Member
Posts: 2072
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:06 pm
Location: Here, of course!
Has thanked: 224 times
Been thanked: 400 times
Contact:

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by folderol »

Documentation is a major headache. It's difficult to do properly and time-consuming. The hardest part of all, is assessing what (if anything) you can assume your audience already knows. Good technical authors are few and far between - so there's no such thing as a poor one :lol:

Video tutorials are only part of an answer - and they are pretty damned hard to do right as well. To get a smooth polished presentation you must work from a script, one you've practiced before actually recording and one that contains not only what you have to say, but click-by-click what you are actually doing.

Those of us stumbling over live presentations know exactly how easy it is to lose your place and make a hash of it :(

Also, from a users point of view, you can't quickly flick back and forth across a video like you can a text reference, so a video should never be thought of as a replacement.
The Yoshimi guy {apparently now an 'elderly'}
glowrak guy
Established Member
Posts: 2315
Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:37 pm
Been thanked: 251 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by glowrak guy »

GuntherT wrote: I remember 10 years ago
So do I, no BSOD, driver hell, virii, or reinstall tsunami since 10 years of using linux
to make music. Amazing how you win/mac fanbois come out of the woodwork here,
to tell the local miscreants how wonderful the real world is...and blatantly ignore
or gloss over the prevailing issues commonly posted in felp forums for
such perfect non-linux operating systems. You're wearing the tin,
and thus don't know it. To little, too late. Gearslutz needs you more than we do.
Please help them.
folderol
Established Member
Posts: 2072
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:06 pm
Location: Here, of course!
Has thanked: 224 times
Been thanked: 400 times
Contact:

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by folderol »

Things seem to be getting a bit off track. Can we just talk about what can be done to improve, and forget about what's happening elsewhere?

I'm reminded of an old 'Perishers' cartoon where the dog, Boot is howling in pain, only he's not even trying to get off the tack he's sitting on.
The Yoshimi guy {apparently now an 'elderly'}
glowrak guy
Established Member
Posts: 2315
Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:37 pm
Been thanked: 251 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by glowrak guy »

I'm just stirring the pot, hoping Paul might chuckle once or twice.
About improvements, gumroad isn't working for me in either
firefox, or the latest chrome, to get the newest Zyn-Fusion.
Worked fine for the 3.0 and all subsequent releases.
Click the download, and it sits there like a drunken toad :wink:
Just need the linux version for now, I'll pm my proof of purchase in a sec...
Cheers
GuntherT
Established Member
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:15 am
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 28 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by GuntherT »

falkTX wrote:I have to laugh at the thought that unchecking some boxes will disable the tracking...
These options are sometimes reverted after an update, and since you can't see the code there's no way to reliably know what it's saving and sending at a later date.
There was a major update recently pushed to Windows 10, and prior to the installation completing, the system asked the user to reconfirm the privacy settings, so it would seem to me that those settings are not automatically overwritten unless the user blindly clicks through the same dialog boxes that appear during the initial installation.

I fully acknowledge the only way a user can know for sure what is going on with their computer is by reading the source code, which is why I am grateful that open source software exists and that people like you, falkTX, are out there doing fantastic work to advance open source software. I would love, love, love to see the day when all software is open source.

At the same time, I do not know how to interpret source code, so even if all computer code was open, I would still have to rely on people like you, whom I trust, to confirm there are no issues. I do not, however, subscribe to the premise that because some computer code is closed that it is 100% untrustworthy.
folderol wrote:Things seem to be getting a bit off track. Can we just talk about what can be done to improve, and forget about what's happening elsewhere?
I agree. My apologies for being the reason this thread got so derailed. My bad.
User avatar
bhilmers
Established Member
Posts: 229
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:44 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by bhilmers »

glowrak guy wrote:So do I, no BSOD, driver hell, virii, or reinstall tsunami since 10 years of using linux
to make music. Amazing how you win/mac fanbois come out of the woodwork here,
to tell the local miscreants how wonderful the real world is...and blatantly ignore
or gloss over the prevailing issues commonly posted in felp forums for
such perfect non-linux operating systems.
Weird. I used the same installation of Win XP for almost 8 years and never saw a BSOD or had driver issues. Actually, I haven't seen a BSOD or driver issue on Win7 either. However, I have seen a the new and improved BSOD on my co-worker's Win10 computer several times. You gotta give credit where credit is due. Windows makes a solid product. And just like Linux, if you are smart about the hardware you use your system will be stable. That's true of every OS. I choose Linux for a variety of reasons, but I can't fault an OS where no fault is warranted. Microsoft's SaaS model for Windows 10 can fuck right off, but the audio stack and tools are fine. And I'll gladly take the title of Windows fanbot. It's a nice change from all my friend's picking on me for using "that weird Linux shit."
rghvdberg
Established Member
Posts: 1067
Joined: Mon May 12, 2014 7:11 am
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 36 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by rghvdberg »

Imagine having a hammer.
And having it send how many nails you hammered in.
At which time and what day of the week.
How much force was applied.
The speed of the hit.
Which hand you used.

Later you find a switch. And you find a manual stating you can flip it so it won't send that info.

That would be absurd wouldn't it.

It's a great working hammer though.

A hammer is a tool and so is my computer. I should not be worried sending it all kinds of shit to the internet.
That's my overly simplistic view on the state of things.
GuntherT
Established Member
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:15 am
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 28 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by GuntherT »

rghvdberg wrote:Imagine having a hammer.
And having it send how many nails you hammered in.
At which time and what day of the week.
How much force was applied.
The speed of the hit.
Which hand you used.

Later you find a switch. And you find a manual stating you can flip it so it won't send that info.

That would be absurd wouldn't it.

It's a great working hammer though.

A hammer is a tool and so is my computer. I should not be worried sending it all kinds of shit to the internet.
That's my overly simplistic view on the state of things.
I chuckled at this, but I can't resist...what if the info sent from your hammer to the internet went into a database of similar hammer models and could predict when your hammer is about to fail. Would it not be useful to receive notification that your hammer is about to come apart before the striking end flies off the handle and does damage or injury to something or someone?

I live in California where a traffic accident can add hours to your drive home during rush hour. I once received a notification from Google on my Android phone of a traffic accident that had shut down the freeway. I turned on my navigation and was rerouted to an exit that I would have otherwise never taken, but if I hadn't been alerted, I would have missed dinner with my family that night.

It is a choice whether or not one is willing to share their information with a corporation. On my Windows laptop, I unchecked every single box in the privacy settings so no information is being sent to Microsoft because I see no benefit in it. However, I have experienced firsthand the benefits of Google having that level of information, so despite it being a little creepy at times, I am willing to live with it because it is damn convenient in many situations. I have no expectation of finding agreement with that opinion here, but I provide my two cents free of charge.

Getting way, way off topic here...I should probably just sign out for a week or so.
Luc
Established Member
Posts: 741
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:04 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by Luc »

GuntherT wrote:I agree the documentation for Windows and OSX is better than Linux documentation overall, which is why I recommend AVLinux to newcomers.
No, it isn't! Linux is a lot, lot more documented. Is there even a Windows manual at all? I have no idea about Apple, but I suspect Jobs wouldn't approve any design that requires a manual. That would be sacrilege!
Drumfix wrote:Whenever a new version of Win or OSX comes out every online and offline magazine immediately publishes a detailed guide on how to set up it up, and provides some 1000 tips and tricks on how to tweak the system to your needs.
Linux usually doesn't change, which is an advantage. When it does, we get plenty of coverage from online magazines, too.
Drumfix wrote:If any major issue is detected with Win or OSX every online and offline magazine immediately publishes the solution in big letters, so Joe User knows about the solution even before he detects the problem on his machine.

With linux, you actively need to search for such information.
How can every online and offline magazine immediately publish the solution if they don't have access to the source code? Nope! If any major issue is detected with Win or OSX, you have to wait until MSFT or AAPL publish a fix, which may take from two weeks to a few years. Once it's published, you never really know how it works, what it really is, what it really addresses and what it might possibly introduce.
In comparison, if any major issue is detected with Linux, it is announced to all and sundry, and the problem is fixed in two hours to two days, give or take, with source patch widely available.
User avatar
bhilmers
Established Member
Posts: 229
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:44 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by bhilmers »

Luc wrote:Is there even a Windows manual at all?
The documentation is literally built in to the OS. There is a link for help right on the Start Menu. Pressing F1 brings up application specific help for nearly every application. There are tool tips and help bubbles everywhere. There is so much documentation it's actually annoying and I turn off most of it because it gets in the way. Granted, the built-in troubleshooter is not any more helpful than the average Tier-1 support, but it's there to use if you need it.

Windows tries to have as much documentation as possible in the GUI, versus the trend to make all documentation "online." It's much less obvious for Linux users to open a terminal and type ~$ man <application> or search through /usr/share/doc...
User avatar
sadko4u
Established Member
Posts: 987
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:03 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 359 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by sadko4u »

falkTX wrote:Everyone else is doing tracking (Google, Apple, Amazon, etc etc) so it's not like it's something new... and "I have nothing to hide, so I don't care" mentality is too widespread already.
It's good reason to ask these users to publish their credit cards' details online if they've nothing to hide.
LSP (Linux Studio Plugins) Developer and Maintainer.
barbouze
Established Member
Posts: 186
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 12:26 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by barbouze »

There are a lot of things to discuss other than Apple vs Windows vs Linux and privacy :?
- the Linux audio stack
- jack1 & jack2
- plugin formats
- the alarming low number of top class devs (kudos to them!)
- the small and disparate community
CrocoDuck
Established Member
Posts: 1133
Joined: Sat May 05, 2012 6:12 pm
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by CrocoDuck »

barbouze wrote:There are a lot of things to discuss other than Apple vs Windows vs Linux and privacy :?
Thank you for trying to get this back on track... as a master out-of-topic-drifter I really appreciate it.

I will start from this point:
barbouze wrote:- the Linux audio stack
Thanks to this topic I got the occasion to look a little deeper into OS stacks and I would summarize the following:
  • On Linux there are many different audio APIs going on, mainly ALSA, PulseAudio and JACK.
  • This happens also on Windows, with mainly DirectSound, WASAPI and ASIO.
  • Mac OS seems to show one single API, but under the hood there appear to be demons running that work in user space similarly to what JACK and PulseAudio do, see Paul Davis remarks here (notice that it is an old thread).
The conclusion seems to be the following: Linux audio stack is not actually too more chaotic or complex, but we are exposed, as users, to its inner working to a higher degree. There is academic evidence showing that audio performances of desktop OSes are comparable provided good configuration (See the bottom of this post (kinda old papers, I will go on a quest to search for more up to date papers)), so I would conclude that Linux audio stack is good, but perhaps Linux nature of putting the user in charge of configuration makes it somewhat harder to understand for novices.
glowrak guy
Established Member
Posts: 2315
Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:37 pm
Been thanked: 251 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by glowrak guy »

Veterans of audio production on other platforms should be up and running
in a few lazy google hours, otherwise it's a safe bet they flailed and floundered
when learning to configure audio in any non-linux OS.

A complete novice will have plenty of jargon to memorize, on any OS,
much of it duplicates, but starting out with linux, will instill the user
with self-reliance, bolster their research skills, with creative thinking
and freedom to show for it.

(Cue the local mac/win nannystaters, to convince us, once again,
that we're wasting our time, because linux is teh wurstest :roll:
Cheers
GuntherT
Established Member
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:15 am
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 28 times

Re: Paul Davis at LAC 2017

Post by GuntherT »

barbouze wrote:There are a lot of things to discuss other than Apple vs Windows vs Linux and privacy :?
- the Linux audio stack
- jack1 & jack2
- plugin formats
- the alarming low number of top class devs (kudos to them!)
- the small and disparate community
Moving on to your second bullet point...I am interested what people know about the development of JACK. Their webpage suggests that the differences between JACK1 and JACK2 will ironed out in a future version, but it has been several years, and I haven't come across anything to suggest that JACK3 (assuming it will be called that) is in the works. Is anybody actively working on this, and if so, what is its current state and goals? If not, what is the reason its development has stalled?
Post Reply