[Fedora-music-list] Audio spin media

[Jørn Loamx]

On 25/05/2012 15:12, Ian Malone wrote:
> On 25 May 2012 11:37, Jørn Lomax<northlomax at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> On Thu, 2012-05-24 at 22:19 -0400, Christopher R. Antila wrote:
>>> On 05/24/2012 09:25 PM, Brendan Jones wrote:
>
>>>> Jorn's posts this week have got me thinking about what we should
>>>> be aiming for in terms of install media. As others have noted
>>>> before a CD sized spin is kind of outdated, and I wondered whether
>>>> we were in fact bound by this. So I raised it with releng on IRC
>>>> and we are not.
>>> Thinking is dangerous. That's why we do it!
>>>
>>>> In light of this I propose that we abandon the idea of a 'lite'
>>>> spin complemented by a larger DVD version, and just focus on one
>>>> Live image.
>>>>
>
>
>>>
>>> So... let's have only one version, make it as small as possible, and
>>> certainly ensure it fits on one CD! This obviously means we won't have
>>> many applications installed by default, but I don't see that as a
>>> problem for two reasons:
>>> 1.) the applications aren't the reason for the Spin, it's the integration.
>>> 2.) I don't know about you, but I don't use everything we've been
>>> thinking of putting on the spin, so why should everybody have to
>>> download everything?
>>>
>
>>> Again, it's about access for everybody. Sure thing my computer can run
>>> GNOME 3 and KDE-based applications at the same time while still making
>>> good-quality recordings, but not everybody has my computer.
>>>
>>>> And while I'm at it, what are we going to call this thing? Fedora
>>>> (Audio) studio / Fedora Audio / Free Audio (I'm reaching now)
>>> Let's call it "The Spin." It sounds misguidedly epic.
>>>
>
>>
>> I have to say i agree with Brendon. I don't think there is anything
>> wrong by not making the spin fit onto a CD. If you have a computer that
>> is capable of running realtime audio processing, chances are that you
>> have a DVD drive. I actually find it hard to even find blank CDs in the
>> store, so I always en up using a DVD as media (more often usb now).
>>
>
> So, is a key goal to produce a realtime audio platform? If it's not
> then basing everything else on that requirement might result in other
> people being unable to use it (and one default audience for FOSS is
> people who for whatever reason don't have access to high-spec
> systems). On the other hand, if that is a goal then the assumption is
> fine. Though your actual point (DVD drives are a much lower bar than
> RT audio) still stands I think.
>
> DVD vs CD has arguments on both sides anyway, are you more likely to
> have good net access (and be able to get packages that might be left
> off CD) or a DVD drive (and maybe not need net access)?
>
>> But what i think is the best solution is to first create a spin that is
>> focused on the user experience. Make sure it's simple, intuitive, is
>> easy to use and has the software we all feel it needs in there. For all
>> we know, it might actually fit onto a CD while still meeting those
>> criteria. Once we have done that, we can look at it and see, "what can
>> we drop", or "does it need more", all depending in it's size. But i
>> think the user experience should come first. But yes, *one* version :)
>>
>
> This sounds sensible. I think one thing to be said for limiting the
> size is that the discipline it imposes might help user experience. If
> you don't then there's a danger of sliding into a kitchen-sink
> approach, and then you can end up with task X is covered by
> application A,  task Y by app B and task Z by apps C, D and E. If
> that's not an option then you have to tackle making things work
> together better. This is the thing Ubuntu did very well when they
> started.
>

As a compulsive distro hopper, I have seen many "kitchen sink" distros 
(ubuntu ultimate edition, sabayon etc.) and I do *not* want to go 
anywhere near that. I think the way Linux mint does it is very good. The 
ISO is around 800MB, but it doesn't feel bloated(some would disagree) 
and I think it would loose some of it's appeal if they were do remove a 
feature or two just to make it 100MB smaller.