Just to wrap this up. I'm going back to Ubuntustudio -- I've already
installed 20.10 and started on a new song. I hope to also do a dual-boot
with Fedora Jam before long because the changes you're suggesting sound
really interesting.
Your comments about the different visions for Fedora Jam and UbuntuStudio
definitely influenced my decision. Can I share a short excerpt with the
Facebook LinuxMusicians? Something like this:
"Planet CCRMA At Home was discontinued after Fedora 30, which is EOL. That
said, many of the tools that were in Planet CCRMA At Home are now in Fedora
(except the RT kernel, more on that later).
My visions for Ubuntu Studio and Fedora Jam are quite different, yet
intertwined.
Ubuntu Studio is an all-in-one content creation studio. It targets
streamers, musicians, audio engineers (like myself), video producers (like
myself), graphic designers, photographers (like myself), and publishers.
Fedora Jam targets musicians and audio engineers who are okay with
experimenting with the latest audio technologies in Linux."
And thanks for all your hard work on both of these projects. I'll be
contacting you via Ubuntu channels about helping soon.
On Mon, Nov 2, 2020 at 4:01 PM Erich Eickmeyer <eeickmeyer(a)fedoraproject.org>
wrote:
Hi Steve,
On 11/2/20 3:01 PM, Steve Batte wrote:
Hi Erich,
I know this chain is getting long, but I have a big decision to make and
need advice. In terms of best functionality, most users, best support,
would you recommend:
1. Ubuntu Studio 20.4 LTS
2. Ubuntu Studio 20.10
3. Fedora Jam (32 or 33)
I'm partial to Fedora, maybe because I've been using it with Stanford's
CCRMA repo for 20 years or so. But I get the impression everyone else is
settling on Ubuntu as the standard. I also prefer KDE and stability, so
last week I installed Kubuntu 20.4 and U-studio on one hard drive, and
Fedora 32 Jam on another. I didn't find much difference, so settled on
Fedora and spent a few days correcting Carla plug-in paths, compiling
WhySynth 2017 and OxeFMSynth etc. But it's not too late to change.
My day job is stressful but pays well. Music is keeping me sane. I would
love to contribute to one or both of these projects.
Thanks
Steve
When it comes to changing the subject, you really need to start a new
thread. So, I hate to say it, but this is a little off-topic.
That said, this is one of the oldest questions ("Which is best?") as it's
very subjective. As for me, I dual-boot both, but that's mostly because I'm
in charge of both projects (Ubuntu Studio and Fedora Jam). However, if you
had to choose just one, I can't answer that question. What works best for
one person won't necessarily work best for everyone. But, I do have a few
things for you to consider.
Planet CCRMA At Home was discontinued after Fedora 30, which is EOL. One
thing I've been considering doing was emailing the person in charge of that
to see if he wanted to get it going again. That said, many of the tools
that were in Planet CCRMA At Home are now in Fedora (except the RT kernel,
more on that later).
My visions for Ubuntu Studio and Fedora Jam are quite different, yet
intertwined.
Ubuntu Studio is an all-in-one content creation studio. It targets
streamers, musicians, audio engineers (like myself), video producers (like
myself), graphic designers, photographers (like myself), and publishers.
Fedora Jam targets musicians and audio engineers who are okay with
experimenting with the latest audio technologies in Linux, such as
pipewire. With Fedora 34, we're hoping to get Pipewire mainstream, and I'm
one of the people doing the testing and, quite possible, will be authoring
a system-wide change proposal for all of Fedora to switch to Pipewire as
the default audio server, if I can get a few ducks in a row in those
regards. My rationale is that Pipewire will be a drop-in replacement for
both PulseAudio and JACK and will make applications that target both
completely interoperable without bridges. This, quite literally, is the
dream for audio on Linux that we've been waiting for since ALSA.
Another thing to consider: Ubuntu Studio was neglected for 2 years
(2016-2018) before I came along. Fedora Jam was neglected for much longer:
7 years (2013-2020). The longer a distro, or in these cases spins, is
neglected, the harder it is to pick-up the pieces and get it moving again.
Ubuntu Studio is *finally* where it needs to be, but Jam, partially because
the KDE spin went a couple years with a lack of leadership, and partially
because Jam itself went 7 years until this past January, is still
suffering. I've slowly been introducing new packages with plugins and other
software to Fedora. For instance, JACK Mixer had been a thing in Ubuntu
(and Debian) for a very long time, but was never a part of Fedora until
just recently.
While I have been introducing items formerly in Planet CCRMA and
rolling-in other items, we cannot bring-in an RT kernel, nor would I want
to. I made a huge write-up on the Ubuntu wiki (
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/RealTimeKernel) as to why
RT kernels this day and age are a BAD idea. TL;DR: They're full of security
holes, and most modern hardware, with a current Linux kernel, doesn't need
them anyhow. The Ubuntu Lowlatency Kernel and the Fedora kernel are already
lowlatency-enabled. In Jam and Ubuntu Studio, we add an additional kernel
boot parameter, "threadirqs", which activates the already-configured
"CONFIG_IRQ_FORCED_THREADING=y" kernel flag (the code for that flag
doesn't
work without the "threadirqs" boot parameter). This allows for more IRQ
threading and lower latency, albiet at the expense of power usage, all
while keeping your system secure.
So, I hope that helps you in your decision. Either way, I'd welcome
contributions to either or both of these projects. :)
--
Erich Eickmeyer
Maintainer Fedora Jam
Project Leader Ubuntu Studio
Council Member Ubuntu Community Council
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