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:
- Ubuntu Studio 20.4 LTS
- Ubuntu Studio 20.10
- 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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