On Monday 26 Feb 2007 14:33, Paul Davis wrote: > if you wanted to make native VST on linux easier, the sensible > thing to do is to implement VSTGUI on top of X11 and/or one or more > contemporary toolkits. My impression was that that was the goal. The only substantial problem I have with this is the licensing one. I didn't come to Linux to get away from Windows applications, but I have always been glad to be rid of an environment in which the most usual way to get hold of binaries is to copy them illegally. But here the author and users of a proprietary application are pushing a plugin API for which neither plugins nor hosts can legally be distributed under the GPL as binaries -- that is, as useful plugins. Since most of the plugins available for porting to Linux are only available because they are GPL'd, the result is a set of plugins that will probably be distributed as binaries but that most users will not be using legitimately. I don't like that. But none of that is Jorgen's fault. If the licensing problem could be solved, either through pressure on Yamaha or by a clean-room reverse engineering effort, then practically speaking the native VST effort would only have advantages. VST is an ugly and badly documented API, but it's widely known and more complete than any current Linux alternative. If existing GPL'd hosts could provide native VST support, they could also in some cases provide better Win32 VST support than they do now, using a LinVST-WinVST bridge akin to dssi-vst (since there are various things in VST that can't be done using dssi-vst). Hobbyists are thus encouraged to enter into the various Linux development models, and the medium term net result for users is good. If the licensing problem can't be solved, then we have possibly the first genuinely credible likelihood of users becoming locked in to proprietary audio applications on Linux. Those of us who like to waste our time on free software applications for which there's essentially no commercial market can feel bitter, envious and/or resentful about this, but it's a bad thing for users as well, and in the long term a very bad thing for Linux because it erodes any reason to prefer Linux in the first place. Chris
