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Every now and then a new article "Why you should go Linux". I get it, I like Linux too but every case is different. I want to use Linux but I have to use Digita

by mnls 8mo ago

Every now and then a new article "Why you should go Linux". I get it, I like Linux too but every case is different. I want to use Linux but I have to use Digital Audio Workstation. So in my case, I shouldn't dump Windows (and thousand of $$ I've spent on audio software). I know people desperately want to believe that Linux is "there", but it really isn't. And will probably never be. It’s still too confusing for the average user (many distros, many desktop environments, Wayland vs X, systemd vs init, snap vs flatpak).

reactordev 8mo ago
Reaper is just as good as FL Studio or Logic Pro. VSTs are really your biggest hurdle. Depending on how they are compiled, they may rely on platform specific code. Most big plugin makers have VSTs for all platforms though and your license works on all. The pathway is there should you choose, one day. Linux is quite good now. That being said, I know a lot of niche plugins that some guy wrote that only works on windows because that’s all he/she has access to. Some 8-bit synth bitcrushers come to mind. Also Steinburg made VST 3 sdk open source so you have a path to a free music production studio. https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk
- g947o 8mo ago
  "as good as" (debatable in the first place) isn't enough justification to switch. Everyone has their own workflows, settings etc that they used over many years, which they are not going to give up, just to "switch to Linux". This is about real loss in productivity.
  - reactordev 8mo ago
    Yes but readers may be reading and think that Linux isn’t capable. It is. There’s plenty of DAWs available. You can also use WINE with proton to run FL Studio on Linux. My suggestion is just that, a suggestion to explore the possible. If we just learn one thing and never change then we wind up being left behind. While FL Studio and Logic, Cubase and Ableton are what most people know. There’s ways of running ALL of them on Linux.
    - embedding-shape 8mo ago
      > While FL Studio and Logic, Cubase and Ableton are what most people know. There’s ways of running ALL of them on Linux. As I just managed to get VR working with HP Reverb G2 in my Linux environment, quite literally the only reason I have Windows still installed on my computer is because of Ableton, and not being able to run that properly on even workstation hardware. How exactly do I get Ableton running with an external USB soundcard and everything running exactly like it runs on Linux? I'm quite literally ready to give you money if you manage to give me an answer that actually leads to me being able to run Ableton on Arch Linux, because for years I have tried, and waited for the moment it's possible. So please do tell, how do I get it running?
      - bhewes 8mo ago
        Windows VM with USB passthrough. I haven't had any issues with USB devices this way.
        mystifyingpoi 8mo ago
        I've tried to passthrough Behringer audio interface, as well as HX Stomp (to, of course, avoid dual-boot) and it stuttered like crazy. Maybe there is a way to make it more "realtime" but it's not the default, at least in VirtualBox.
        bhewes 8mo ago
        Yeah passing through usb devices to a VM for audio seems to be a dark art like working with a bunch of analog equipment. Everything has to be tuned. I do understand why a bare metal windows and/or mac computer is always in a studio, one can skip the head ache. Even if main DAW is Linux.
        reactordev 8mo ago
        VirtualBox is the worst VM software. QEMU on Linux with kvm is gold.
        8mo ago
- oamaok 8mo ago
  > VSTs are really your biggest hurdle. And that is unfortunately the place where I spent my big bucks. I do however use Linux for my work, and have for more than a decade. If all the plugins (plus FL Studio, I've tried Reaper but it might be not for me) worked, I'd switch my personal desktop in a heartbeat. It's honestly the only thing locking me to Win10. Maybe I'll try a Mac through work (we get to keep the machines). And yes, I've tried running FL using Wine, and it works surprisingly well! Just not _well enough_, and some plugins do not work at all. Most do, and that's great, but not enough for me at least.
  - reactordev 8mo ago
    I fully understand, that’s me and basically all those Native Instrument packs. You’ll have to pry guitar rig from my cold dead hands.
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
  - buzzardbait 8mo ago
    I still remember the first time I stumbled across Logic Pro X. For the price of $200 I got a complete package that contains about 200 plugins and instruments. The DAW itself was maybe 7% of the full contents of that package. That is unbeatable value for money in the DAW market and that was before Logic Pro 11 came out and added a ton of new plugins.
- buzzardbait 8mo ago
  "As good as" is highly debateable. Have you used Logic Pro 11 in the past two years?
  - reactordev 8mo ago
    Yes, I own Logic Pro
- allears 8mo ago
  It's not the apps, it's the drivers. I've got expensive high quality audio hardware (RME Fireface 800) that doesn't have Linux drivers. Oh sure, I could invest $2000 to get a newer version, but that would just mean a steep learning curve to get drivers, hardware, and DAW working anywhere near as seamlessly as my Windows setup. It's not that I'm a Windows fan, I'm just looking for the most cost- and time-effective solutions. I'd rather spend my time recording and making music than sweating over driver and software issues.
  - reactordev 8mo ago
    FireWire is dead. Apple moved on to Thunderbolt
- mnls 8mo ago
  > Most big plugin makers have VSTs for all platforms though and your license works on all. Most??? I can’t find Arturia, Korg, Reason Rack Plugin, FabFilter, Native Instruments, Softube and those are just from the top of my head.
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
stevekemp 8mo ago
I guess it depends on your needs. 90% of my working life is a terminal to run terraform, emacs to write code, and slack to chat with colleagues. In each of the companies I've worked over the past 10 years I've had a google workspace account, and I think I've never even touched microsoft office in all that time. Yes there are options. In practice you pick one distro, the one your friend recommends, or that the IT department gives you. There are probably fields in which you cannot use Linux software, but for your average joe? It's not impossible, and it's not that confusing with a little patience.
- pixelpoet 8mo ago
  I'm sure you mean Microsoft Copilot 365 App, not Office :D I can't get over how they torpedoed one of the most famous brands in the world... but that's kind of on brand for them now, self-sabotage.
teo_zero 8mo ago
> So in my case, I shouldn't dump Windows (and thousand of $$ I've spent on audio software). If you mean that there's no Linux replacement for Digital Audio Workstation, then I agree: switching is not for you. But if what worries you are the $$ you have spent, you are just another victim of the sunk cost fallacy. The earlier you realize your mistake, the earlier you are ready to evaluate the options without biases.
- luqtas 8mo ago
  most interesting part is to guess how many here complaining about a poor ecosystem on Linux audio, actually work professionally on the field Surge-XT, Vitalium and/or PlugData or Cardinal can get you so far on the synthesis world that maybe not even a full dedicated lifetime can explore everything you can do with it... Ardour isn't a shinning pot for MIDI editor generational features but if you actually know music-theory, it works pretty solid for writing. the in-line editor makes very much sense, just like sheet music can hold an orchestra info. on a sigle page
- drnick1 8mo ago
  I am not familiar with Digital Audio Workstation, but this seems a good use case for WinApps.
- DjangoReinhardt 8mo ago
  I wish to gently but firmly disagree. The thousands of $$ on audio software are spent because they actually provide the exact output needed. Think of them as a precision-tooled machine part critical to the production flow in a factory. Sure, you can replace it with a cheaper alternative but the cheaper part will likely have rough edges and the errors caused by those rough edges will cascade into your final production output...
vanviegen 8mo ago
> It’s still too confusing for the average user (many distros, many desktop environments, Wayland vs X, systemd vs init, snap vs flatpak). Users don't need to know about any of that, except for picking a distro and just using whatever is there. Regarding DAW - I get sticking with Windows if you have thousands invested in it. Even so, there's quite a bit of professional software out there with native support (like Bitwig) or flawless Wine support.
- isbvhodnvemrwvn 8mo ago
  They absolutely do, the moment you have any problem you are on your own. I spent half a day troubleshooting why nvidia drivers were not loading (mint was not signing them and secure boot silently kicked the module out), and I'm many times more proficient at technology than an average person.
  - aNoob7000 8mo ago
    I bought a brand new Dell laptop with Windows 11 25H2 at the end of November 2025. The first patches released by Microsoft in December did not install. WTF!!! If you go online, you will see a whole YouTube videos and articles on how to fix the issue. Let me tell you, after a considerable amount of time, I gave up. I'm running Ubuntu 24.04 on my desktop, and I can't remember the last time I had issues applying patches.
    - bitmasher9 8mo ago
      Windows has problems all the time. There is widespread knowledge on how to troubleshoot and fix these problems. Similar problems will have very different solutions for Linux. The knowledge of how to resolve them is much less widespread. I’ve had very good success in asking ChatGPT how to resolve Linux issues, probably better success then I would on Windows because the error messages on Linux are much more detailed.
      - fragmede 8mo ago
        Windows has a "check the Internet for solutions" option that never works. You can just let Claude code loose on your system and have it go fix your shit for you instead of copy and pasting anything.
n3storm 8mo ago
I am a linux user for 26 years. And used windows since 3.11 up to 2005. After that point I just helped people with windows, never worked with it. I had this friend while my kid went to school with his kid, he was a musician. He absolutely was frightened of even handling me the mouse of his windows 7 setup in case I break his DAW, cherry audio tools and midi mixers just by me showing him a website. Also helped to switch some dlls (hi didn't know how to kill background task to release dll to be replaced) and edit windows registry cause he needed an upgrade for some pirated software. I have seen many more nightmarish stuff hapenning in windows, even on holy sacred windows xp. On the other hand my mother has been using debian xfce in her acer touch screen laptop for 15 years. No issues. Many elder people got in shock when windows 8 made all those changes. So whenever windows users talk about linux confusion I smirk.
bhewes 8mo ago
I have Windows only audio and 3d software. I ended up with a windows VM with GPU passthrough on Linux. It sits on its own m2 drive for the rare occasion I need to dual boot. So Windows has been become legacy software for me. (IClone and CC). And Steam Deck is there. But I think the desktop interface is legacy for anyone under the age of 25, I get a kick out of watching them navigate a desktop.
Vinnl 8mo ago
There is no "there" for Linux to be, because > every case is different Every article like this is another person for whom Linux is there.
a456463 8mo ago
FLStudio in Wine, Bitwig and Reaper work amazing on Linux, Mixxx for DJing works with Traktor keyboards.
graemep 8mo ago
> t’s still too confusing for the average user (many distros, many desktop environments, Wayland vs X, systemd vs init, snap vs flatpak). Average users need to buy hardware with a suitable distro installed. Usually that means Ubuntu. Its a decision that should be taken for them With regard to DEs - Gnome for touch devices, KDE for mouse and keyboard driven ones. Both set up to be Windows like by default. The average user is never even going to know whether they are running Wayland or systemd or snap. They will never change the default.
y-c-o-m-b 8mo ago
Ableton + Serum + many custom VSTs user here. You're spot on. This is actually the biggest reason I can't switch. In fact Steve Duda (creator of Serum) has said many times that he doesn't ever plan to support Linux. That's not a deal-breaker necessarily, but the fact we paid lots of money for this stuff makes it a bit unreasonable to switch to Linux.
nlkl 8mo ago
I see this mentioned again and again, but I don't buy it. For power users or users with niche use cases, sure there might be specialized software that lock you into Windows or Mac. But for most casual home users, I think Linux would be perfectly adequate, and familiarity being the only real detractor. Assuming someone can help install a friendly Linux distribution (and that the hardware is compatible), then what are the big blockers? Gaming maybe, for those where it is relevant. But looking at all my not so tech savvy family members and friends, a browser, online versions of MS Office (or Libreoffice for sure), maybe Spotify or the like, would really be enough. Being able to install apps via an (actually useful) app store is a big win in itself. Looking at those friends/family members, it is not like they are able to support their Windows machines either when something goes wrong or needs to be changed - I (or someone else technical) always need to help out anyway, fixing driver issues, installing software, changing any non-trivial settings, and so on. And I could just as well do that on Linux - and whether I need to pull up a terminal is irrelevant.
morshu9001 8mo ago
The confusion is a problem for nearly every use case. They don't even seem to be converging on things, it's getting worse.

by mnls 8mo ago

reactordev 8mo ago

Reaper is just as good as FL Studio or Logic Pro. VSTs are really your biggest hurdle. Depending on how they are compiled, they may rely on platform specific code. Most big plugin makers have VSTs for all platforms though and your license works on all. The pathway is there should you choose, one day. Linux is quite good now. That being said, I know a lot of niche plugins that some guy wrote that only works on windows because that’s all he/she has access to. Some 8-bit synth bitcrushers come to mind. Also Steinburg made VST 3 sdk open source so you have a path to a free music production studio. https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk

g947o 8mo ago
"as good as" (debatable in the first place) isn't enough justification to switch. Everyone has their own workflows, settings etc that they used over many years, which they are not going to give up, just to "switch to Linux". This is about real loss in productivity.
- reactordev 8mo ago
  Yes but readers may be reading and think that Linux isn’t capable. It is. There’s plenty of DAWs available. You can also use WINE with proton to run FL Studio on Linux. My suggestion is just that, a suggestion to explore the possible. If we just learn one thing and never change then we wind up being left behind. While FL Studio and Logic, Cubase and Ableton are what most people know. There’s ways of running ALL of them on Linux.
  - embedding-shape 8mo ago
    > While FL Studio and Logic, Cubase and Ableton are what most people know. There’s ways of running ALL of them on Linux. As I just managed to get VR working with HP Reverb G2 in my Linux environment, quite literally the only reason I have Windows still installed on my computer is because of Ableton, and not being able to run that properly on even workstation hardware. How exactly do I get Ableton running with an external USB soundcard and everything running exactly like it runs on Linux? I'm quite literally ready to give you money if you manage to give me an answer that actually leads to me being able to run Ableton on Arch Linux, because for years I have tried, and waited for the moment it's possible. So please do tell, how do I get it running?
    - bhewes 8mo ago
      Windows VM with USB passthrough. I haven't had any issues with USB devices this way.
      - mystifyingpoi 8mo ago
        I've tried to passthrough Behringer audio interface, as well as HX Stomp (to, of course, avoid dual-boot) and it stuttered like crazy. Maybe there is a way to make it more "realtime" but it's not the default, at least in VirtualBox.
        bhewes 8mo ago
        Yeah passing through usb devices to a VM for audio seems to be a dark art like working with a bunch of analog equipment. Everything has to be tuned. I do understand why a bare metal windows and/or mac computer is always in a studio, one can skip the head ache. Even if main DAW is Linux.
        reactordev 8mo ago
        VirtualBox is the worst VM software. QEMU on Linux with kvm is gold.
      - 8mo ago
oamaok 8mo ago
> VSTs are really your biggest hurdle. And that is unfortunately the place where I spent my big bucks. I do however use Linux for my work, and have for more than a decade. If all the plugins (plus FL Studio, I've tried Reaper but it might be not for me) worked, I'd switch my personal desktop in a heartbeat. It's honestly the only thing locking me to Win10. Maybe I'll try a Mac through work (we get to keep the machines). And yes, I've tried running FL using Wine, and it works surprisingly well! Just not _well enough_, and some plugins do not work at all. Most do, and that's great, but not enough for me at least.
- reactordev 8mo ago
  I fully understand, that’s me and basically all those Native Instrument packs. You’ll have to pry guitar rig from my cold dead hands.
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- buzzardbait 8mo ago
  I still remember the first time I stumbled across Logic Pro X. For the price of $200 I got a complete package that contains about 200 plugins and instruments. The DAW itself was maybe 7% of the full contents of that package. That is unbeatable value for money in the DAW market and that was before Logic Pro 11 came out and added a ton of new plugins.
buzzardbait 8mo ago
"As good as" is highly debateable. Have you used Logic Pro 11 in the past two years?
- reactordev 8mo ago
  Yes, I own Logic Pro
allears 8mo ago
It's not the apps, it's the drivers. I've got expensive high quality audio hardware (RME Fireface 800) that doesn't have Linux drivers. Oh sure, I could invest $2000 to get a newer version, but that would just mean a steep learning curve to get drivers, hardware, and DAW working anywhere near as seamlessly as my Windows setup. It's not that I'm a Windows fan, I'm just looking for the most cost- and time-effective solutions. I'd rather spend my time recording and making music than sweating over driver and software issues.
- reactordev 8mo ago
  FireWire is dead. Apple moved on to Thunderbolt
mnls 8mo ago
> Most big plugin makers have VSTs for all platforms though and your license works on all. Most??? I can’t find Arturia, Korg, Reason Rack Plugin, FabFilter, Native Instruments, Softube and those are just from the top of my head.

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

stevekemp 8mo ago

I guess it depends on your needs. 90% of my working life is a terminal to run terraform, emacs to write code, and slack to chat with colleagues. In each of the companies I've worked over the past 10 years I've had a google workspace account, and I think I've never even touched microsoft office in all that time. Yes there are options. In practice you pick one distro, the one your friend recommends, or that the IT department gives you. There are probably fields in which you cannot use Linux software, but for your average joe? It's not impossible, and it's not that confusing with a little patience.

pixelpoet 8mo ago
I'm sure you mean Microsoft Copilot 365 App, not Office :D I can't get over how they torpedoed one of the most famous brands in the world... but that's kind of on brand for them now, self-sabotage.

teo_zero 8mo ago

> So in my case, I shouldn't dump Windows (and thousand of $$ I've spent on audio software). If you mean that there's no Linux replacement for Digital Audio Workstation, then I agree: switching is not for you. But if what worries you are the $$ you have spent, you are just another victim of the sunk cost fallacy. The earlier you realize your mistake, the earlier you are ready to evaluate the options without biases.

luqtas 8mo ago
most interesting part is to guess how many here complaining about a poor ecosystem on Linux audio, actually work professionally on the field Surge-XT, Vitalium and/or PlugData or Cardinal can get you so far on the synthesis world that maybe not even a full dedicated lifetime can explore everything you can do with it... Ardour isn't a shinning pot for MIDI editor generational features but if you actually know music-theory, it works pretty solid for writing. the in-line editor makes very much sense, just like sheet music can hold an orchestra info. on a sigle page
drnick1 8mo ago
I am not familiar with Digital Audio Workstation, but this seems a good use case for WinApps.
DjangoReinhardt 8mo ago
I wish to gently but firmly disagree. The thousands of $$ on audio software are spent because they actually provide the exact output needed. Think of them as a precision-tooled machine part critical to the production flow in a factory. Sure, you can replace it with a cheaper alternative but the cheaper part will likely have rough edges and the errors caused by those rough edges will cascade into your final production output...

vanviegen 8mo ago

> It’s still too confusing for the average user (many distros, many desktop environments, Wayland vs X, systemd vs init, snap vs flatpak). Users don't need to know about any of that, except for picking a distro and just using whatever is there. Regarding DAW - I get sticking with Windows if you have thousands invested in it. Even so, there's quite a bit of professional software out there with native support (like Bitwig) or flawless Wine support.

isbvhodnvemrwvn 8mo ago
They absolutely do, the moment you have any problem you are on your own. I spent half a day troubleshooting why nvidia drivers were not loading (mint was not signing them and secure boot silently kicked the module out), and I'm many times more proficient at technology than an average person.
- aNoob7000 8mo ago
  I bought a brand new Dell laptop with Windows 11 25H2 at the end of November 2025. The first patches released by Microsoft in December did not install. WTF!!! If you go online, you will see a whole YouTube videos and articles on how to fix the issue. Let me tell you, after a considerable amount of time, I gave up. I'm running Ubuntu 24.04 on my desktop, and I can't remember the last time I had issues applying patches.
  - bitmasher9 8mo ago
    Windows has problems all the time. There is widespread knowledge on how to troubleshoot and fix these problems. Similar problems will have very different solutions for Linux. The knowledge of how to resolve them is much less widespread. I’ve had very good success in asking ChatGPT how to resolve Linux issues, probably better success then I would on Windows because the error messages on Linux are much more detailed.
    - fragmede 8mo ago
      Windows has a "check the Internet for solutions" option that never works. You can just let Claude code loose on your system and have it go fix your shit for you instead of copy and pasting anything.

n3storm 8mo ago

I am a linux user for 26 years. And used windows since 3.11 up to 2005. After that point I just helped people with windows, never worked with it. I had this friend while my kid went to school with his kid, he was a musician. He absolutely was frightened of even handling me the mouse of his windows 7 setup in case I break his DAW, cherry audio tools and midi mixers just by me showing him a website. Also helped to switch some dlls (hi didn't know how to kill background task to release dll to be replaced) and edit windows registry cause he needed an upgrade for some pirated software. I have seen many more nightmarish stuff hapenning in windows, even on holy sacred windows xp. On the other hand my mother has been using debian xfce in her acer touch screen laptop for 15 years. No issues. Many elder people got in shock when windows 8 made all those changes. So whenever windows users talk about linux confusion I smirk.

bhewes 8mo ago

I have Windows only audio and 3d software. I ended up with a windows VM with GPU passthrough on Linux. It sits on its own m2 drive for the rare occasion I need to dual boot. So Windows has been become legacy software for me. (IClone and CC). And Steam Deck is there. But I think the desktop interface is legacy for anyone under the age of 25, I get a kick out of watching them navigate a desktop.

Vinnl 8mo ago

There is no "there" for Linux to be, because > every case is different Every article like this is another person for whom Linux is there.

a456463 8mo ago

FLStudio in Wine, Bitwig and Reaper work amazing on Linux, Mixxx for DJing works with Traktor keyboards.

graemep 8mo ago

> t’s still too confusing for the average user (many distros, many desktop environments, Wayland vs X, systemd vs init, snap vs flatpak). Average users need to buy hardware with a suitable distro installed. Usually that means Ubuntu. Its a decision that should be taken for them With regard to DEs - Gnome for touch devices, KDE for mouse and keyboard driven ones. Both set up to be Windows like by default. The average user is never even going to know whether they are running Wayland or systemd or snap. They will never change the default.

y-c-o-m-b 8mo ago

Ableton + Serum + many custom VSTs user here. You're spot on. This is actually the biggest reason I can't switch. In fact Steve Duda (creator of Serum) has said many times that he doesn't ever plan to support Linux. That's not a deal-breaker necessarily, but the fact we paid lots of money for this stuff makes it a bit unreasonable to switch to Linux.

nlkl 8mo ago

I see this mentioned again and again, but I don't buy it. For power users or users with niche use cases, sure there might be specialized software that lock you into Windows or Mac. But for most casual home users, I think Linux would be perfectly adequate, and familiarity being the only real detractor. Assuming someone can help install a friendly Linux distribution (and that the hardware is compatible), then what are the big blockers? Gaming maybe, for those where it is relevant. But looking at all my not so tech savvy family members and friends, a browser, online versions of MS Office (or Libreoffice for sure), maybe Spotify or the like, would really be enough. Being able to install apps via an (actually useful) app store is a big win in itself. Looking at those friends/family members, it is not like they are able to support their Windows machines either when something goes wrong or needs to be changed - I (or someone else technical) always need to help out anyway, fixing driver issues, installing software, changing any non-trivial settings, and so on. And I could just as well do that on Linux - and whether I need to pull up a terminal is irrelevant.

morshu9001 8mo ago

The confusion is a problem for nearly every use case. They don't even seem to be converging on things, it's getting worse.