[ardour-users] Ardour New-user and Linux new as well :D

[Paul Davis]

> > Then, Why is it, that I have to press play on JACK, before loading ARDOUR?
> > How does this work, I can't understand that connection jet.

In addition to Brett's suggestion, try to think of JACK as something
vaguely like ASIO or CoreAudio, but that can be started and stopped
rather than just "being there". JACK is the glue that connects
applications not only to your audio interface hardware, but also to each
other (being more like ReWire in this sense, except more flexible).

> > And maybe, someone could give me a short 'introduction' to linux. I knwo
> > that its open source, etc. But, in its core, or basic structure, what's the
> > difference to, say XP? Is it, like in electronics, maybe a more modular
> > system? What do i need to know, to get an idea of how linux "thinks"?
> 
> Yeah, this is way off topic for this list. I recommend checking out some 
> good Linux documentation before proceeding.  Here are some sites to get 

it is off-topic, but i just can't help myself ;)

there are a few major differences between linux and XP, the most
important of which are conceptual rather than day-to-day hands-on
things.

	a) the user interface is not part of the core operating system.
           In XP, it is more or less impossible to interact 
	   meaningfully with the operating system without a GUI. In
	   Linux (and all *nix-related systems), the GUI is just
           an additional way of interacting with programs and the
           system itself. 

        b) in linux (and all *nix-related systems), it is always
           possible to "look under the hood" - to get inside 
           the system and see what is going on in varying levels
           of detail. this is much harder to do in XP, which 
	   is based on the idea that most OS functionality 
           should be opaque to most users.

        c) everything is just a bytestream. this doesn't really apply
           to realtime audio work, but for so much other basic linux
           operations, the idea of a set of unstructured bytes
           that any program can do anything with is really
           fundamental. everything about your environment is
           defined in files which contain unstructured (according to 
           the OS, anyway) bytestreams. Your programs are all just 
           files, icons are just files etc etc etc. in XP, this is true
           at the deepest layers, but not at the usual levels
           that you interact with. 

         d) linux is more like a set of tools for use by a 
            professional than a consumer gadget. the gadget side
            of things is growing all the time, but in the 
            meantime, think of linux as more like a tablesaw,
            or a router, or a biscuit joiner (or all 3 in one tool!)
            You wouldn't walk up to those tools and expect to
            use them without first gaining some knowledge
            and skill; linux is much more similar to this
            than, say, a kitchen mixer, toaster or microwave.

there are many other differences, but these are the important ones that
i can think of.

--p