My move to Mixbus is actually no reflection at all on quality of some plugins under Linux. The Linuxdsp may well be great and have done the job. Sure, the way Mixbus is laid out is cool but there were other factors and I do still have AVLinux here with intention of trying to use it as much as possible. I will use it for some stuff. As things progress I will be keeping up. I’m not abandoning it at all.
Linux is actually my main OS now. I have several computers here. I have been using Linux for years. I do graphics and all of that has shifted to Linux. Some of these apps work on all three main platforms. This means anyone using them can easily shift to Linux.
Why am I still primarily on a Mac for audio? There are a number of reasons for this. One was that I wanted a fast laptop. There are some Linux graphics apps which will work on OSX until my desktop gets upgraded to faster machine. I certainly did not want a Windows laptop but Linux would not have fulfilled all purposes. I knew Ardour Mixbus would work and some AU plugins I use which are crucial and not replicated yet on Linux. I use Drums From Hell by Toontracks (nothing to compare on Linux). I have now managed to totally ditch Windows because I used FL Studio a lot. However, how have I done this? I am now considering using Ableton Live on the Mac. There is no Linux app that compares to the general area that these cover - lots of quirky sound generators and good ways to get beats and loops. I had problems running FL on Wine. I had problems with some VSTs in FST but I would much rather not use Wine at all and have native Linux as much as possible.
Ableton Live is actually a fantastic app and it is very nice partner for Mixbus which is totally different. I know there is a kind of FL Studio on Linux called LMMS but it’s nowhere near FL yet and I think they are making a mistake copying FL because in my opinion that has flaws. Better to look at Ableton Live.
Of course some people may be using Linux because the software is free and they can’t afford to use anything else. This is cool but I’m actually using what I think is best. Linux is best as an operating system. OSX is OK and Windows is a disaster.
I have now managed to make Ardour Mixbus a definite part of my set up and no Windows so this is a step. The Mac is really just for audio eventually.
I would love to simply move everything right over to Linux but my music would suffer even although I like some of the Linux apps like Ardour better than other OS equivalents.
There are many other small issues that mean I can’t move right over. Lots of little things like no way of creating a sample loop crossfade for use in a sampler. These little things kill it.
I guess audio is also a problem area due to it’s tight integration with hardware.
All this work on the open source is fantastic and should be kept up. I wish more people were using it. I try to support it and will donate to a few more things but it is a slow progression to get people to move to Linux. This means any Linux apps working on Mac and Windows is in fact a benefit to Linux because for many people one day they may simply decide to make that move but still have all the apps they were using before. You’d have to be crazy not to move to Linux if all your apps work on it.
Unfortunately, even people who are aware of Linux and have tried it are unaware of great improvements relatively recently. I have tried telling people even about audio improvements now but they think back to bad experiences trying to use it in the past.