#371

For sometime I have used a script like that:

#! /bin/bash
qjackctl --preset=qjack-scarlett --start # qjack-scarlett, one of my presets

which will open and start qjackctl with a named preset. You could then bind this to a shortcut (in Linux Mint e. g. via the Cinnamon GUI).

qjackctl does not have a --stop option but in my case I have another script stopping jack (and some other stuff) alltogether.

1 Like
#372

An enjoyable lockdown distraction for me has been trying to move from MacOS to Debian on my 2015 Macbook Pro, after 15 years of being an intense Apple user. For the moment, I’m giving up, but I wanted to document some of my experiences here.

The appeals of Linux for me are:

  • the principles and the community of open source software;

  • a lighter, faster operating system;

  • doing more by command line and text;

  • a tiling window manager;

  • the ability to tinker and tailor.

Installing and setting up Debian and i3wm on the MBP took quite a lot of problem solving. I’m not a seasoned programmer, but I run a home server that runs Debian, a few Raspberry Pi’s, and I know my way around apt and git. Some of the challenges were:

  • partitioning and getting the Grub / EFI booting working on the MBP (possibly because I chose not to use ReFind) - eventually required manually copying files around the EFI partition (and then a bit of rebooting with fingers crossed while holding one on the alt key);

  • suspend and wake was sketchy; and connecting an external monitor at the wrong time could leave the system black screened and required a reboot; and generally switching from laptop display to external display to both didn’t ‘just work’

  • getting the camera to work required a fair bit of tinkering, compiling and installing a module; having to read between the lines of a few sets of instructions; then having to repeat it again after upgrading from stable to testing - see below;

  • Bluetooth required me to upgrade from stable to testing, but even then I couldn’t pair my Airpods

  • trackpad feel - despite lots of tinkering and trying both libinput and synaptics this never felt like it was working properly

And then some of the personal things that I missed about MacOS that I couldn’t find replacements that clicked

  • Apple Music and my music library - I might have sold out here but it will be hard for me to leave this behind;

  • Omnifocus for task and project management is deeply woven into my fingers

  • Alfred launcher, and it’s ability to combine app launcher, file manager, and general fixer of many things including clipboard history

  • The MacOS calendar! Other calendar apps just look clunky to me

  • And Ableton - having shelled out for Suite a few years ago, at the very least I was going to keep it to dual boot back to

  • Finding keyboard shortcuts that didn’t feel completely foreign. Cmd-S, Cmd-W, Cmd-Z,X,C,V,A, Cmd-F,G are all wired into my fingers; and I was either failing to replicate my MacOS shortcuts in Linux (swap Ctrl and Cmd, Ctrl as Meta?) or facing a daunting learning curve

I’ve come back to MacOS for now, but have installed yabai, shkd, spacebar (I had to get over some nerves to disable SIPP) and trying to get it into my muscle memory.

I’ve mixed feelings posting this here; I’ve read and enjoyed the entire thread; I feel both an ethical and a curious itch to change that won’t go away; so I think I’ll be back here in the future and this post will help me evaluate what needs to be overcome.

2 Likes
#373

i waffled on switching because it takes dedication to commit to new muscle memory re: hotkeys.

i’m now beyond happy with ubuntu. tried it constantly over the last decade and it never felt good until this most recent go (6 months or so now).

all of the sleep, efi, camera issues i was having with debian and elementary just vanished with ubuntu. the window manager is elegant enough not to immediately wormhole me into DWM. even things that straight up didn’t work on macos work here (ie, random wireless printers).

escaping apple’s extremely aggressive iCloud/etc personal account services feels absolutely liberating. at all times i have a very clear idea of what my computer is spending processing power on (vs. indexing and updating in the background etc) and i cannot express how much i loathe apple point upgrades.

furthermore— the abundance of excellent open source software has made me miss macos even less. video editing, vector graphics, etc etc: the freedom of not caring about big companies like adobe and autodesk.

part of my own breakthrough was trying not to have this computer do everything. i don’t plan on using linux for audio— mainly because most VSTs are not supported. i’m considering running a windows 10 machine simply as a DAW, not connected to the internet and treating it like a studio tool instead of a computer.

i realize that much of my appeal is ideological at this point, but recently the aesthetic and ergonomic components caught up to the degree which i could really fully embrace (and evangelize) this platform. i am absolutely never going back.

20 Likes
#374

Thanks tehn for the thoughtful reply. I’ll think about trying Ubuntu next…

#375

You might have already tried some of the common launcher apps available for Linux. If you have not tried dmenu (provided with a package with the telling name: ‘suckless tools’ :wink: ) and/or dmenu extended this could be interesting for you. I am using this very minimal and clean launcher since years and am very happy with it. An alternative on this level might be rofi.

3 Likes
#376

I have tried many times to move to linux, but I always get stuck. Mostly it’s two things:

  • the idea that you have invested time and money into some software that does not run on linux
  • those endless hours spent with troubleshooting things and then just giving up because you can’t spend your life troubleshooting stuff

So I can totally feel you there.

I think the hardest part of going linux is basically the change in habits and in what we think is important. Probably the only way to do it it so start from scratch. Don’t try to replicate the MacOS way of doing things on linux. Embrace what makes linux great, maybe take it as a chance to free yourself from things that you think you absolutely need.
At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

This approach did work really well for me when moving from an iPhone to a Fairphone with the FPOpen OS. The OS basically forces me to just use open source apps, which is great because I now have a super distraction-free phone with a battery that lasts a lot longer and it still does the most important things I need it to do. And I can attach it to the computer with a standard USB cable and drag&drop files onto it! It’s incredible how easy everything becomes all of a sudden.

But to get to your point more specifically.
Maybe it’s a good excuse to break out of Apple Music.
Maybe project management doesn’t need a super complex tool like Omnifocus. Maybe you can achive more with less?
Maybe a calendar is just a calendar anway.

Then of course sometimes you hit a wall.
I wouldn’t use linux for my graphic design work. I could probably use it as a second computer for things like Blender. But there’s just too many things not available or not working the way I need them to make linux usable on a graphic design workstation.
I would love to say goodby to Adobe though. I really would love that.

1 Like
#377

Supposedly you can use Wine (wine-staging?), though I cannot attest to the efficacy of this approach (yet). I used to use Ubuntu exclusively and am aiming to get back to it for most work, so while VSTs are seemingly the only Windows-dependent software I anticipate using in that regard, it could well prove a deal-breaker to lose that capability (or at least a nuisance). Still, I have occasioned to use Wine in other applications with no serious problems that I can recall, so I’m hopeful.

Not that I’m at all an exemplar of its effectiveness, but might I suggest orgmode? Emacs is pretty straightforward on mac (as opposed to Windows, with which I prefer WSL and a virtual environment), and most if not all elements of a configuration, as well as obviously all relevant text files, will port to linux if ever you make the move.

1 Like
#378

This echoes my experience as well. I have ideological reasons for choosing Linux but beyond that, I had been dabbling in Linux for years in smaller ways but when I committed whole-hog and bought a dedicated Linux laptop (the Dell XPS 13 Developer’s Edition) I almost immediately fell in love.

I wrote an article on opensource.com about my experience. I’d say the biggest complaint I’ve heard from others that are unhappy with things on Linux is when they’re looking to recreate specific Mac experiences (specific hotkeys potentially being an example?). I think if you want to replicate software and workflows exactly, you may be unhappy. If you don’t mind trying new things, discovering things that could in fact be better, and accept that some things are ‘different’ you should be okay.

3 Likes
#379

Before there was a Linux build of Reaper I used it under Wine with no real problems. Other Windows ausio software that I can run with no problems yet encountered include Wren, Ultomaton and Voltage Modular.

I have had quite good results with Windows VSTs working more or less under WINE, depending on load etc, though I have to say since I switched to Manjaro from Mint a year or so back I have had zero luck getting Win VSTs to run, no matter how hard I try. This is my main issue with Manjaro (or how I have set it up, at least). However, more and more Linux VSTs are available and work reasonably well in Reaper, Carla, etc. LV2 and LADSPA plugins are specific to Linux and of course work, and Reaper’s own extensions too, naturally.

2 Likes
#380

hey all, I’ve been experimenting with Hexter FM synth. I love it! I can see that you can run multiple instances but don’t see any way to assign midi channels in the synth itself. Any tips?

#381

you need a way to talk to it i used qtjackctl

1 Like
#382

Hello!
I just wanted to share a program I found, which allows one to play Youtube audio via the terminal:
mps-youtube
It has a Text-based User Interface with imo a nice aesthetic, similar to one favorite music player of mine, Cmus.
Since I’m still listening to a lot of music on Youtube, this is a lightweight and distractionless way to do.
Now I only need a Bandcamp player…
Greetings!

14 Likes
#383

this is super weird and great. thanks for posting!

#384

That looks like it’ll be great for those 90s vinyl rips, glad you posted this!

#385

Very strange. Installed mps-youtube, did a search for /boards of canda and got

Youtube Error 403: The request cannot be completed because you have exceeded your <a href="/youtube/v3/getting-started#quota">quota</a>.

I have no idea when and how I ever used the the Youtube API to earn this message :wink: .

#386

That’s likely the quota for the mps-youtube access key itself.

#387

Oh, yeah, thanks. That makes sense in a way… but then it means that all users of mps-youtube share a global quota?! That - in a way - is strange. So please be frugal as I also would like to try out the program :wink: .

#388

Spent yesterday bashing my head into getting Ubuntu running on my Raspberry Pi. The flasher indicated that this would be a pretty simple thing, but every time I install Tasksel and try to choose Gnome as my GUI, it lets me log in then gives me a weird black screen and doesn’t let me open a terminal. Maybe I should just say fuckit and put raspbian on it, but I feel like I must be missing something simple.

#389

I got the same error at first, had to create my own api-key in my google account, on the github is a Troubleshooting section about this problem.
Then it worked for me but only a few times and then I had to update the youtube-dl, I think, but don’t ask me how I did it, I’m quite new at the terminal. But searching around on the git revealed some help.

1 Like
#390

Ah, I see. Thanks!

I think this is mentioned in the Linux install section.