Frank Zappa's Influence On Linux and FOSS Development

Roblimo writes "Zappa's 'Dinah-Moe Hummm' is totally about Linux, at least in spirit, while the song 'Montana,' with its talk of zirconium-encrusted tweezers and dental floss, 'is obviously about Mac users.' Not only that: In the early '70s Zappa wrote a song called 'Penguin in Bondage,' an obvious foretelling of the anti-Linux lawsuits and threats from SCO, Microsoft, and other evildoers. Zappa was also a heavy user of the Synclavier, an electronic music machine that was a precursor to today's 'studio on a computer' recording and sound editing software. According to an article on DevX, today Zappa would no doubt be using Linux and Ardour for most of his recording and composition."

Comments

Well Hold on There

[eldavojohn]

According to an article on DevX, today Zappa would no doubt be using Linux and Ardour for most of his recording and composition.

I do not agree with this statement. There is a lot of doubt in my mind. As I listen to Zappa albums, I constantly find new things mixed into them. Often I tell a friend about a great Zappa song but they haven't the patience to listen through five minutes of weirdness just to get to a great guitar lick intricately backed. Anyhow, I would wager that Zappa's thirst for this kind of mixing would lead him to the industry standard: Pro Tools. I highly doubt a professional musician would stray from that but if Zappa dumped some cash into Ardour development and increased its support then maybe. But right now, audio recording on Linux isn't the greatest. Pro Tools is often augmented with dedicated hardware ... I am unaware of how you would do this with Ardour. I also have had one hell of a time trying to get a dual core processor with plenty of ram to record in Linux and also play back what you're recording on top of several tracks without delay.

In my hobby projects, I have given up on audio recordings in Linux although I must say I was impressed with Ubuntu Studio when I was trying to layer guitar tracks a few years ago. It just seemed that the audio bus could not keep up when recording through my M-Audio USB input box ... like a lot of things in Linux it could have been a configuration error but I spent a lot of time on that. Unfortunately, all musicians are not computer savvy and they certainly do not like messing around with getting software working in the studio.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Beelzebud]

Is there any professional musician that is on the record as using Linux and/or Ardour?

Even a guy like Trent Reznor, who has released entire albums under the Creative Commons License seem to stick with Pro Tools.

Re:Well Hold on There

[maharg]

Ardour / JACK rocks on my ubuntu studio, I'm using a presonus firepod. YMMV.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

Ardour is embedded in some of the products by Harrison Consoles, like the Xdubber ( http://tinyurl.com/328peem ).

You might have had issues with it, but there are a number of Linux based pro studios, and Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) is not only Linux based, but provides an audiocentric spin of Fedora that I have found to be very stable. ( https://ccrma.stanford.edu/software )

As for problems with a USB-based audio interface, well, you get what you pay for!! I run 16 tracks of input using 2 MAudio Delta 1010 interfaces and I've done hours of recordings with no issues.

Frank was always interested in new tech - he was one of the first adopters of the Synclavier, and released an entire album of the 18th century Italian composer Francesco Zappa's music performed entirely on that machine.

I'd like to think Frank would have loved the open source movement and been an enthusiastic supporter. We'll never get to find out, sadly.

Re:Well Hold on There

[elgo]

According to an article on DevX, today Zappa would no doubt be using Linux and Ardour for most of his recording and composition.

...I would wager that Zappa's thirst for this kind of mixing would lead him to the industry standard: Pro Tools. I highly doubt a professional musician would stray from that but if Zappa dumped some cash into Ardour development and increased its support then maybe.

You highly doubt a professional musician would stray from Pro Tools? What about Logic Studio, Digital Performer, SONAR, and the reams of other Digital Audio Workstaitons? Many professionals use these as well, often integrated with Digidesign's high-end TDM hardware. Logic in particular destroys Pro Tools in terms of features and price and many are making the switch. Pro Tools' integration with Digidesign's proprietary hardware has become a handicap in the prosumer price range particularly, as Digidesign's hardware is trounced, in terms of features and sound quality, by other less expensive offerings.

But right now, audio recording on Linux isn't the greatest. Pro Tools is often augmented with dedicated hardware ... I am unaware of how you would do this with Ardour. I also have had one hell of a time trying to get a dual core processor with plenty of ram to record in Linux and also play back what you're recording on top of several tracks without delay. In my hobby projects, I have given up on audio recordings in Linux although I must say I was impressed with Ubuntu Studio when I was trying to layer guitar tracks a few years ago. It just seemed that the audio bus could not keep up when recording through my M-Audio USB input box ...

That might be where your problem lies. M-Audio's hardware is worse than Digidesign's (although they are the same company) ! All kidding aside though, M-Audio driver support for Linux is sketchy. My M-Audio Delta 1010LT works beautifully under Linux with the ICE driver. It requires some configuration, but so does setting up a digital audio workstation in OSX or Windows - especially Windows. Also, latency and the like depends on the distro you're using. The reality is that Linux has tons of free audio software, and could easily be used to replace my Logic Pro setup, except for the lack of commercial plugins and sound libraries. As this is fixed, Linux will be more viable.

Like a lot of things in Linux it could have been a configuration error but I spent a lot of time on that. Unfortunately, all musicians are not computer savvy and they certainly do not like messing around with getting software working in the studio.

Good point. Once Linux is packaged well for musicians and audio professionals, I believe it could supersede Windows as the #2 platform for digital audio. Then again, in 10 years, maybe Haiku will be up there as well, with its BeOS underpinnings. For a good example of what Ardour can do/be when combined with proprietary DSP, check out Harrison Mixbus. http://www.harrisonconsoles.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=42 It is under $100 (or was last time I checked) and features that Harrison sound combined with Ardour's power. It is OSX-only at the moment, but it will be available for Linux eventually. I've already used Mixbus to mix a few projects via Logic; once it is available for Linux it will replace Ardour as my main Linux DAW of choice.

Re:Well Hold on There

[gad_zuki!]

>I would wager that Zappa's thirst for this kind of mixing would lead him to the industry standard: Pro Tools [wikipedia.org].

Right. Do we really think techie artists are gravitating towards Linux? Lets not be naive. I don't think Thom Yorke is demanding that all Radiohead stuff be done strictly on OSS software. Outside of extremists and college students, you'll find that people are just practical and use the best tool they can afford for the job.

Re:Well Hold on There

[sg_oneill]

Theres a reason Zappa might well be using Pro Tools.

Its because he already was. Zappa was one of the original pro-tools users, before his death. I cant find a reference online, but I do remember him marvelling in one of the music magazines about pro-tools crossfades and how he used them extensively.

Now the thing with musical software, is people tend to pick a DAW and stick with it. Pro-tools , other than the hardware capabilities which is where pro-tools does shine , is no greater, or necesarily worse than say cubase or sonar, but people stick with what they know and stick there.

That said, he might well have been impressed with Sonar's score transcribing capabilities. Cakewalk was always good at that stuff.

What's ardour's midi capabilities like these days? I havent used it since early versions (when admitedly setting up JACK taxed me so far I ended up reformatting and returning to cubase.

Re:Well Hold on There

[farrellj]

I just finished recording a pilot for a radio series using Audacity. It's easy to use, and being under the GPL2, I know what the license contains, and thus won't be blindsided by some obscure clause in a non-opensource license.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

Zappa was a musician who could actually read and write as well as play. He might just have used Rosegarden for composition.

For mixing and recording, Pro Tools, Logic Studio or some other DAW.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Hatta]

Audacity is hardly comparable to ProTools, or even Ardour. If you're recording voice over tracks, or a live performance, Audacity is pretty good. If you're mixing an album, forget about it.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Critical Facilities]

Its because he already was. Zappa was one of the original pro-tools users, before his death

I don't think that's correct. According to this article with Dweezil talking about updating the famed "Utility Muffin Research Kitchen",:

The studio had accumulated not just an extensive vault of tapes, but a considerable collection of analogue hardware too. "Frank had several machines — I don't know if we have some of the earlier machines he recorded on. We have the Studer 24-track and we have three of the two-track machines. They all have different head stacks, and we even have a five-track head stack that was made by Paul Buff when Frank had a studio in Cucamonga — the Studio Z in the early '60s. We're curious to see if there's a way to get a machine to work with that head stack. It was before multitrack — Paul invented this thing and made it work, but I have never seen it in use. We found it in a box!"

I'm not saying Frank never used Pro-Tools, but it sounds like analog hardware was his primary focus.

Incidentally, it's a misconception among non-musicians that Pro Tools is the best/standard. There are several Pro Audio level DAWs out there that are just as powerful. My personal favorite is Cakewalk's SONAR, but that's just me.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

As someone who uses a lot of recording software (not professionally) I was thinking the same thing. I've used various DAWs and Ardour just isn't there yet. Maybe in a few more years. I really wanted to like Ardour. A few kernel versions back the M-16DX (16 inputs all sent individually) started working pretty nicely in Linux so I gave Ardour a shot. It was way better than a few years prior, but still pretty crappy. It can do most of the basic stuff, but compared to protools, sonar, logic, or cubase it was just missing tons of features and much bulkier to use. Zappa may have tried something like that out. He was known for making very complex music on old tape 4 tracks with track bouncing, so playing with it seems likely, but the odds are anything serious would still be done on a serious DAW. I'm looking forward to Ardour getting better and to the day I can switch to it, but right now it is very lacking.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Miseph]

They are for different usage levels. Audacity is the best tool I've encountered for doing quick and dirty edits, where the end result is a track that only slightly varies from the original (eg. I spliced the beginning of Jorge Quintero's 300 Violin Concierto into an intro for They Might Be Giant's Particle Man a few weeks ago... the entire edit took less than 5 minutes) and there just isn't much value in spending more time than absolutely necessary doing them.

That is not what Pro Tools is for.

Re:Well Hold on There

[PopeRatzo]

I'm not saying Frank never used Pro-Tools, but it sounds like analog hardware was his primary focus.

Actually, he was a pioneer of digital systems for music. He gave up composing for real musicians for a good long while, using only his Synclavier.

However, I have to disagree with anyone who believes Zappa was some sort of FOSS pioneer. There is disagreement about his own beliefs regarding copyright and intellectual "property" but his legacy regarding IP is awful. His estate has gone to the very unusual length of sending cease and desist letters to cover bands simply for performing his music live. We're talking about tribute bands for god's sake, who are probably working for free beer and keeping his legacy alive. His wife has sicced lawyers on former members of the Mothers of Invention for performing his music or even mentioning his name. While trying to protect his legacy, it's a good way to insure that he's forgotten by future generations.

While I admire Zappa's work, there are plenty of indications that when it comes to the music business, he was a dick to a lot of the people he worked with. The people who are in charge of his estate, especially his widow, are even worse.

Re:Well Hold on There

[CyDharttha]

We went with MAudio Delta 1010 cards for recording with Ardour and associated tools. It started out on a system with a Sempron processor and 512MB RAM; songs averaged 25 tracks, and drums were recorded live on 6 separate tracks. There were no performance issues.

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1275379&cid=28397147&art_pos=25

I won't argue the fact that ProTools is industry standard :)

Re:Well Hold on There

[PopeRatzo]

While Linux is not ready for prime time when it comes to professional recording/mixing chores, it is extremely useful in professional and project studios.

Besides acting as a sample-server and archiving system, it works great for offloading real-time effects processing and rendering duties.

I'm a big fan of Cockos' Reaper in place of ProTools, and Reaper has a technology called "ReaMote" which allows you to use a Linux system to handle real-time effects and virtual instrument (VSTi) over gigabit ethernet. Not only is Reaper much more stable than ProTools, but with ReaMote and a Linux box, I can have a dozen instances of Omnisphere playing simultaneously without having to "freeze" the tracks to save cycles.

I've tried doing complete projects on Linux only and I just hate the way it handles audio hardware. Jack is a nightmare. But in its proper role, Linux is an essential part of a working studio.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Dorkmaster Flek]

Yeah, but does that necessarily reflect his own personal beliefs? That's just his current estate being dicks.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

No.

It is well-known that his latter-80s albums, including "Jazz From Hell", were produced on the digital Synclavier system.

Also, TFA you link to even mentions Zappa's original Sony digital reel-to-reel machines.

OF COURSE most of the material is going to be on analogue tapes - the first 25 years of career, nothing else EXISTED!

Re:Well Hold on There

[Hylandr]

You're just pissy cause you lost. Hard. - Dan.

Re:Well Hold on There

[westlake]

I just finished recording a pilot for a radio series using Audacity. I know what the license contains, and thus won't be blindsided by some obscure clause in a non-opensource license.

Have I missed something?

Won't the broadcaster - your client or customer - be making most of the big decisions here? Audio formats and media acceptable for submission? Audio formats and media acceptable for broadcast?

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope. Look at eldavojohn's history. Nearly every single story he has participated in involves him waiting on the article to hit front page so he can have top-most comment.

It's some bizarre public attention spectacle trolling or something.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Purity Of Essence]

I think it probably does reflect his beliefs pretty closely. Making money with his music was the only way he could continue to create it. Since radio wouldn't touch him, he had to use whatever other means was available, including asserting his right to protect his IP through proper licensing.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Spiked_Three]

Your list of software identifies you as a pro-sumer at best. Seriously, every pro uses pro tools, and nothing else has better than 2% of the market. The difference is in what you call a pro - a dude playing sax on the street corner had some money thrown into his case, is he a pro? I think not. You buddy that plays a gig at the local bar, is he a pro - I think not. Someone who spends a minimum of $10,000 to get an album recorded and produced, is he a pro - probably, and the odds are better than 98 to 1 he used pro tools in the process. I've seen over $14,000 spent on 30 year old analog channel strips restored from old consoles, you think those guys are going to run an open source program? Linux may make it to a home studio level someday - it has a long way to go now, but it will never in a million years make it to a professional studio.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Pax681]

Frank zappa's latter means of making music , even for live stuff was the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synclavier]Synclavier[/url] which is far from open source.

it enabled him to play what would be impossible to play music on traditional instruments.

check out his [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa#Synclavier]Wiki page[/url] where it gets it's own little scetion in his wiki entry.

while i agree that Zappa would very much like and agree with FOSS and the concepts i don't think he'd be using them. he'd be using the best thing available to enable him to make fantastic music

mind you to say dinah mo hum was totally about linux nearly made me piss myself laughing..... please find the lyrics below a linky to the lyrics..

http://www.justsomelyrics.com/763646/Frank-Zappa-Dynamo-Hum-Lyrics

erm... not very linux..... just my two cents but not very linux at all

Re:Well Hold on There

[Critical Facilities]

I agree that Frank was one of the first people to really embrace the Synclavier. As a pretty big Zappa fan myself, it certainly isn't lost on me his penchant for embracing technology. For crying out loud, the entire "Perfect Stranger" and "Jazz From Hell" albums wouldn't have existed if it weren't for his efforts on digital instruments (although, as an aside, there is a really good version of G-Spot Tornado played by a live orchestra on The Yellow Shark).

In his book, he extolled the virtues of the Synclavier, and certainly recognized the technology's ability as it evolved. With that said, it seems that for recording, he preferred analog (as did a lot of artists at the time). Keep in mind, Frank died in 1994, and the first "real" version of Pro Tools didn't hit the market until 1991 (and it was a 4 track version......I ASSURE you, Frank wasn't going to be limited to 4 tracks).

I'd need to see some citation regarding Gail or Dweez sending cease and desist letters to bands covering Frank's stuff...sounds like baloney to me. However, I do agree with his (and subsequently their) right to protect what is done with his music and his name.

Re:Well Hold on There

[nurb432]

Unfortunately, all musicians are not computer savvy and they certainly do not like messing around with getting software working in the studio.

Right, they want to make music, not futz with the computer equipment. That is what the studio IT guy is for. The equipment should 'just work', so they can 'just play'.

Re:Well Hold on There

[hairyfeet]

It sounds like you're up on this stuff, so I have a question: What would you recommend to capture 4 tracks off a mixing board for recording and later editing? I'm playing in a trio and we prefer to do as much "live" as possible, so I simply need an easy and hopefully affordable way to record 4 tracks for later editing and mixing on a PC. I've been out of the loop for awhile so my analog experience isn't useful and the amount of devices and gadgets out there is truly overwhelming.

It don't have to be fancy, or have lots of bells, just be affordable and hopefully not take a degree to work. We already have a really nice Yamaha board so mixing isn't a problem, we just need a good way to get the sound to tape/disc/whatever. Any ideas?

Re:Well Hold on There

[yanyan]

It just seemed that the audio bus could not keep up when recording through my M-Audio USB input box

USB adds a lot of latency when recording. Try a PCI-based card such as an M-audio Delta 1010LT or better yet an RME Hammerfall. The RME in particular is mentioned in the ardour docs.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, you are talking about the man that has mastered the art of playing the bicycle....

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

TASCAM DP-02
Edirol R-44

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

Linux may make it to a home studio level someday - it has a long way to go now, but it will never in a million years make it to a professional studio.

I seem to remember the same thing being said about GNU/Linux in the enterprise data center.

Re:Well Hold on There

[hairyfeet]

Haven't checked the second one yet Mr. AC, but the Tascam has only TWO INPUTS. How the fuck am I supposed to record FOUR TRACKS with only TWO inputs? If I could get away with only two track recording I could stick with the Micro BR Boss we have now, but it just don't cut it for recording 4 instruments.

Okay, just looked at the other and it is a field recorder, and over $1000 to boot. Does anybody that has a clue mind giving me any actual functional ideas? Surely to God there has to be a way to record four lousy tracks for less than $700. I have a badass quad core loaded with HDDs and RAM, so surely there has to be a basic quad AD/DA out there somewhere. Anybody?

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

I just cheated and did a quick Google search, but would something like this be what you're looking for? It's supposed to be a 4 input and 4 output audio processor full duplex audio processor. Then you would be able to use your quad core system to record all of the tracks at once? Please let me know if I'm way off base here...

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

haha. Every hear it said Linux would take over the desktop?

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a buddy who built an Ardour workstation from Debian Etch that could handle 24 recorded tracks at a time without so much as a hiccup. We never got to test the upper limits of that crappy little system's capabilities, but it did go on to record many live CD's (not the bootable kind).
I don't remember exact specs on the box, but I'm fairly certain Pro Tools wouldn't have even installed on it.

An anecdote for your anecdote!

Re:Well Hold on There

[PopeRatzo]

I'd need to see some citation regarding Gail or Dweez sending cease and desist letters to bands covering Frank's stuff.

Here's what you do "critical facilities": You google "Zappa widow cease and desist". It took me 1.8 seconds to type that into my little Google window. Now start reading the one thousand, one hundred and fifty results that recount the story of Zappa's widow sending cease and desist letters to tribute bands. I don't know what "Dweez" has or has not done since I'm not really on a first-name basis with the Zappa clan as you seem to be.

I think it's perfectly appropriate for people to ask for citations for some assertion of something of vast import, but for something as trivial as this little cultural flap, how hard is it to highlight a few words, right-click and search google? People sometimes ask for a citation, hoping that the OP won't come back review an old thread, to throw doubt on something that they probably knew was true anyway.

If you're such a big Zappa fan, how did you miss this story that was all over the music news not that long ago, anyway?

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

Is replying to the first post the only purpose you have in this life?

Re:Well Hold on There

[drinkypoo]

Anything will work. Stick two sound cards in a PC. In fact this is a classic use of Linux in audio production, there is frankly no cheaper way to record a whole bunch of audio channels at once than a whole bunch of sound cards in a box. Four two-channel ISA sound cards gives you eight sweet, sweet channels. Some of those old cards have shit SNR, some had it quite good, a bit of hunting around can produce various examples.

You might do some searches for motherboards with multichannel audio and good SNR, ISTR that some motherboards have been produced with special care to the audio. You can get six channels that way!

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

> While trying to protect his legacy, it's a good way to insure

ensure, moron.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Anonymous Coward]

If you just use two sound cards, their recording won't be in sync. Sample accurate sync really does matter when using multiple microphones.

If you sync them via external SPDIF or wordclock then it can be done, but in practice I really don't recommend it. Anyway, if the card can sync to an external clock then it won't have been a cheap card.

For multichannel recording on Linux, a second hand Delta 1010 will work reliably, sound better, and not be much more expensive than a bunch of old sound cards.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Radical Emu]

I'd need to see some citation regarding Gail or Dweez sending cease and desist letters to bands covering Frank's stuff...sounds like baloney to me. However, I do agree with his (and subsequently their) right to protect what is done with his music and his name.

"Due the current climate with regard to permissions/legalities of performing FZ musics, the band have decided (at last) to spend the quality time they spend together working on original material, rather that play livel" http://www.muffinmen.co.uk/

A very good band from England who have had a fair few Zappa musicians play with them over the last twenty years. They were even told to not use the image of Zappa on a poster at one point.

Re:Well Hold on There

[drinkypoo]

If you just use two sound cards, their recording won't be in sync. Sample accurate sync really does matter when using multiple microphones.

JACK can do this.

For multichannel recording on Linux, a second hand Delta 1010 will work reliably, sound better, and not be much more expensive than a bunch of old sound cards.

Unless you have a bunch of old sound cards lying around, of course. The system only really runs jackd and you do all the work on another host.

Re:Well Hold on There

[mcgrew]

It's possible he'd still be using analog. He resisted having his albums (at least the "white album") digitally mixed and released on CD until he was at death's door, when he finally relented.

He didn't like the way CDs sounded. A lot of us geezers agree with him. Funny, though, how he objected to CDs but not cassettes; anybody could and can record a cassette from an LP.

Re:Well Hold on There

[Critical Facilities]

Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine? Why the attitude, tough guy? Please excuse those of us mere mortals who have the nerve to ask you to back up your assertions with some documentation....I don't know what I was thinking!

So, I did as instructed, o mighty PopeRatzo, and I consulted Google, and yes, I did find about 1,150 results most of which were from such well known sources as:

www.rebeccaborgman.com
williampatry.blogsppot.com
www.scenenewspaper.com
www.killuglyradio.com

etc

The only "legitimate" source I found was this story from NPR which shed a little light on the issue. I will admit, this is the first time I've heard of this (incidentally, at no point did I claim to be on a first name basis with Dweezil, so I'm not trying to create the impression that I know all things Zappa happening at all times).

In actually reading the article, I understand better what's actualy going on, and suffice to say, it's more complex than you're describing. As opposed to what you're implying (i.e. that Gail and the rest of the Zappa Family Trust are indiscriminately suing various "cover bands" as you call them for playing Frank's music), the only real documented cases I found were of them suing the Zappanale festival, and the band "Project/Object". These suits involve branding, copyright issues, and licensing issues pretty clearly, and thus, I see no problem with them wanting to protect this. Your arrogant ranting makes it sound as though anyone playing a cover version anywhere is just setting themselves up for a lawsuit, which is very clearly not the case. You seem convinced that FZ was a jerk, and seem content to try to paint his surviving family as such, all of which is your choice, just try not to get your panties in a bunch when someone calls you out, hot shot.

Oh, and to the original point, which you so cleverly avoided since I was nice enough to educate you, if you're going to lecture others about replying to things that they may be under-informed about, perhaps you might take your own advice, huh?

Re:Well Hold on There

[mcgrew]

If music is your only source of income you ARE a professional. There used to be a ska band in Illinois called the "Jungle Dogs" who played in bars. Their members were mostly music instructors at SIU in Carbondale holding masters and PhDs in the field. You wouldn't consider them professionals?

Re:Well Hold on There

[hairyfeet]

Have you used it? does it work? The problem is I can do a Google Search all day and find a Bazillion of the things, but I can't afford to get this one wrong and end up stuck with a turkey. I've tried USB based in the past and honestly more than stereo the bus starts to get saturated.

This is only PCI, not PCIe, and I have NO clue how many tracks it takes to saturate a PCI bus, probably not much. Since we are talking about EVERY recording having to be four tracks, I need to know it can handle guitar, vocals, 5 string bass, and a full drum kit without turning into mush. I need someone that has actually used the thing, not the kissy kissy bullshit they put up at places like Sweetwater.

So like I said if anybody here has ANY experience with this stuff and can point me in the right direction this old greybeard would be grateful. My band easily has enough songs for an album, we have a great recording space, but we simply don't have experience with digital recording. Like I said I have a quad fully loaded, as well as a dual CPU lying around I could build a new box dedicated just to recording, so no problems there, I just need simple and affordable. Don't need digital I/O, doubt I'll need MIDI as any keyboard parts I'll play live, just need simple and affordable. So if anybody has experience with digital recording and can lend some insight this old greybeard would be grateful.

One question remains

[oldspewey]

What's the magic FOSS connection to the song "broken hearts are for assholes" and in particular the lyric "You're an asshole, you're an asshole, that's right! You're an asshole, you're an asshole, yes yes!"

Re:One question remains

[NecroPuppy]

I always thought that one was about BeOS.

Re:One question remains

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the magic FOSS connection to the song "broken hearts are for assholes" and in particular the lyric "You're an asshole, you're an asshole, that's right! You're an asshole, you're an asshole, yes yes!"

It's about the standard issue Linux Sysadmin. They are *ALL* assholes from the "user" perspective.


-- Saeed al-Sahaf

Re:One question remains

[Anonymous Coward]

Theo?

Re:One question remains

[MightyMartian]

Weasels Ripped My Flesh!

I don't give a crap what audio editing software Zappa would have used, all I can say is that he was awesome, irreverent, brilliant and had the coolest song titles ever.

I actually found Porn Wars on Youtube, reminded of it now that Al and Tipper Gore are kaput.

Re:One question remains

[bjb]

I always thought that one was about BeOS.

No, that'd be "Pick Me, I'm Clean".

Re:One question remains

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only that, it's an album name as well.

Doesn't /. have a 'fanboyism' category?

[Anonymous Coward]

...'cos this kinda belongs there. Chalking it up to humor doesn't quite cut it.

I don't "get" Zappa

[BitHive]

Can someone explain the appeal of Zappa to me? Most of his songs seem weird for weirdness' sake, but I'm willing to learn.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Beelzebud]

You either "get it" or you don't. I'm not even sure I'd put Zappa in the 'acquired taste' category.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Em Emalb]

flamebait?

Moderator, please go play a game of hide and go fuck yourself.

-1 flamebait doesn't mean I disagree with you.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[causality]

Can someone explain the appeal of Zappa to me? Most of his songs seem weird for weirdness' sake, but I'm willing to learn.

Sounds like you wouldn't like Mr. Bungle.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[BitHive]

Seriously. It was an innocent question but from the moderator's reaction you'd think I'd insulted Ron Paul or something. Oh well, I guess I'll just think back to this experience every time I get a little curious about Zappa.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Sponge Bath]

If you don't enjoy his "weird" stuff, then check out his instrumental only albums like "Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar". Personally I like it all, but it can be an acquired taste.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Purity Of Essence]

You can definitely acquire a taste for Frank's music. As a young teen, the first time I listened to Zappa I didn't really like it at all, except for a couple jokey tracks like Valley Girl and Jewish Princess. Those appealed to my Dr. Demento mentality but not much else. Later as a adult with much more musical experience, I could appreciate it much more and it began to grow on me like a fungus. For the last fifteen years or so it's been almost the only contemporary music I can tolerate.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Pojut]

I can explain why Zappa appeals to me, but first a slight bit of backstory:

For fun, I produce spacey, ambient tunes. Music like this involves layering textures together. What may sound like only one or two different noises is actually dozens of different synths and samples layered and mixed.

Zappa was a master of layers. The way he could combine seemingly infinite noises into one, cohesive texture was a monumental achievement. Beyond that, if you really listened hard to his music, that cohesive texture could be broken down to the point where you could hear the individual components that served as a foundation for the whole sound. Being able to create rich textures that are simultaneously seamless yet individualized is, from a musician's standpoint, a mindfuck of an accomplishment.

Zappa's appeal isn't in his sound so much as it is in his technique and sheer ability...at least for me. I find his work to be quite inspirational.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Carik]

I think Zappa mostly appeals to people who appreciate weirdness for weirdness' sake, honestly. I like some of his stuff, the rest is just too strange.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Anonymous Coward]

The funny (and sad) thing is, the person who is modding you flamebait won't think, "I might be hurting Frank's image here." No, he will think, "Fuck it. He won't ever give Zappa a chance anyway."

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Beelzebud]

Fair enough. Most of the people I've tried to turn on to Zappa couldn't get passed the "weird" factor.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Anonymous Coward]

CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER:

This is the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER...it is my responsibility to enforce all the laws that haven't been passed yet. It is also my responsibility to alert each and every one of you to the potential consequences of various ordinary everyday activities you might be performing which could eventually lead to The Death Penalty (or affect your parents' credit rating). Our criminal institutions are full of little creeps like you who do wrong things...

and many of them were driven to these crimes by a horrible force called MUSIC! Our studies have shown that this horrible force is so dangerous to society at large that laws are being
drawn up at this very moment to stop it forever! Cruel and inhuman punishments are being carefully described in tiny paragraphs so they won't conflict with the Constitution (which, itself, is being modified in order to accommodate THE FUTURE).

Enough said.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Beelzebud]

And ironically Zappa would be disgusted with the attempted censorship.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Purity Of Essence]

I suggest starting with something tame like Hot Rats. Work your way through Apostrophe and Overnite Sensation and then You Are What You Is and One Size Fits All. If you've stuck with it that far, take on Joe's Garage and you'll be ready for almost anything Zappa can throw at you.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[oh-dark-thirty]

One of FZ's many talents as a composer and musician was his ability to write and perform in every musical genre. His stuff ranges from classical to funk, jazz to plain rock, weirdness to well, just more weirdness. I've always said that if I had to be stranded on a deserted island for the rest of my life with only one artist's music, it would be Zappa.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[i.r.id10t]

Of course, he's done his own interpretations of classics as well. Came across a recording of his version of Ravel's Bolero and it is quite nice...

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[oh-dark-thirty]

FZ always tried to keep what he called "conceptual continuity" in his work. If you listen to his progression throughout the years, that phrase sort of makes sense. He was also a master at taking disparate tracks (from several different songs), and creating fresh material without playing a single new note.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Chelloveck]

Seriously. It was an innocent question but from the moderator's reaction you'd think I'd insulted Ron Paul or something.

I don't know why you got a flamebait mod; it seems to me you had a perfectly valid question asked in a perfectly non-trollish manner. Bad moderator! Shame! For pennance

As for your question... I don't know why anyone else likes Zappa, but I generally like his music for the depth, richness, and variety of it all. He has some really intricate work, and fascinating combinations of instruments. It's different. It's unique. It's weird. It's not all to my taste; I'd say I actively dislike about 10% of his stuff. But even in that 10% I can recognize and appreciate his sheer craftsmanship. I really wish that I'd managed to see Frank perform live.

If you want a good, approachable introduction to Zappa, I recommend finding Weird Al's "Genius in France" (on the Poodle Hat album). It's not a parody of any one song, but an homage to Zappa's style. And it's a pretty funny song in its own right.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, We're Only In It For the Money.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[bjb]

I think Zappa mostly appeals to people who appreciate weirdness for weirdness' sake, honestly. I like some of his stuff, the rest is just too strange.

No, if you want weirdness for weirdness' sake, listen to Captain Beefheart. Zappa was weird and was often categorized as "comedy music", but he was at heart a modern avant garde composer with heavy classical and R&B influences. The fact that he made rock and roll was because "nobody ever made any money playing classical music" (can't remember source of the quote).

The guy was a genius, but of a flavor that most people would spit out and stay away from because it tasted weird. As others have said, you either get it or you don't, but no fault if you don't because it isn't easily consumed.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Anonymous Coward]

You'll love it. It's a way of life.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[Bootsy Collins]

Not all Zappa is weird. I don't even think of *most* Zappa as weird. However, most of it *is* pretty complex stuff. He occasionally wrote pieces for orchestra that had passages considered unplayable by human musicians. OTOH, that which isn't complex often tends to the opposite extreme: the ribald or scatalogical stuff is frequently very simple musically.

So what's the appeal? Each fan would give you a different answer, and the answer would probably vary from track to track. I'll just pick two songs from his enormous repertoire and explain what their appeal is to me:

"Watermelon in Easter Hay," from the pseudo-rock-opera Joe's Garage. This nine-minute instrumental is a vehicle for Zappa's guitar soloing. It appears on some other live albums of his, but I think this studio version is the best, because it projects the somewhat sad feel of the piece the best. Prior to when I first heard this song, I always thought of guitar soloing as a means for lead guitarists with big egos to show off their technique; to the extent that electric lead guitar solos expressed emotion, those emotions tended to be upbeat, energetic ones, like anger or joy. Not here: the soloing in "Watermelon in Easter Hay" is instead evocative of a late afternoon, staring out the window into the rain while thinking of something sad. It is gorgeous melancholy, from the melody he works and plays with and twists, to the tone of the guitar itself. I loved this song for years purely on that level; but something about its structure always seemed odd to me until I realized that it's played in a non-standard time signature. The song is in 9/4 time, which subconsciously to us produces some discomfort or edginess, which adds to the emotional effect.

"The Black Page (drum solo, part 1, and part 2)" from Zappa in New York. This song, in the three forms in which it appears on this album, is a fabulous opportunity for learning about music, or at least about Zappa's concept of music. The song was originally a drum/percussion solo; a second version, immediately following the first on this album, adds other instruments. When I first heard this, I knew less than nothing about music, and the percussion song just seemed like a bunch of pointless banging with no real rhyme or reason; and the version with additional instrumentation ("The Black Page Part One, the Hard Version") seemed kinda boring and pointless as well. Somewhat later in this live album, however, he revisits it again, this time with the full band and arranged to a upbeat vamp ("The Black Page Part Two, the Easy Teenage New York Version"). In this form, I found the song easy to follow, and reasonably entertaining. And then time passed, and I learned how to play the guitar, and listened to a lot of jazz and orechestral music in the interim. And then one day I was listening to this album, and I made the connection between the "Easy" version and the "Hard" version -- I realized what he was trying to do. And that made me go back and listen to it a few more times, and then go back some more and listen to the Black Page drum solo -- the song stripped down to nothing but percussion, and I could hear all kinds of things going on that I couldn't before. It's hard to explain, but there were levels of complexity there that weren't apparent to me at first, but came later. And I love a lot of his music for revealing its secrets over time like that.

One of the problems in picking up Zappa discs is the range of music amongst them: orchestral music, jazz, free jazz, blues, straight-up rock, experimental music, etc. You could listen to ten FZ albums and not like anything on any of them, and that still wouldn't mean there isn't FZ stuff out there you'd like. There's often some commonality between recordings in a certain period of time (the first three Mothers albums, or the 73-75 band recordings); but even that's not consistently the case (his 80s recordings jumped all over the stylistic map going from release t

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[BitHive]

Thanks, that was exactly the sort of reply I was looking for. I feel like you've given me some good starting points for understanding his music better.

Thanks as well to everyone else who made a serious attempt at answering my question.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[treeves]

Haven't heard that one. I'd like to. Of course, there's also Stairway To Heaven for the classic rock Zappa.
And he's got his own classics, like Valley Girl, and He's So Gay. How come no one ever covers that one?!

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[YourExperiment]

Zappa is contemporary music? I shall remove myself from your lawn forthwith, sir.

Re:I don't "get" Zappa

[cromar]

I have to completely agree with you. I have somewhat of a background in music theory, and I tend to like a lot of "weird" music -- dissonance, noise, melding of genres, but too be frank Zappa is merely relying on novelty and silliness, rather than much ingenuity or creative vision. Not that a few of his pieces aren't interesting or even brilliant, but the majority of them are rather like sticking a kazoo up your ass and farting through it.

Fanboy posting

[Pharmboy]

This whole article being posted smacks of fanboy trolling. Yes, we can guess what Zappa would have used and whether he was a "Linux Prophet" or not (...not...) but it is pretty much indicative of a slow news day. Lots of trash on /. today, which is weird considering lots of interesting things are going on in the real world that we could be discussing.

Re:Fanboy posting

[Anonymous Coward]

I had thought Iron Baby was the worst article possible. At least that was on Idle, and was meant to be humorous. Frank Zappa... and a Linux connotation... and OSX flamebait? Excuse me while I go puke.

Re:Fanboy posting

[oldspewey]

Actually after taking a second look at the "logic" presented in TFS, it starts making more sense.

Zappa is best appreciated when really stoned or tripping out on acid or mushrooms. That's when the connections and the lyrics in his music suddenly seem so brilliantly clever like an inside joke that nobody else in the room - or in the whole universe - can understand. Similarly, the connections and leaps of logic in the summary are the kind of thing that won't speak to you unless you just sucked back a few bowls or you're otherwise in a state where you could spend 30 straight minutes examining the wrinkle patterns on the backs of your hands.

If you don't like this submission, you're clearly not high enough.

Re:Fanboy posting

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I'm pretty toasted myself right now and TFS still seems pretty lame to me...

Re:Fanboy posting

[Heather D]

This is what I've found to be frightening about his work. I 'get' a lot of it. No drugs, no altered states. It just makes sense to me.

This worries me sometimes.

Re:Fanboy posting

[DaVince21]

But Zappa himself disapproves of drugs!

One Question

[rotorbudd]

Where does bromidrosis fit in?

Re:I'm not even going to read it..

[Beelzebud]

So why comment on it, troll?

Without Neckbeard Hippies, you wouldn't even have a fucking computer to troll with.

Nah.

[jbeach]

While Zappa was clearly a tinkerer, he was also one into making music. And music programs simply aren't up to a professional musicians needs on Linux yet. I know, this program's great, that program's great...they are in theory. But they aren't standards in music for a reason. They don't have full feature sets for non-programmers, and more importantly they aren't stable and reliable.

Zappa would probably be ProTools, as other's have suggested - or Nuendo, which actually has a final output sound that's a bit nicer in some ways than ProTools, due to Steinberg's sound algorithms. Both of these require Windows or Mac OS. Of the two, I find it very likely Zappa would prefer Mac - it is simply a better environment for non-text work.

Also I think it's VERY likely Zappa would be using Max/MSP, which doesn't exist for Linux yet and won't be ported any time soon. Or he maybe would be using Symbolic Composer, or programming in Kyma - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyma_(sound_design_language) - but this also is aimed at programming DSP cards in Mac and WIndows environments

However, it is also very likely that Zappa would want some crazy special computer software/hardware combinations, that may be most easily achieved by hiring a programmer, who would then be more likely to write the controlling software in Linux. But again, I doubt it would be Zappa himself.

Re:Nah.

[rickb928]

What makes you think he wouldn't be using Ableton?

Re:Nah.

[DannyO152]

In his times, he could have given Todd Rundgren a call for hints as to cutting edge engineering. It was Rundgren who seemed to be the examplar of artist/engineer deluxe. Would he hire a programmer? That's almost like, in the 70s, hiring an electrical engineer to build an effects pedal. I think Zappa would have found that a distraction from his main mission, which was to make challenging music without wandering too far afield from rock and blues. Let someone else produce an effect box and then see if it serves his purposes well.

One thing I'm certain of, Zappa would have had zero tolerance and have applied maximum loudness and torque for anyone Napstering/Limewiring his tracks. I would imagine the hypothetical 21st century Frank would have put out a suite of scathing songs called "Freetard Anal Ants" or some such.

Re:Nah.

[jbeach]

Ableton is very likely for Zappa as a performance tool, actually. Especially as it's currently usable with Max/Msp.

But I've heard people complain about Ableton's sound output for mastering. So, probably yes for performance, maybe for composing, probably not for final studio product IMHO.

Re:Nah.

[black88]

He did however foresee this eventuality, see the following, from "The Real Frank Zappa Book" :

We propose to acquire the rights to digitally duplicate and store THE BEST of every record company's difficult-to-move Quality Catalog Items [Q.C.I.], store them in a central processing location, and have them accessible by phone or cable TV, directly patchable into the user's home taping appliances, with the option of direct digital-to-digital transfer to F-1 (SONY consumer level digital tape encoder), Beta Hi-Fi, or ordinary analog cassette (requiring the installation of a rentable D-A converter in the phone itself . . . the main chip is about $12).

All accounting for royalty payments, billing to the customer, etc. would be automatic, built into the initial software for the system.

The consumer has the option of subscribing to one or more Interest Categories, charged at a monthly rate, without regard for the quantity of music he or she decides to tape.

Providing material in such quantity at a reduced cost could actually diminish the desire to duplicate and store it, since it would be available any time day or night.

Monthly listings could be provided by catalog, reducing the on-line storage requirements of the computer. The entire service would be accessed by phone, even if the local reception is via TV cable.

The advantage of the TV cable is: on those channels where nothing ever seems to happen (there's about 70 of them in L.A.), a visualization of the original cover art, including song lyrics, technical data, etc., could be displayed while the transmission is in progress, giving the project an electronic whiff of the original point-of-purchase merchandising built into the album when it was 'an album', since there are many consumers who like to fondle & fetish the packaging while the music is being played. In this situation, Fondlement & Fetishism Potential [F.F.P.] is supplied, without the cost of shipping tons of cardboard around.

We require a LARGE quantity of money and the services of a team of mega-hackers to write the software for this system. Most of the hardware devices are, even as you read this, available as off-the-shelf items, just waiting to be plugged into each other so they can put an end to "THE RECORD BUSINESS" as we now know it.

Re:Nah.

[Pax681]

wow.. why is this guy -1?

that IS a quote from Zappa's auto biography!

Re:Nah.

[jbeach]

Yeah, someone mod this up! Insightful, informative.

I don't think so.

[Pojut]

Frank Zappa was one of the greatest musical geniuses that our species has ever produced. To even remotely insinuate that we could assume his intentions or possible course of action is douchebaggery of the highest order.

Show some fucking respect.

Re:I don't think so.

[sugapablo]

+1

Re:I don't think so.

[Anonymous Coward]

In your opinion. Others can listen to it and think "boring shit".

Re:I don't think so.

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

Frank Zappa was one of the greatest musical geniuses that our species has ever produced. To even remotely insinuate that we could assume his intentions or possible course of action is douchebaggery of the highest order.

Good grief! You Zappa fanboys are worse than hardcore RMS flacks!

Re:I don't think so.

[LWATCDR]

Wow... honestly I have heard very little of his stuff but what I heard was interesting. But his kind of music isn't a strong liking of mine.
I think you are being a big over the top. At the worst and frankly the best this seems nothing more that idle silliness. Must be a slow news day or a further sign that Slashdot is becoming less news for Nerds all the time.

Re:I don't think so.

[fortapocalypse]

To all those that +1 Insightful, you are not true Zappa fans. If you were a true Zappa fan you would have either voted +1 Funny or you wouldn't have been reading Slashdot (for reasons that if I explained here I would be modded -1 on). If you mod this as Insightful, you are a moron, and -1 on you (for any reason). Hail the Libertarian party!

Re:I don't think so.

[Pojut]

I think you are being a big over the top. At the worst and frankly the best this seems nothing more that idle silliness.

Click here for an explanation of my opinion.

Re:I don't think so.

[Pojut]

Good grief! You Zappa fanboys are worse than hardcore RMS flacks!

Click here for an explanation of my opinion.

Re:I don't think so.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hail the Libertarian party!

No.

Re:I don't think so.

[Spiked_Three]

+10 if possible.

Re:I don't think so.

[LWATCDR]

That is fine. I am not disputing how good he is. I am a musical listener. I like what I like but I am no expert. Just the amount of effort and venom expended. Zappa is probably a great artist at least that is what I hear. Frankly I wouldn't get as bent over someone being silly and saying that Jonas Salk would have stuck to using MS-DOS!

Re:I don't think so.

[Hurricane78]

You mean *perceived* genius, by all those who think parroting it around while acting like dicks would totally make them cool.

Sorry, to me his music was just bad. Not even bad in a hateable way. Just... horrible rhythmic structures and cringe-able dissonances.
But I don’t go around, and insult others while telling them that my point of view is the only true one and everyone who thinks different is an idiot. Why? Because it’s music! Music is by definition subjective. There is no absolute good and bad. (Actually, there never is. Ever. But let’s not get too meta-philosophical here.)

In other words: If you like it, go ahead, be happy! But the douchebaggery of the highest order comes right from the person who complains about it in this case.

Re:I don't think so.

[lokpest]

Show some fucking respect.

Have some sense of humor.

Re:I don't think so.

[closer2it]

Amen to that.
To support that, here is Frank Zappa on CNN's "Crossfire" on 86 about "words" on rock lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISil7IHzxc

Re:I don't think so.

[Anonymous Coward]

i'm right behind you on that one. and i'm sure frank would be too.

"Penguin in Bondage"

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only that: In the early '70s Zappa wrote a song called 'Penguin in Bondage,' an obvious foretelling of the anti-Linux lawsuits and threats from SCO, Microsoft, and other evildoers.

No.... No, I think that implies something else altogether. Something... something involving fat nerds in leather suits.

I just can't get enough

[Anonymous Coward]

.. of Slashdot's humor stories. I'm dying from laughter, in all seriousness.

Re:I just can't get enough

[gyrogeerloose]

.. of Slashdot's humor stories. I'm dying from laughter, in all seriousness.

You may be posting that sarcastically but I voted this story up as "Funny" in Firehose.

It's completely absurd, of course. "Montana" had nothing at all to do with computers, it was about growing pot. In any case, Zappa would have used whatever tool would have made his job easier for him. My guess would be Pro Tools on a Mac, like most other musicians these days, but that's worth about as much as anyone else's guess--exactly nothing.

Re:I just can't get enough

[Roblimo]

Of *course* it's all absurd.

But how about this: if you go to the forums on zappa.com and search for Linux, you get 76 results, and only 29 each for Windows and Mac.

This proves something -- something silly, no doubt, but still something (or other).

- R

What does the synclavier have to do with anything?

[Anonymous Coward]

Zappa was also a heavy user of the Synclavier, an electronic music machine that was a precursor to today's 'studio on a computer' recording and sound editing software.

What does this have to do with anything at all? The synclavier was not open source or Linux based. Also, the synclavier did not lead to any FOSS music production tools. In fact, even now, the vast majority of studio work is done on mac OS or windows. How does this synclavier relate to the point they are trying to make? Sounds to me like they are drawing correlations that do not exist.

Nope. Not at all.

[MarkvW]

Frank would be using the best stuff in whatever format. He wouldn't be constrained by Linux, or Windows, or Mac, or whatever.

Appropriating Frank's memory to endorse anything is just wrong, man.

Re:What does the synclavier have to do with anythi

[Beelzebud]

Agreed. It's a bit of a stretch. I could understand if the Synclavier was some sort of hobbyist machine, that you could build yourself, but it was a commercial product, and nothing about it was "open source". When the company died, so did the Synclavier.

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree.

Zappa was a great composer, pushing the boundaries, and his guitar work was on a level few will ever achieve.

That's what he'll be remembered for, and using his name in this silly context is crap.

It's an OS, not a religion.

Zappa would be Tea Partying with his Amiga!

[Anonymous Coward]

I got an ass I can pull stuff out of as well.

Huh?

[CosaNostra Pizza Inc]

Roblimo, what are you smoking?.....Can I have some?

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[Yvan256]

It sure is wrong.

Because we all know he'd be using an old Atari ST connected to even older Roland sound modules!

This article is totally false.

[Ricdude]

The tweezers in question are encrusted with "Zircon", and not Zirconium, as alleged.

Re:This article is totally false.

[Roblimo]

I've heard both Zircon and Zirconium on different versions. And Joe Volodorsky, the guy who told me Montana was about the Mac OS and its users, said Zirconium.

This little article grew out of some loose talk, with lots of laughter, about how you really need to be from L.A. to understand some of Zappa's stuff.

I mean, do you remember the Cheech and Chong line, where one says, "We're going to be bigger than Ruben and the Jets, man," or something like that?

There is a Frank Zappa monument in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Not all talk, all articles or all monuments need to be serious, you know.

- R

Incomplete summary

[$RANDOMLUSER]

I'm pretty sure that "Don't eat the yellow snow" and "Let's make the water turn black" were about Windows.

I don't remember

[Anonymous Coward]

Bill Gates having a beard.

Re:I don't remember

[Anonymous Coward]

Or George Boole, Alan Turing, John von Neumann or countless other people who contributed way more to the existence of modern computers than these Loonix neckbeards.

This reminds me of modern religion.

[Delusion_]

The religious texts say a thing, such as when Jesus told his followers "Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died". And they didn't.

This leaves the religious with three choices, none of them good: either:

1: Jesus was wrong
2: Jesus was a liar
or 3: the Bible doesn't mean what it says, and must be re-interpreted in order for it to remain relevant to us, who are not the audience it was written for.

Needless to say, most of the faithful pick the third option. The Revelation of John is even worse; in modern times most of the faithful read it as if it were written for a modern audience rather than a then-contemporary audience, so we turn a warning about the political power of Rome into a warning about bizarre apocalypse destined to happen in the future (ours).

This post reeks of this sort of post-hoc reasoning. Let's not do Zappa a disservice by deliberately reading him as if he were talking to us about something he clearly wasn't.

While I'm sure (I hope) it was meant as a jest, does this sort of evangelical logic really promote Linux in a way that is useful? This reads like fanboy logic written for the converted. More damning, however, is that while it is supposedly humorous, it's not actually funny.

Re:This reminds me of modern religion.

[Anonymous Coward]

I see your username is appropriate. What are you on about?

Re:This reminds me of modern religion.

[Delusion_]

That trying to shoe-horn new meaning into a work where it didn't exist is intellectually dishonest, whether it's the Bible or a Frank Zappa song.

Recontextualization is one thing, but this sort of no-holds-barred literary deconstruction is simply nonsense.

And an ad hominem attack based on my username against a post where "what I'm on about" is pretty clear? Really? In 2010?

Re:This reminds me of modern religion.

[washort]

The religious texts say a thing, such as when Jesus told his followers "Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died". And they didn't.

Eh, only a few Christians ever believed that, though most of them lived in 20th century America. All those prophecies about stuff happening in that generation did happen; much of the "end of the world" stuff discussed in the Bible was about the end of the Jewish world when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. I don't agree with all of these guys' conclusions but they cover most of the bases on this topic: http://www.preterist.org/preteristQA.asp (Who's Frank Zappa? ;-)

I don't think Dweezil is into Linux

[garrobon]

I wouldn't assume that anything that Dweezil is doing is any kind of predictor for what Frank might have done, but I'm pretty sure whatever he's using is running on Windows. Unfortunately I can't recall the exact source, but one of his blog posts (http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/posts/54) does mention some hardware that doesn't appear to have vendor supplied drivers for Linux.

Special Slashdot Memo #233321

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot is reaching new lows with this "story".

What's next? Zappa's influence on skull-base neurosurgery? Zappa's influence on number theory?

The Gulf of Mexico is becoming the Gulf of Oil and you post this crap.

Your appropriation of Zappa to Linux is ALMOST a
violation of trademark. I've notified Moon Unit.

Slashdot: News For Hits - Stuff That DOESN'T Matter.

Yours In Ashgabat,
Kilgore Trout, C.I.O

There are still more Zappas around

[Pete Venkman]

Did this author think to even talk with some of the still living Zappa clan? This article isn't much of anything if the author isn't going to even try to get some opinions from those closest to FZ himself.

Mumbo Pocus

[Octatonic]

What a load of complete bollocks. Mumbo Pocus, you might say.

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[MindlessAutomata]

Indeed. It would be a shame to use Zappa's name to endorse using the best stuff in whatever format.

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[MindlessAutomata]

God damn it, it's fucking GNU/Religion.

Re:I'm not even going to read it..

[Anonymous Coward]

shot with a ball of his own shit.

Genius. Does this work with a potato gun? I so want to try this on someone.

This just in

[Locke2005]

Without Zappa's inspirational lyrics, titties and beer would be nowhere near as popular as they now are!

$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$!!!

[lumenistan]

Newton - FreeBSD
Leibniz - Solaris
Donny from the Big Lebowski - QNX
Phil Hartman - BeOS
Moses - OS2/Warp
Hammurabi - MS DOS 5
Rush Limbaugh - Windows Vista

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[Anonymous Coward]

You are right, my guess is he probably would be using BSD.
But this is just my guess - based on Netcraft rumours that Zappa and BSD have a lot in common.

Zappa uses Sony Vegas

[Anonymous Coward]

At least for video editing: http://news.creativecow.net/story/863443

Reeelax Zappatistas

[Anonymous Coward]

As Henry Rollins once said to me while arguing about why Black Flag didn't play my town, "don't tie your dick in a knot!"
You Zappatistas need to calm down with the pontificating...

I agree there is much "liberty taking" in TFA, but the author is trying to "connect the dots", as it were, between a very-much-out-of-the-mainstream genius(on many levels) and the open source community, which has many such genii of a similar political(for lack of a better word) bent.

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[Anonymous Coward]

Problem is, Limbaugh is a die-hard Mac user...

Talking about Frank Zappa's OS choice...

[DdJ]

...is like dancing about architecture.

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[Ricdude]

Agreed.

Although, Dweezil's preference (circa 2006) "is to use the Euphonix R-1 hard-disk recording system and then bump that over to Nuendo." (http://emusician.com/tutorials/emusic_frankly_dweezil/index3.html), FWIW...

Points added for Zappa, lost for making no sense

[bjb]

OK, so someone was listening to Frank's music and thinking about how to make a Slashdot story about it. Some story moderator thought it was cool to accept. I can appreciate that someone thought about these things and tied them together into a Zappa reference. Hey, I can get into that and I'm as excited to see it on here as CmdrTaco was when he first posted a story related to The Who 10 years or so ago (no, I'm not going to look it up and hyperlink it! grin). But what does annoy me is the claim that he had anything more to do with Linux than Beethoven, Taco Bell, Ford Pintos or rubber dog biscuits.

C'mon. Zappa's struggles over the years had nothing to do with computers or freedom of the tools he had. It was all about business, musician unions and satirical observations of "the world".

Sure, I could come up with something like, "hey! Opus the penguin from Bloom County was all about the position in society of the Linux user, and obviously because of the penguin reference!". Why not. But if anything, Frank had over 60 studio albums of material released and I'm sure one could make a lot more connections if they thought about it.

The author of the story says that Apple was influenced by LSD. While Jobs has been on record with the statement that it was one of the most important things he did in his life, I'm not ready to chalk up more than a few small points of that company's history to it. People claim to have grand visions and revelations under the influence, so maybe Jobs was just good at recording or remembering his revelations rather than just grabbing a bag of doritos and sitting on the couch listening to Pink Floyd. There were a lot of other things that contributed to Apple's success that had nothing to do with drugs or brainstorms thereof (see: Xerox, Homebrew Computer Club, IBM, Palm, etc).

So how is Linux influenced by Zappa? Linux was influenced by the entire history of UNIX and other commercial operating systems, not some avant garde musician. As well, why would he be using Linux? As others have mentioned, I'm sure he would be using whatever the best tool is. He made heavy use of the Synclavier back in the day because it was THE tool for electronic music and was capable of playing the complex compositions he defined and had someone program in for him (see: G-Spot Tornado and just about everything on Civilization Phaze III). I appreciate the progress that we've made in regards to music production on Linux, but from everything I've ever read about Frank, he's not going to use Linux for music production because of the philosophy. Yes, he was a tinkerer, but there isn't anything about Linux that you couldn't do with another platform when it comes to music.

Frank dedicated his time to his music and his family. I honestly don't think he'd have time for the difficulties involved with using Linux when he could just buy a Mac for Pro Tools or Digital Performer. Besides, I think I saw Mac Book Pro or two at a Dweezil Zappa show recently ;-)

Pick and choose

[SIGBUS]

In many Zappa albums, there are some tracks that are all-time favorites of mine, and others that I just can't stand. There are only a few albums of his that I can play through without interruption -- Hot Rats, the Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar series, Apostrophe ('), and Over-Nite Sensation come to mind.

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[TeeJS]

at what point did Rush Limbaugh die? I totally missed that one!

Newton - FreeBSD Leibniz - Solaris Donny from the Big Lebowski - QNX Phil Hartman - BeOS Moses - OS2/Warp Hammurabi - MS DOS 5 Rush Limbaugh - Windows Vista

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[Anonymous Coward]

Rush Limbaugh - Mac OS-X

Numerous links on Google.

TITTIES AND BEER TITTIES AND BEER

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anything zappa ever did compare? Penquins? Microsoft? Pft! Titties and beer, man !!

http://www.bittenandbound.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/dale-bozzio.gif

http://www.dlisted.com/files/dalebozziomugshotsad.jpg

It was the blackest night There was no moon in sight
You know the stars ain't shinin' 'Cause the sky's too tight
I heard the scarey wind I seen some ugly trees
There was a werewolf hon kin''Long the aide of me

I'm mean 'n I'm bad, y'know I ain't no sissy Got a big titty girly by the name of Chrissy
Talkin' about her 'n my bike 'n me N this ride up the Mountain of Mystery, mystery

I noticed even the crickets Was actin' weird up here
So I figured I might Just drink a little beer
I said, "Gimme summa that what yer suckin' on" But there was no reply
'Cause she was gone

"Where's those titties I like so well,
'n' my godam beer!"
Is what I started to yell, then I heard this noise
Like a crunchin' twig, 'n up jumped the Devil, . .
He's about this big, . .

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[Fnkmaster]

But... but... but... he doesn't wear black turtlenecks or sip lattes or sit in coffee shops all day reading Marx. How could he possibly use OS X?

Wasn't dynamo humm about...

[garyisabusyguy]

Taking a bet with a hooker that you could get her off, then nailing her hooker-friend until dynamo finally got into it enough to get off???

I mean, I can't say that I ever got a balky machine to install an rpm just by doing it to another machine in front of it.

Am I missing something here?

Re:What does the synclavier have to do with anythi

[Espen]

The hardware was certainly versatile. Dartmouth College built its mid-80s network infrastructure around multi-purpose network gateways around boards made by NED (makers of the Synclavier) and at the time was probably the world's largest LocalTalk network.

Re:Points added for Zappa, lost for making no sens

[garyisabusyguy]

Maybe... just maybe they can lay a claim that prior exposure to Zappa albums may make a person more likely to adopt Linux...

For instance, my early years of tripping to Billy The Mountain while playing Risk might, just might, have made it easier for me to accept software packages that sings its own tune, an os that requires text file manipulation to properly use a display adapter and made me willing to install Linux on a Sparc10 even though it took me a couple of weeks to replace the Sun bitmap with a penguin

So there you go, prepare for a career in Linux by receiving brain damage while listening to Zappa

Could be confirmed by heredity

[Dex1331]

This could be confirmed if we could find out what Dweezil Zappa uses. He has very much followed in the footsteps of his father. He may not be the pioneer that his father was but he tours and play's his fathers music quite often. Zappa was a one of kind in his industry, like Hunter S. Thompson a true rebel against The Establishment(s)

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[Xtifr]

at what point did Rush Limbaugh die? I totally missed that one!

Does brain-death count? If so, I'm guessing some time before 1988. :)

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[turkeyfish]

Yes, but the real question is what OS will Jesus be using during the second coming and will your system be compatible?

At least the good thing about Linux is that regardless of what it is, you can be sure that some hacker will have posted a solution a short while after it is announced. Whether it will be legal to use it is another issue, but then so will the fees required by MS and Apple sales reps and lawyers.

This will all be moot soon, when Google gets their android act together. Until then it will be best if Jesus just postponed his second visit.

Start with Weasels Ate my Flesh

[Yergle143]

Weird just means art doesn't it. One of the most funny things I've noticed in this world is that "artistic" types who go to a gallery and blather on and on about the "freedom" of Picasso, and Jackson Pollock will positively run in terror from music that violates 32 bar AABA song structure. So Zappa is how much weird, he's kind of weird? But you know whenever I feel blue, I put on "Trout Mask Replica", (not Zappa but close) laugh my ass off, and am able to proceed mightily through this world which is much much weirder than Frank Zappa.

http://www.othermusic.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf8TM4CIk5g

Hated censorship, but...

[angus77]

I don't believe for a second that Zappa would be into FOSS. Read up on how he (and now the Zappa Family Trust) refused to release Captain Beefheart's original Bat Chain Puller, over hair-splitting legal technicalities and a bit of good old-fashioned spite. Thirty-two years now, and still the only way to get it is as a bootleg.

Re: Acquiring a taste for FZ

[chub_mackerel]

Yes, Acquiring a taste for Zappa can be done, even for the uninitiated/unsuspecting.

When I was in college I had a cassette with "Thing Fish" on it, and my roommate accidentally took it home with him for summer break. He got a delivery job that summer. The company truck had a cassette deck in it but no CD player. Since my roommate had no cassettes, he decided to give "Thing Fish" a listen (or three). Once he started listening to it he really loved it. This is a guy who previously had pretty mainstream musical tastes.

So I'd say as long as you're open to the weirdness and not too easily offended, you should give it a shot.

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[Anonymous Coward]

It is well known that Rush Limbaugh has been brain dead for years. Where have you been?

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[lumenistan]

Actually from what I've heard, Jesus is like most other guys - he probably won't come more than once; rather he will probably just roll over and go to sleep. His brother Ricardo, on the other hand, I hear he's a stallion and just keeps going....

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[Threni]

He was alive during the Atari ST's existence and he didn't use it. The Synclavier might look like a piece of shit now, but it was ahead of its time in its day.

Is Zappa still considered all that?

[swb]

Mind you, I'm not slagging on him, but he seems to have kind of faded into the background. He's been dead just shy of 20 years and his music was always a tad experimental, but he doesn't seem to get tied into "modern" rock music the same way someone like John Cale does or some of the other proto-punk artists do.

The article might have one thing right

[Bemopolis]

"Dinah-Moe Humm" might, in fact, be about Linux. Namely, the lyric "I got a spot that gets me hot, and you ain't been to it."

Re:The article might have one thing right

[al0ha]

Wish I had a mod point cause that is funny. Though I must add, sung in that glorious soulful female background voice from the song I know you know, "If Linux don't get you hot, you ain't been using it."

Gilding the lily a bit I think

[domatic]

I think FZ would have been more than capable of appreciating and maybe even lampooning some of the pathologies associated with I.T. but I wouldn't go so far as to speculate what tools he'd use today. My brother in law used to run a small recording studio and he told me about a really effective 8 track Tascam reel-to-reel tape that had lots of editing features (SMTPE, ability to control which tracks played/recorded from a panel, etc and it was relatively inexpensive. It was basically intended to semi-pros and the RIAA goons put the pressure on to have it killed. Apparently, they feared a reduced need for recording studios. FZ didn't lampoon that and I'm sure lots of that sort of thing went on. Just didn't seem to be up his alley.

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[nurb432]

Totally agree with that. Zappa would care less about the 'political' side of computing and would just demand the best tool to do his job, and cost or openness wouldn't even factor into the equation.

And no, Montana was NOT about mac users.. What the hell is he smoking?

Linux Penguin Born in 1996.

[bezenek]

In the early '70s Zappa wrote a song called 'Penguin in Bondage,' an obvious foretelling of the anti-Linux lawsuits and threats from SCO, Microsoft, and other evildoers.

Since Tux came into being in April-May of 1996, it is impossible for Mr. Zappa to have used a penguin reference to suggest anything about Linus in the "early '70s." See: http://www.sjbaker.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_History_of_Tux_the_Linux_Penguin

-Todd

Re:Linux Penguin Born in 1996.

[Anonymous Coward]

Linus was born '69 which makes it even more unbelievable.

Re:Linux Penguin Born in 1996.

[yargnad]

What a keen sense of humor you have. I almost thought this thread was funny until you showed up.

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[dn15]

Rush Limbaugh - Windows Vista

I'm sorry to say Rush Limbaugh is very much alive and a Mac user. He once volunteered to appear in an Apple ad but his offer was refused, thank goodness.

Also I'm pretty sure the author of the article is smoking crack. How did this make the front page?

Hunchentoot!

[mapcan]

Edi Weitz rocks!

Accoriding to the Rock and Roll Heaven Gazette

[ClosedSource]

Buddy Holley, Ritchie Valens, and the "Big Bopper" are Windows fans. Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison couldn't be reached for comment.

What would Einstein do?

[Anonymous Coward]

He would use a Mac of course. Likely a Macmini in recognition of its eco friendly power consumption and low profile/sleek construction. He'd like Linux as well but couldn't be bothered with the upkeep and driver issues.

Re:What would Einstein do?

[pandrijeczko]

I disagree. Zappa was fastidious about his music - wierd and wonderful time changes, surrounding himself with the highest quality musicians, etc.

A Linux user is invariably fastidious about getting the best speed from a computer, optimising compiler flags, carefully choosing all the right desktop components, etc.

Not that I care either way (I'm mostly Linux user without being a zealot, I like Zappa's humour in his music without caring too much about his self-indulgent guitar solos) but Britney Spears is more closer to Apple - nice to look at, easy on the ears and eyes, but definitely corporate-controlled and no real substance.

Re:What would Einstein do?

[Anonymous Coward]

Britney Spears is more closer to Apple - nice to look at, easy on the ears and eyes, but definitely corporate-controlled and no real substance.

Really, BSD is 'no real substance'? And Zappa was totally corporate-controlled as well-he sued his friends and his estate delights in doing the same. It was all about the green for Zappa, surely he was more Apple-like than you think!

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[Anonymous Coward]

Limbaugh might be running a web browser on a Nintendo Game Cube...and only because a flunkie had set it up for him ;) Top 3 most frequent Google Searches
1. Cheney
2. oxycodone
3. What happens in the Dominican Republic stays in the Dominican Republic

Zappa was a Pro...

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Take the current industry standard for PROFESSIONAL recording studios (not hobbiest or indi guys on a budget).
2. Add custom hardware and software from the top engineers in the industry.

THAT's what Zappa would be using. That's what Zappa has always used, dating back to the mid 1960s. You can find numerous references to his custom recording boards and equipment in assorted online archives. Doesn't the Zappa website have pictures of his homestudio?

Zappa was a professional, a perfectionist and a business man. He didn't waste time on fads or tolerate incompetence (in people or hardware/software). He relied exclusively on experts (musical or otherwise) to execute is particular vision.

"Arf!" she said.

Re:Points added for Zappa, lost for making no sens

[Anonymous Coward]

OK, so someone was listening to Frank's music and thinking about how to make a Slashdot story about it. Some story moderator thought it was cool to accept.
I can appreciate that someone thought about these things and tied them together into a Zappa reference. Hey, I can get into that and I'm as excited to see it on here as CmdrTaco was when he first posted a story related to The Who 10 years or so ago (no, I'm not going to look it up and hyperlink it! grin). But what does annoy me is the claim that he had anything more to do with Linux than Beethoven, Taco Bell, Ford Pintos or rubber dog biscuits.

C'mon. Zappa's struggles over the years had nothing to do with computers or freedom of the tools he had. It was all about business, musician unions and satirical observations of "the world".

Sure, I could come up with something like, "hey! Opus the penguin from Bloom County was all about the position in society of the Linux user, and obviously because of the penguin reference!". Why not. But if anything, Frank had over 60 studio albums of material released and I'm sure one could make a lot more connections if they thought about it.

The author of the story says that Apple was influenced by LSD. While Jobs has been on record with the statement that it was one of the most important things he did in his life, I'm not ready to chalk up more than a few small points of that company's history to it. People claim to have grand visions and revelations under the influence, so maybe Jobs was just good at recording or remembering his revelations rather than just grabbing a bag of doritos and sitting on the couch listening to Pink Floyd. There were a lot of other things that contributed to Apple's success that had nothing to do with drugs or brainstorms thereof (see: Xerox, Homebrew Computer Club, IBM, Palm, etc).

So how is Linux influenced by Zappa? Linux was influenced by the entire history of UNIX and other commercial operating systems, not some avant garde musician. As well, why would he be using Linux? As others have mentioned, I'm sure he would be using whatever the best tool is. He made heavy use of the Synclavier back in the day because it was THE tool for electronic music and was capable of playing the complex compositions he defined and had someone program in for him (see: G-Spot Tornado and just about everything on Civilization Phaze III). I appreciate the progress that we've made in regards to music production on Linux, but from everything I've ever read about Frank, he's not going to use Linux for music production because of the philosophy. Yes, he was a tinkerer, but there isn't anything about Linux that you couldn't do with another platform when it comes to music.

Frank dedicated his time to his music and his family. I honestly don't think he'd have time for the difficulties involved with using Linux when he could just buy a Mac for Pro Tools or Digital Performer. Besides, I think I saw Mac Book Pro or two at a Dweezil Zappa show recently ;-)

discount tiffnay jewelry
Chanel Wallet Sale
polo t shirts

Naw

[Anonymous Coward]

Zappa wouldn't have related to Linux. Zappa was a raving capitalist in a way that would make most Linux fanbois run for the hills.

And what about the hippy optimism of Linux that wouldn't have driven Zappa away from it would have been beaten back with a big stick due to the utter lack of any serious audio tools in Linux.

Infact, it's much more likely that Zappa would have scoffed at people who pissed with software that just couldn't get the job done just to save a few bucks. Regardless of what some think, Zappa was not a beatnik.

Dinah Moe Humm, a spectacularly awful track

[Anonymous Coward]

I just listened to the referenced song, "Dinah Moe Humm"; it's terrible, *really* terrible. What's the appeal? In theme and silliness it's quite similar to an ICP track. What the hell are you fans thinking?

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[DittoBox]

Rush Limbaugh isn't dead goddammit!

Don't get me excited like that.

Re:Points added for Zappa, lost for making no sens

[Anonymous Coward]

Zappa did accurately predict the digital distribution of music to consumers way back in 1983. Albeit, using modems.

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[Anonymous Coward]

The same can be said about the Atari ST.

Re:Nope. Not at all.

[ConceptJunkie]

No way, he'd be using a TRS-80 with an ORCH-85... all 3 voices... and he'd make the aliasing do things you'd never imagine!

Re:$RANDOM_DEAD_GUY$ would TOTALLY use $RANDOM_OS$

[Anonymous Coward]

heh. This made me twitchy for more, so...

John Belushi - Slackware

William S. Burroughs - Fedora

Genghis Kahn - Gentoo

Martin Luther King - Ubuntu

Malcolm X - Debian

James Bond - DamnSmallLinux (well, I think the last bond movie killed him...)

Alexander The Great - BSD

Totally...

[swordgeek]

...idle. Why isn't this posted there?

From the man himself:

[sugapablo]

"Imaginary guitar notes and imaginary vocals exist only in the imagination of the imaginer...and... ultimately, who gives a fuck anyway?" - The Central Scrutinizer.

Dumb all over

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is it when I think Microsoft and Zappa I think of his song 'Dumb all over' especially the part that goes 'Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side.'

As far as Linux and music is concerned, I think the Korg that used Linux as an operating system (forget which one) that was a huge success is possibly one of the things Zappa might have used. (I know a lot of other musicians did).

Re:I'm not even going to read it..

[DaVince21]

Having "Zappa" in your article immediately makes you "not a hippie", though.

Geez....

[Anonymous Coward]

Where's the bullshit tag.

I listen to Frank Zappa and linux is no Frank Zappa.