If game companies would start porting their games to Linux, then all of that would change. Companies like id are a catylist for this, and it will no doubt help speed things up for more ports for other companies... However, a commercial game for *only* Linux would be stupid... But if you build your program from the start with the intent for it to be modular, and easily ported to multiple platforms, then you've killed two birds with one stone. You can sell the game to Windows and Linux gamers, and make profits on both. Linux users will increase, and the number of games will too.
So why hasn't EA decided to port MOH:AA to Linux. Their game is built off of an engine that is proven to run great (faster) in Linux? The truth is, that they don't care.
Companies like Nullsoft have decided to make a more multi-platform library, which will make ports a snap. Wasabi is a great idea, and though the current implementation into Winamp 3 looks a litle sluggish, it will improve with time. Winamp 3 will be coming to Linux right after the Windows version. From what Nullsoft says, new releases should be simultaneous.
Here, they lose nothing. No doubt, some XMMS users will switch. I personally think that I will use Winamp 3 instead of XMMS. It just sounds better to my ears (more crisp with less distortion. Better seperation of certain frequencies. This comparison was with the most recent version of XMMS, and the most recent versions of Winamp under WINE). I like having the choice. I like having more commerical apps available for Linux every day. If done right, writing software for multiple platforms is easy to do. And coding Linux binaries takes very little time.
If you have a Windows audience, then what harm is there in broadening your audience?
Loki has had an LGPL installer for a long time that does what you ask.
http://www.lokigames.com/development/setup.php3
And there are others. You just have to look. I also have hopes that the Nullsoft NSIS (PiMP/SuperPiMP) starts to see some ports. It is released under the zlib/libpng license.
A lot of people would doubt the possibility of something like that working, because a lof od people doubt the abilitiy of precompiled binaries in Linux. Personally, I see nothing wrong with precompiled binaries for Linux that are installed by binary installers. Every X86 Linux binary installer that I have ever used has worked great. Opera, Netscape, Limewire, StarOffice/OOo., and Linux game binaries. Never had a problem with any of them. I love tar.gz sources, but graphic installers are nice too.
Maybe you could try something like Kapital, which has a lot of the features of Quicken. It's only $25 right now, but is still in a pre-release status (You get free upgrades for 4 months after it is officially released).
You have an interesting point. About the only thing that tempts me to use Windows 2000 anymore is the beauty of MOH:AA (That game is just too great). Linux support for it is pretty sucky under Wine.
We all knoew that the OpenGL implementations in Linux are excellent. What is holding developers back from spending a little extra time to release unsupported Linux binaries? It is kinda disappointing. A week or two of coding can produce more game sales. What is the problem here?
I like the concepts of Wine and will probably subscribe to Transgaming for WineX, but what does this leave use with? It is just a temporary alternative to proper Linux binaries that run correctly. I don't want Wine to become an excuse for the developers lack of interest in multi-platform software.
Wine is nice, but it will never be as good as the real thing, unless we have more acess to the native Windows code. Microsoft knows this, and it is what makes it really difficult to develop proper libraries for running Windows software.
Windowmaker is also pretty cool if you are looking for something lean and radically different than KDE.
I like it, but the true-type font rasterization and stuff in KDE is pretty nice. So I stick with the typical glitzy, resource crunching, KDE 3 interface (heavily modified). Mostly, this is because most of the programs that I use are KDE/QT programs, and I like everything to look uniform (I am too lazy to make GTK skins just to have everything uniform).
Yes, but can she install all of the proper drivers without your help?
Video? Sound? VIA 4-in-1 drivers? Patches and hotfixes (for Windows)?
Frankly, if she cannot, then she shouldn't be installing *ANY* OS. Without the right drivers, it won't be reliable, and will be more prone to problems.
Linux has these problems too, but generally the distributions ship with the best drivers available at the time, and with many of them, most of the installation is fairly automated.
Even the less auto-configured Slackware detects your network card nowadays.
Video cards are a bit different beast. Any video card that supports VESA will work in Linux (X Window system) with a framebuffer mode (That's like 99% of cards). If you want 3d graphics, then you can get drivers from most manufacturers that really actually matter. nVidia, ATi, PowerVR... Etc. If the rest don't work, then that is the manufacturer's problem. The Linux OpenGL implementations are *awesome*, and very fast. nVidia uses the exact same driver model for Linux that they use in Windows, so the drivers are always up to date. PowerVR will be doing this soon also.
USB mice (and other devices) work fine. USB mice use generic drivers, and are detected by the installers. USB 2.0 has been implemented into the kernel.
I don't know of any major sound chip that does not work in Linux. There are at least three types of sound drivers available. Kernel drivers, ALSA, and Commercial OSS. If someone doesn't like the kernel or ALSA implementations, they can always swing $15-$30 to opensound.com, and get EXCELLENT drivers that completely make use of the best features of a soundcard, including rear speaker support and a real-time software multi-channel mixer (like DirectX uses).
Linux distributions like Suse, Lycoris, Mandrake, and Red Hat do all of the guesswork for you.
Frankly, if you have to pick out your network card manually, then you have one jankie peice of hardware.
Nothing personal, but I attribute the "lack of driver" claims to people's continuing ignorance of the Linux OS.
It is not pay-only. The mirrors just don't have it up yet.
However, if the said enhancments are any indication of what to expect of it after it has been installed, I feel that it is well worth the $30-$40 that it costs for them to mail you the disks.
I hope that more people try, and then buy it from them if they like it. It is a good distribution, and is great for desktop use.
Simple. It is just more trolls try to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt into the minds of other people. This prevents people from even attempting to use Linux on the desktop.
And interesting enough, both of those software programs that you suggested work fine in Linux WITHOUT Windows. With the help of a really cool library called WINE, it works like a charm, as does most Windows software.
Lycoris seems to have this issue under control for the most part. Most devices are detected automatically, without a hitch...
However, I have had some problems getting the installer to kick in on less-common (in terms of modern hardware) video cards. It pukes out when the installer starts up.
I think that they have fixes most of that in the most recent version though. And everything else about the installation is automated, thanks to the use of Lizard.
WINE works pretty well now. There aren't really many Windows apps that don't run on my Linux box to be honest with you. Games are sometimes a bit more difficult, but even DirectX 8 games like MOH:AA will run fine on a Linux box with WINE installed (and no Windows OS). But it does take a little bit of configuration.
I did what you did. I bit the bullet and stopped using Windows altogether, and opted for Slackware 8.1. It works great, it's fast, and gets the job done. All of the apps that I need are available, typically for free. Despite my problems with a few commerical Windows programs, I have to just deal with it. The benefits of using Linux at home totally outweigh the lack of using a few Windows-only apps.
So mod me down if you guys wish, but the naysayers only argue the point because they are ignorant to using Linux (not because it is difficult, but just because they haven't really tried it). That is just their loss.
The same type of thing could be implemented into Nautilus... At least I would think so.
Lycoris one-ups a lot of other distributions because they work heavily on customizing the GUI, instead of writing proprietary config tools (like Yast). But I am interested in seeing how some of these new Lycoris tools have turned out. It looks like they are taking a step in a better direction by making GUI-based controls for everything imaginable. But most look like simple hacks so far.
The only problem here is that Lycoris deviates from a lot of standard KDE features so much, that it seems like they are a bit behind in implementing newer versions of software into their distribution. They use a relatively old version of KDE... While that isn't a big problem, when more apps demand QT3 and a lot of other KDE3 specific features, Lycoris will be left behind.
I still love the distribution though, and am anxious to play with this new release.
What's the problem here? There are MANY types of desktops for Linux machines.
The most popular types tend to mimic that standard "button bar here - system tray here" idea because that is what people are used to. It wasn't even started on Windows, but has evolved to become the most common form of GUI. Some people just like it. If not, you can run FluxBox or something like that.
Nothing personal, but perhaps you haven't really experienced the flexibility of the UNIX GUI? Lycoris opts to go the KDE route because that formula *works* for most people. It is tried and true, and is used by billions of Windows users. Why try to teach an old dog new tricks when a user can switch to an OS that has a familiar feel? That is the *whole idea of Lycoris*!
Agreed. Even certain MP3 encoders very quite greatly, depending on the bitrates that are used. BladeENC really blows at less than 256 kbps, but shines at higher bitrates. Xing just blows all the time. LAME just rocks no matter what, and is especially nice with its VBR implementations. FIIS's officialy encoder is the best for lower bitrates.
I thought about switching to OGG, but I wouldn't find much benefit to it unless I wanted to go with smaller filetypes, which is where it really shines. But since I encode all of my MP3s in Lame r3mix VBR 128-320 (averages 192), I get the best sound possible.
It's framebuffer, like the startup screen. And it is blue, but is different than the 9x BSOD. bost often it is a result of a hardware failure, but still can occur as a result of general Windows behavior. It isn't *nearly* as bad as 9x, but in my experience, still crashes more than any Unix system that I have used.
Faster memory isn't going to do much for that video card (the ATI AIW 32MB DDR). If you were using a GeForce 4, or the new Radeon card on an SDRAM system, then there would be a substantial bottleneck. However, on older, or more efficient 3D Renderers (more efficient, as in a tile-based rendering Kyro 2), SDRAM is perfectly fine, and DDR is pracially useless, as the card is not as bandwidth hungry.
His problem is A) Running Tribes 2 on an older Radeon. And B) The Tribes 2 Garage Games engine was horribly unoptimized in that game.
Everyone knows that these frickin' laser beams are being developed for mounting onto sharks.
"You know, I have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now, evidently, my cycloptic colleague informs me that that can't be done. Can you remind me what I pay you people for? Honestly, throw me a frickin' bone here!"
Offtopic... But you know its funny. Plus, its in honor of Goldmember.
GAIM doesn't drop URLs with most protocols. The AOL protocols work perfectly with it. The other protocols are plug-in based. So if you have a problem with it, you can write your own. The work that has been done so far is open source after all.
PowerVR writes great drivers for the Kyro 2 chips. The K2 boards also have beautiful internal 32 bit true color rendering, and the 2D graphics look incredible too. They also have good Linux drivers, but are currently in a beta state.
I totally reccommend them to other Linux users if you just want high-GeForce 2 level performance (they are almost 2 years old now.). But they are great for games like RTC Wolfenstein. Very stable too, as they were in Windows 2000.
Moog is Bob Moog's last name. Maybe you don't know who he is, or how it is even pronounced. Regardless, I'll fill you in on something. He was the pioneer of the synthesizer.
After installation, be sure to set your X-Server to 16 or 24 bit color. On the Kyro cards, it seems as though 24 bpp really acts as 32 bpp. This may be due to the 32 bit internal true-color rendering.
I am not trying to diss nVidia's Linux drivers... They are pretty fast, but there are a lot of things that I hear they don't have... Like support for certain SDL video modes that things like Mplayer use. But then again, this may just be a bias from certain programmers that hate the idea that their binaries are closed source.
I will note that often, the Linux drivers for nVidia cards are faster than in Windows. They use the same driver model.
I've been pretty happy with the PowerVR Kyro 2 drivers in Linux. They are only beta drivers right now, but seem to be faster than when I used Windows 2000. RTC Wolfenstein flies, and looks gorgeous.
Personally, I don't care if they are closed or open, as long as I have something that works well. Not everything can be open source. There need to be some exceptions at times- which is why I fronted $35 to www.opensound.com for proper CS4630 (for the Santa Cruz) drivers.
The unfortunate thing about most Linux sound drivers is that they don't have built-in soft mixers. Some Yamaha cards and Creative Live! cards have built-in driver support for multiple streams to the DSP. If you like those cards, then they are a good choice.
If you want something else, then I suggest that you check out www.opensound.com . They have great (closed source) drivers, but they aren't free. My impression is that they actually get real tech documents to write drivers, and a lot of the code is closed. I recently purchased some drivers from them for my Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card. I was elated to find that *both* of the card's DSPs worked perfectly, and even had more individual configurability than the Windows drivers. I am able to seperate, and spatialize my front and rear speakers in Linux. The center channel and subwoofer work great too. Music through XMMS is mixed and routed to the other speakers. Sound is crystal clear, and not muddy like the kernel drivers that I was using.
There is also a software mixer called "virtual mixer" from Opensound/4-Front. It allows multiple programs to access the DSP at one time, and works great. It automatically routes a sound stream to a virtual CPU controlled DSP (works like ARTSd does). It works in real-time, and things don't fight over/dev/dsp anymore. Some people complain about software mixers, but really it isn't any different than Directsound streaming in Windows. For $15, you can also upgrade the mixer to "Virtual Mixer Pro", which supports 40 sound streams to the virtual DSPs at one time, in real-time.
Don't get me wrong. I love open source drivers, but there are some things that the kernel drivers just won't do. This is a big problem, as device companies just aren't willing to let details go to the Open Source Community, for fear of someone stealing their property. Even worse is that they refuse to write closed drivers for their customers.
Linux can be suitable for music software. You just have to have the right hardware setup. Unfortunately, I don't find many of the Linux music programs to have very good interfaces. Some of them are clunky and combersome. I haven't tried it just yet, but I plan to install Fruity Loops with WINE and see how it runs. If many of these games run, some music software *should* work. My experience with WINE so far is that it runs most of my Windows applications without using any serious CPU resources. Results have been good, and sound seems to work well.
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If game companies would start porting their games to Linux, then all of that would change. Companies like id are a catylist for this, and it will no doubt help speed things up for more ports for other companies... However, a commercial game for *only* Linux would be stupid... But if you build your program from the start with the intent for it to be modular, and easily ported to multiple platforms, then you've killed two birds with one stone. You can sell the game to Windows and Linux gamers, and make profits on both. Linux users will increase, and the number of games will too.
So why hasn't EA decided to port MOH:AA to Linux. Their game is built off of an engine that is proven to run great (faster) in Linux? The truth is, that they don't care.
Companies like Nullsoft have decided to make a more multi-platform library, which will make ports a snap. Wasabi is a great idea, and though the current implementation into Winamp 3 looks a litle sluggish, it will improve with time. Winamp 3 will be coming to Linux right after the Windows version. From what Nullsoft says, new releases should be simultaneous.
Here, they lose nothing. No doubt, some XMMS users will switch. I personally think that I will use Winamp 3 instead of XMMS. It just sounds better to my ears (more crisp with less distortion. Better seperation of certain frequencies. This comparison was with the most recent version of XMMS, and the most recent versions of Winamp under WINE). I like having the choice. I like having more commerical apps available for Linux every day. If done right, writing software for multiple platforms is easy to do. And coding Linux binaries takes very little time.
If you have a Windows audience, then what harm is there in broadening your audience?
Loki has had an LGPL installer for a long time that does what you ask.
http://www.lokigames.com/development/setup.php3
And there are others. You just have to look. I also have hopes that the Nullsoft NSIS (PiMP/SuperPiMP) starts to see some ports. It is released under the zlib/libpng license.
A lot of people would doubt the possibility of something like that working, because a lof od people doubt the abilitiy of precompiled binaries in Linux. Personally, I see nothing wrong with precompiled binaries for Linux that are installed by binary installers. Every X86 Linux binary installer that I have ever used has worked great. Opera, Netscape, Limewire, StarOffice/OOo., and Linux game binaries. Never had a problem with any of them. I love tar.gz sources, but graphic installers are nice too.
Maybe you could try something like Kapital, which has a lot of the features of Quicken. It's only $25 right now, but is still in a pre-release status (You get free upgrades for 4 months after it is officially released).
http://www.thekompany.com/products/kapital/
You have an interesting point. About the only thing that tempts me to use Windows 2000 anymore is the beauty of MOH:AA (That game is just too great). Linux support for it is pretty sucky under Wine.
We all knoew that the OpenGL implementations in Linux are excellent. What is holding developers back from spending a little extra time to release unsupported Linux binaries? It is kinda disappointing. A week or two of coding can produce more game sales. What is the problem here?
I like the concepts of Wine and will probably subscribe to Transgaming for WineX, but what does this leave use with? It is just a temporary alternative to proper Linux binaries that run correctly. I don't want Wine to become an excuse for the developers lack of interest in multi-platform software.
Wine is nice, but it will never be as good as the real thing, unless we have more acess to the native Windows code. Microsoft knows this, and it is what makes it really difficult to develop proper libraries for running Windows software.
Windowmaker is also pretty cool if you are looking for something lean and radically different than KDE.
I like it, but the true-type font rasterization and stuff in KDE is pretty nice. So I stick with the typical glitzy, resource crunching, KDE 3 interface (heavily modified). Mostly, this is because most of the programs that I use are KDE/QT programs, and I like everything to look uniform (I am too lazy to make GTK skins just to have everything uniform).
Yes, but can she install all of the proper drivers without your help?
Video?
Sound?
VIA 4-in-1 drivers?
Patches and hotfixes (for Windows)?
Frankly, if she cannot, then she shouldn't be installing *ANY* OS. Without the right drivers, it won't be reliable, and will be more prone to problems.
Linux has these problems too, but generally the distributions ship with the best drivers available at the time, and with many of them, most of the installation is fairly automated.
Even the less auto-configured Slackware detects your network card nowadays.
Video cards are a bit different beast. Any video card that supports VESA will work in Linux (X Window system) with a framebuffer mode (That's like 99% of cards). If you want 3d graphics, then you can get drivers from most manufacturers that really actually matter. nVidia, ATi, PowerVR... Etc. If the rest don't work, then that is the manufacturer's problem. The Linux OpenGL implementations are *awesome*, and very fast. nVidia uses the exact same driver model for Linux that they use in Windows, so the drivers are always up to date. PowerVR will be doing this soon also.
USB mice (and other devices) work fine. USB mice use generic drivers, and are detected by the installers. USB 2.0 has been implemented into the kernel.
I don't know of any major sound chip that does not work in Linux. There are at least three types of sound drivers available. Kernel drivers, ALSA, and Commercial OSS. If someone doesn't like the kernel or ALSA implementations, they can always swing $15-$30 to opensound.com, and get EXCELLENT drivers that completely make use of the best features of a soundcard, including rear speaker support and a real-time software multi-channel mixer (like DirectX uses).
Linux distributions like Suse, Lycoris, Mandrake, and Red Hat do all of the guesswork for you.
Frankly, if you have to pick out your network card manually, then you have one jankie peice of hardware.
Nothing personal, but I attribute the "lack of driver" claims to people's continuing ignorance of the Linux OS.
It is not pay-only. The mirrors just don't have it up yet.
However, if the said enhancments are any indication of what to expect of it after it has been installed, I feel that it is well worth the $30-$40 that it costs for them to mail you the disks.
I hope that more people try, and then buy it from them if they like it. It is a good distribution, and is great for desktop use.
Simple. It is just more trolls try to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt into the minds of other people. This prevents people from even attempting to use Linux on the desktop.
And interesting enough, both of those software programs that you suggested work fine in Linux WITHOUT Windows. With the help of a really cool library called WINE, it works like a charm, as does most Windows software.
Lycoris seems to have this issue under control for the most part. Most devices are detected automatically, without a hitch...
However, I have had some problems getting the installer to kick in on less-common (in terms of modern hardware) video cards. It pukes out when the installer starts up.
I think that they have fixes most of that in the most recent version though. And everything else about the installation is automated, thanks to the use of Lizard.
WINE works pretty well now. There aren't really many Windows apps that don't run on my Linux box to be honest with you. Games are sometimes a bit more difficult, but even DirectX 8 games like MOH:AA will run fine on a Linux box with WINE installed (and no Windows OS). But it does take a little bit of configuration.
I did what you did. I bit the bullet and stopped using Windows altogether, and opted for Slackware 8.1. It works great, it's fast, and gets the job done. All of the apps that I need are available, typically for free. Despite my problems with a few commerical Windows programs, I have to just deal with it. The benefits of using Linux at home totally outweigh the lack of using a few Windows-only apps.
So mod me down if you guys wish, but the naysayers only argue the point because they are ignorant to using Linux (not because it is difficult, but just because they haven't really tried it). That is just their loss.
The same type of thing could be implemented into Nautilus... At least I would think so.
Lycoris one-ups a lot of other distributions because they work heavily on customizing the GUI, instead of writing proprietary config tools (like Yast). But I am interested in seeing how some of these new Lycoris tools have turned out. It looks like they are taking a step in a better direction by making GUI-based controls for everything imaginable. But most look like simple hacks so far.
The only problem here is that Lycoris deviates from a lot of standard KDE features so much, that it seems like they are a bit behind in implementing newer versions of software into their distribution. They use a relatively old version of KDE... While that isn't a big problem, when more apps demand QT3 and a lot of other KDE3 specific features, Lycoris will be left behind.
I still love the distribution though, and am anxious to play with this new release.
What's the problem here? There are MANY types of desktops for Linux machines.
The most popular types tend to mimic that standard "button bar here - system tray here" idea because that is what people are used to. It wasn't even started on Windows, but has evolved to become the most common form of GUI. Some people just like it. If not, you can run FluxBox or something like that.
Nothing personal, but perhaps you haven't really experienced the flexibility of the UNIX GUI? Lycoris opts to go the KDE route because that formula *works* for most people. It is tried and true, and is used by billions of Windows users. Why try to teach an old dog new tricks when a user can switch to an OS that has a familiar feel? That is the *whole idea of Lycoris*!
Agreed. Even certain MP3 encoders very quite greatly, depending on the bitrates that are used. BladeENC really blows at less than 256 kbps, but shines at higher bitrates. Xing just blows all the time. LAME just rocks no matter what, and is especially nice with its VBR implementations. FIIS's officialy encoder is the best for lower bitrates.
They aren't always the same.
I thought about switching to OGG, but I wouldn't find much benefit to it unless I wanted to go with smaller filetypes, which is where it really shines. But since I encode all of my MP3s in Lame r3mix VBR 128-320 (averages 192), I get the best sound possible.
It's framebuffer, like the startup screen. And it is blue, but is different than the 9x BSOD. bost often it is a result of a hardware failure, but still can occur as a result of general Windows behavior. It isn't *nearly* as bad as 9x, but in my experience, still crashes more than any Unix system that I have used.
Faster memory isn't going to do much for that video card (the ATI AIW 32MB DDR). If you were using a GeForce 4, or the new Radeon card on an SDRAM system, then there would be a substantial bottleneck. However, on older, or more efficient 3D Renderers (more efficient, as in a tile-based rendering Kyro 2), SDRAM is perfectly fine, and DDR is pracially useless, as the card is not as bandwidth hungry.
His problem is A) Running Tribes 2 on an older Radeon. And B) The Tribes 2 Garage Games engine was horribly unoptimized in that game.
Everyone knows that these frickin' laser beams are being developed for mounting onto sharks.
"You know, I have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now, evidently, my cycloptic colleague informs me that that can't be done. Can you remind me what I pay you people for? Honestly, throw me a frickin' bone here!"
Offtopic... But you know its funny. Plus, its in honor of Goldmember.
GAIM doesn't drop URLs with most protocols. The AOL protocols work perfectly with it. The other protocols are plug-in based. So if you have a problem with it, you can write your own. The work that has been done so far is open source after all.
PowerVR writes great drivers for the Kyro 2 chips. The K2 boards also have beautiful internal 32 bit true color rendering, and the 2D graphics look incredible too. They also have good Linux drivers, but are currently in a beta state.
I totally reccommend them to other Linux users if you just want high-GeForce 2 level performance (they are almost 2 years old now.). But they are great for games like RTC Wolfenstein. Very stable too, as they were in Windows 2000.
Moog is Bob Moog's last name. Maybe you don't know who he is, or how it is even pronounced. Regardless, I'll fill you in on something. He was the pioneer of the synthesizer.
http://www.powervr.com/Downloads.asp
After installation, be sure to set your X-Server to 16 or 24 bit color. On the Kyro cards, it seems as though 24 bpp really acts as 32 bpp. This may be due to the 32 bit internal true-color rendering.
I am not trying to diss nVidia's Linux drivers... They are pretty fast, but there are a lot of things that I hear they don't have... Like support for certain SDL video modes that things like Mplayer use. But then again, this may just be a bias from certain programmers that hate the idea that their binaries are closed source.
I will note that often, the Linux drivers for nVidia cards are faster than in Windows. They use the same driver model.
I've been pretty happy with the PowerVR Kyro 2 drivers in Linux. They are only beta drivers right now, but seem to be faster than when I used Windows 2000. RTC Wolfenstein flies, and looks gorgeous.
Personally, I don't care if they are closed or open, as long as I have something that works well. Not everything can be open source. There need to be some exceptions at times- which is why I fronted $35 to www.opensound.com for proper CS4630 (for the Santa Cruz) drivers.
The unfortunate thing about most Linux sound drivers is that they don't have built-in soft mixers. Some Yamaha cards and Creative Live! cards have built-in driver support for multiple streams to the DSP. If you like those cards, then they are a good choice.
/dev/dsp anymore. Some people complain about software mixers, but really it isn't any different than Directsound streaming in Windows. For $15, you can also upgrade the mixer to "Virtual Mixer Pro", which supports 40 sound streams to the virtual DSPs at one time, in real-time.
If you want something else, then I suggest that you check out www.opensound.com . They have great (closed source) drivers, but they aren't free. My impression is that they actually get real tech documents to write drivers, and a lot of the code is closed. I recently purchased some drivers from them for my Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card. I was elated to find that *both* of the card's DSPs worked perfectly, and even had more individual configurability than the Windows drivers. I am able to seperate, and spatialize my front and rear speakers in Linux. The center channel and subwoofer work great too. Music through XMMS is mixed and routed to the other speakers. Sound is crystal clear, and not muddy like the kernel drivers that I was using.
There is also a software mixer called "virtual mixer" from Opensound/4-Front. It allows multiple programs to access the DSP at one time, and works great. It automatically routes a sound stream to a virtual CPU controlled DSP (works like ARTSd does). It works in real-time, and things don't fight over
Don't get me wrong. I love open source drivers, but there are some things that the kernel drivers just won't do. This is a big problem, as device companies just aren't willing to let details go to the Open Source Community, for fear of someone stealing their property. Even worse is that they refuse to write closed drivers for their customers.
Linux can be suitable for music software. You just have to have the right hardware setup. Unfortunately, I don't find many of the Linux music programs to have very good interfaces. Some of them are clunky and combersome. I haven't tried it just yet, but I plan to install Fruity Loops with WINE and see how it runs. If many of these games run, some music software *should* work. My experience with WINE so far is that it runs most of my Windows applications without using any serious CPU resources. Results have been good, and sound seems to work well.