Another pledge for NI on linux native

Hey Native Instruments!

I bought Komplete 2 in 2002.
I really love NI products.

I use linux since 1995.
The only reason I used Windows, then later Mac, was for music production - for NI products only!!!

If I think it over...I bought one Mac and 3 windows computers just for NI stuff.
That is 10k EUR or so just for machines.

It could have all gone to NI products instead. My wish list is not exhausted. I would also upgrade more regularly....
I bought my latest Mac in 2007 and since then run linux only everything. I have BitWig. I PAY for good software.

I just love linux.
Just another pledge to have NI products natively running on linux...
(pun intended as your brand sports "Native")

I really think the market is expanding. Skimming over the Internet, there are many people like me who really love NI products but are forced into maintaining a Mac or a Windows system just because they can't ditch the NI workflow, like me, preferring to spend their money on NI rather than Apple or Microsoft.

u-he, Tracktion and others do support linux. I don't think it's technically that hard.
It may not make NI duplicate their sales, but I am sure it would win a niche of dedicated users who will never forget.

Forum admin, would you please be so kind to forward this message to CEx level? Thanks.

Thanks for reading up to here.

(P.S. I am a software developer with 20+ years experience. I volunteer free time if it would help make the decision easier )

 

Would love to see Linux-support for the NI-hardware also!
Using Traktor (Pro3) with an S8 myself, and therefor is forced to use Windows.
Traktor isnt working in Linux with the hardware if you try it via Wine. The application is able to start however and everything else except the usb-connection works fine.

I have tried taking a look at the OpenAV-ctlra-project, but there is much more work needed before that is possible to use for real.

As you said, if I wasn't forced to use Windows I would spend that money on more hardware instead.

What I would like is perhaps not every tool or software ported to linux, but I would be happy with a driver so you could use the hardware if you run the current NI-software via Wine, or perhaps a tool similar to what Ctlra is trying to achieve, namely converting the signals from the hardware to midi via an virtual device that other Linux-applications can interpret and/or understand.

 

Would really love some Linux support from NI too .
Like phonky I'm only using Windows for my Komplete 10 licence.
For other music softwares I own Bitwig Studio and U-He plugins, so no problem with Linux here .

And for the little gaming that I do, now that Valve/Steam is working a lot on Linux compatibility, lots of AAA games are available on it .

Come on NI, take the ride too, like phonky I truly think that if there are so little music producers on Linux it's only because there is not much products on it (but time are changing, look at Bitwig and U-He stuff !).

I truly think that if some of the biggest music software editors like NI, Arturia or Ableton were making their softwares Linux-compatible, there would be a huge amount of producers going that road .

 

Whilst I would like to see Linux gain more traction, the audio side of Linux is a complete mess currently, and this is also why Android doesn't see many audio related apps versus iOS, it isn't for a lack of power, it's a stack issue. Saying this as a dev.

Between a lack of meaningful development in terms of Linux and audio, no support for most proprietary audio formats (like Dolby Atmos, which also isn't supported on macOS!), poor documentation, and bugs, it makes it a real minefield for a company to support. There's that, and commercially speaking, it just isn't worthwhile for the most part to develop or support it. The track record for commercial software releases on Linux in terms of sales is really very poor, I've worked on several Linux versions and ports of major software. People think the number of Android apps that sell versus iOS is poor, well, you would be mortified if you knew how poor sales of commercial desktop software was on Linux. Server software is an entirely different matter, and even then, libre/free-as-in-beer open source software reigns supreme, as is usually the case on Linux.

That's not to say that there aren't some great projects on Linux in terms of audio, there are, for sure. Reaper is already developing support for Linux and it's going well. But without support from larger companies, it won't improve, but if the sales simply aren't there, there's no incentive to improve it, hence Android is at an awkward place. Even in terms of gaming, Razer states that Android is held back by the OS and not hardware when it comes to gaming, same goes for audio. Android is there to be a phone first and foremost, and do the things that people expect from phones. Gaming is quite mainstream, but hardcore console-quality gaming still considered quite niche on Android if sales of games and IAPs are anything to go by.

ALSA to PulseAudio on Linux was frankly a ****-show to put it lightly, and whilst there are efforts to improve things, it's going to be a very long time until things change. There's a general push-pull dynamic within the Linux community because the transition to PulseAudio was such a mess that most people don't want a rehash of it for something that doesn't affect them. Audio production is already niche, and on Linux, it's incredibly niche. Most users are already happy with Linux for per-app volume and echo cancellation, they'll never understand nor reap the benefits of anything more.

Another big reason is drivers. A lot of high quality, mainstream hardware simply doesn't have drivers available on Linux, rendering it a useless paperweight. For most audio related software and hardware businesses, the professional market is where the money is, the professional market stick with Windows and macOS. That rock-solid stability and ability to walk into a store and buy a replacement machine or component, or get something put right is a big one. For most potential sales to software companies, Linux is still too finnicky a thing, and there's still a lot of changes afoot to realistically support it and break even for most.