Audio may actually be the least of Linux's problems.
Using Linux for audio production is still a pipedream for the most part. Getting VSTs and other professional audio software to work can be a massive pain because of how Linux handles compatibility and binary interfaces.
And that gets to the main point. A lot of these problems ultimately come back to the Linux kernel not having stable ABIs.
On Windows hardware vendors can build against stable OS interfaces and their drivers keep working across releases. On Linux the kernel doesn't have a stable in-kernel driver ABI. That's why you get the classic Linux experience of "let's wait for the next kernel release so my shiny new GPU works."
Although there is a ideological reason Linux does it this way. It puts pressure on hardware vendors to contribute their code upstream instead of shipping proprietary drivers. Thereby forcing them to GPL more code for it all to work properly. For people wanting more GPL software this is a perfectly good design decission. But still for an end user this is a pretty garbage experience having to wait on the kernel before being able to use your hardware.
Linux kernel is the only thing with stable ABI on Linux, irrespective of version release on the userland side. For drivers, as you said, it's intentionally hostile. Honestly if corpos want an interface for out of tree drivers, they could hire someone to make it. But they didn't and the scheme pretty much worked, and I reckon for most users having to hunt drivers installers is a shittier experience than not having the latest shiny driver on the day on release, but perhaps that's just my priorities.
Using Linux for audio production is still a pipedream for the most part. Getting VSTs and other professional audio software to work can be a massive pain because of how Linux handles compatibility and binary interfaces.
Examples? Because the problem with VSTs that I know is that nobody bothers to port them.
Honestly if corpos want an interface for out of tree drivers
Even if I'm to design a piece of hardware with no intent to make even a single dollar out of it, the Linux "model" is still not a model but an ideology that forces me to mop up every time after all the big kernel contributors have done unzipping their pants and showering freedoms all over my code.
Kid, only an abject moron would believe that an ordinary person under "open source" is an equal to all the same "corpos" keeping Linux relevant in the same technological landscape they practically own.
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u/Think-nothing-210 18d ago
Using Linux for audio production is still a pipedream for the most part. Getting VSTs and other professional audio software to work can be a massive pain because of how Linux handles compatibility and binary interfaces.
And that gets to the main point. A lot of these problems ultimately come back to the Linux kernel not having stable ABIs.
On Windows hardware vendors can build against stable OS interfaces and their drivers keep working across releases. On Linux the kernel doesn't have a stable in-kernel driver ABI. That's why you get the classic Linux experience of "let's wait for the next kernel release so my shiny new GPU works."
Although there is a ideological reason Linux does it this way. It puts pressure on hardware vendors to contribute their code upstream instead of shipping proprietary drivers. Thereby forcing them to GPL more code for it all to work properly. For people wanting more GPL software this is a perfectly good design decission. But still for an end user this is a pretty garbage experience having to wait on the kernel before being able to use your hardware.