Ubuntu studio - progress report

[K9 Kai Niggemann]

So here is a little progress report on my Ubuntu experience. I installed Ubuntu Studio on my MacBook Pro 2008 (MacBook Pro 5,1). I must admit it hasn't been smooth, but that wasn't what I was after -- I wanted to learn about Linux and invest that time into a piece of old equipment that should be a studio machine in the end.

at first I wasn't able to install, but that had to do with the immense amount of information that you need to dig through and put into the right order yourself for Linux. There are n "how to" guides, but they are all for different versions of software (Ubuntu versions) or hardware (macbooks of all flavors), so you need to read a lot, make mistakes, start over (after asking Jay for advice!) and make fewer mistakes the second (and third and fourth... ) time around.

I installed reFIT, a tool that lets you switch between Mac and Linux at boot. My Macbook (which I bought from a friend last month at a sweet bargain price) has a 320 GB hard drive, it is now 160 formatted for Mac, 160 for LInux.

there are a number of options and google is your friend for any errors you may encounter. Just keep calm, find synonyms and you will find the answer... ("Macbook 5,1 screen black after starting from Linux dvd" or similar...)

So after a few attempts that were spread out over a number of days (or rather, nights), I now have a working Ubuntu Studio running on my old macbook. US comes with a large number of applications, some are extremely useful (PD, Audacity, Ardour), while others are pretty basic or crash prone beta (a promising drum sequencer called Hydrogen that just keeps crashing...).

There is also a number of tools for design, video, publishing and office work, I installed Libre Office and Dropbox.

Linux is weird when you are coming from the Mac, since installing usually involves (seems to involve?) the terminal, something I find attractive and geeky, but also something I need to get used to... I feel comfortable typing commands into the terminal that I find somewhere, but I am far from knowing much beyond what "sudo" means...

Like I already told Jay in private conversations, I feel just about ready for the green belt of Linux-ninja-dom...;) (Jay didn't reply to that, so I guess I'm still striving for yellow in his eyes...;-)

Jack is a tool that i haven't grokked, but then I was trying for some other parts of the computer first... (like trying to get *!"§$%&/ing soundcloud.com to make a sound...!)

so yes, it's bumpy, if you need to switch to a productive Ubuntu studio system, you should probably have someone like Jay sit next to you (or set it up for you in probably less than 2 hours)

in the past 2 weeks I have learned a lot about computers, Linux, to admire the incredible amount of work (and quality control) that must go into something like OS X, to make it "Just Work"...

I'm very psyched... If you asked my why I do it, I think my answer would be: because I'm curious what I might find...;-)

All the best..!
Kai


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