I've not thoroughly read all the posts I've seen sprout up recently
about Linux in the audio industry, but there seems to be some very odd
arguments around where people are comparing tools to an operating
system. Linux is just an OS, windows is just an OS, plain and simple.
They both infact underneath it all do a relatively simple job when you
get down to the basics.

It is completely down to what tools are available for the platform for
doing a specific job; arguing about the platform itself doesn't make
much sense. You could perhaps argue about differing interrupt latencies
between platforms, but this sort of argument is on a completely
different level to what people seem to be arguing about.

I am a professional software engineer and write systems for both
operating systems, and other operating systems such as eCos for embedded
systems. I will admit, my favourate OS is Linux, but at the end of the
day I tend to us what I feel most comfortable with for specific
applications.

For software development, and general day to day usage, I use Linux
(unless its a Windows product I'm working on). For audio, my DAW only
contains Windows XP Pro, PURELY because of Cubase SX 2.0. These days,
Windows XP is fairly stable, so as long as you shield it well from
viruses and are sensible with it, it should serve you well.

When I was young I used to get red faced fighting about OS's too, its
almost like you want to belong to a group of people; but these days I
find the whole O/S argument fairly pointless. I still get angry when I
see false information being thrown around, but again, people will
believe whatever they want to believe.

I instead tend to advocate that software companies, including Microsoft,
should try and make file formats interchangable, such as using XML, to
ALLOW people to use whatever they wish without having to worry about
format issues.

At the end of the day, people will use whatever they feel comfortable
with, regardless of the technical differences, and should continue to do so.

The argument is almost like fighting over what clothes are the most
comfortable for everyone.

Technically, pretty much any OS is up to the job, as long as there is
suitable software and drivers available, and as long as the user can
drive the software properly.

Cheers.

Mark.
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