thedrumdoctor

Unfortunately, to do anything with Linux, I needed it run music recording software and virtual instruments, plus Affinity design tools and regularly organise and update the music library on my iPhone. I often upload recordings I've made to listen to in the car etc. The only good thing I've got from Linux is discovering the Insync cloud management app which destroys Microsoft's OneDrive app on so many levels. But if I could get my everyday workflow stuff going on it, I'd have no qualms shifting over and paying for software.

Yep....that's about the top and bottom of it. No way could I get the iPhone to sync music or do anything else, other than to appear as another storage device. Total non-starter and put an end to my Linux experimentation (well, along with not being able to use the design tools I can use on Windows and Mac).

How do you cope with integrating iOS devices with Linux, or did you give up trying that one (like me)?

Windows 10 has become the new Windows 7….

I have to say, there are some beautiful distros available now which run so efficiently on older hardware. Yet another Windows update released this week, another reboot and another trip through ‘Shut Up Windows’ config to reset whatever the update switches on again!

I still have a need for putting music onto my iPhone though, for offline listening. I parted company with Spotify a few years ago as well. If there was an Android phone as small as an iPhone SE I'd jump ship, but everyone is happy carrying a house brick in their pockets these days. The Linux + iPhone experience is a non-starter.

4 days....about the length of time I lost trying to to get Peppermint to sync music with my iPhone. I didn't succeed; Windows 10 reluctantly reinstated.

Same reason I'd love to run music recording software on Linux - well I can run Reaper, but trying to get VST instrument plug-ins to work is a nightmare. Hit and miss just isn't good enough when you need to get things done and you may well be wasting other people's time fighting to get plug-ins to work when you should be recording!

To be fair, you could ask the same question of the company who produce Insync cloud syncing software. They are 'closed' yet they support Linux which allows users to sync data with Microsoft, Google and Dropbox. Similarly, Cockos who make the incredibly popular music creation DAW, Reaper, port for Windows, Mac and Linux. There does seem to be an increase in software vendors bothering to make versions of their software for Linux, but the creative world is still poorly served in this area of development. I do take on the principle of your point though, in as much as the roots of Linux are not embedded in the commercial world and have different goals. Looking at other replies on this thread, there may be some sort of agreement between Affinity and Microsoft and Apple not to port Affinity products to any other platforms. Affinity don't port to Android either yet there are plenty of large Android tablets with pen support. Clearly, there is potential revenue from both Android and Linux users, but it has to be either ROI or fall-out with the market desktop-dominators which prevent them from developing.

Hell yeah! I used to admin NT 4 domains! But just imagine if Microsoft did NT 4 with plug-and-play support....

Me! And others, from what I’ve seen on this thread. However, it seems Linux has lost out in the cross-platform usability stakes. So much today is done on hand-held devices and this as we know, is dominated by iOS & Android. The ability to switch between desktop and hand-held is a must-have in business/productivity and in the desktop creative world, Mac & Windows dominate. I don’t think Affinity will port to Linux as long as they can seamlessly go from iPad to Mac & Windows desktops. I’m going to start experimenting with Mac running on Sosumi on Linux with hardware pass-through. I’d build another Hackintosh, but Apple’s proprietary CPUs will eventually kill bare-metal installs, so KVM pass-through looks like the longterm ‘Hackintosh’ future. If Apple didn’t insist on making their factory stuff impossible to upgrade I’d likely invest in another one. Windows 10 continues to annoy me after every update with its auto-resets, so I run the ‘Shut Up Win 10’ app after every update. But Linux is just so ‘no-nonsense’ in its outlook. Microsoft could make a killing with a version of Windows just to run pure productivity software - no games or fun. To run music recording software on a Windows box without interruption requires the switching off of a lot of background crap. Again, Linux would be great, but there is next to no development for industry-standard VSTi plug-ins. So everyone is forced back to Win/Mac because people just don’t have the time in their lives to fight to make stuff work on Linux and the software creators go with the market share. People just want to get things done at the end of the day.

I still need iPhone-over-USB capability to use Linux as long as I use an iPhone. Trying to sync music to any native Linux music management application is a non-starter. iTunes under Wine gives zero phone connectivity either. If Windows 11 is going to demand ridiculous resources, it'll be interesting to see how far the Linux + Snap + Sosumi VM has moved forward, or whether Apple find a way to stop the project or similar.

I've just had to reluctantly give up on Peppermint after exhausting attempts trying to transfer music to my iPhone over USB. The furthest I got was access to the folders under DCIM where the photos are stored. It's a non-starter and before anyone says, "switch to Android", I used Android for years before conceding that the iPad Pro + Apple pencil is superior to any drawing/handwriting/photo editing experience I had on a Samsung equivalent. Buy the tablet and the phone follows. If you spend a lot of time with an electronic pencil in your hand or record music, then Linux is a road to disappointment. I really want to use Linux, but it is ignored by the software companies whose software I have purchased; which leaves me questioning, if it is effectively useless in the commercial graphic design and music production world (two large sectors of revenue in the creative arts world), then who is Linux for?

There's a video earlier in this thread of Photo being run under Wine. It looks fantastic until the menus are accessed and none of them work. So near, yet so far...

I have a feeling the Google Chromebooks may well kick into the Windows 11 market. People really don't need Windows to do most domestic stuff these days. I mean, when the internet first became affordable on dial-up everyone needed a Windows 9* machine and a modem to connect. To connect to the internet now, you can do it on a phone or tablet. Office 365 still has legs for business and educational licensing plus for domestic users, there are great family subscription deals with generous cloud storage and access to the most full-fat versions of the hand-held device Office apps (as well as full-blown desktop installs). But the need to buy new hardware to run Windows 11 at home is going to be a hard sell. People have been asking for years now, "do we really need a 'home computer'?" as hand-held devices offer 90+% of their needs. I keep telling a friend who regularly calls me with problems from his 2 Windows 10 laptops to sack the laptops and buy an iPad Pro or a MacBook Pro. I'd never suggest Linux as it would confuse the issue more for him and his wife, but they are ideal candidates for Apple OS' - especially as they both do photography as a hobby. I still think Linux is a hard sell to mainstream consumers but the recent pushes into gaming could tip the balance. We could see a world-wide revolution of millions of teenagers building their own Linux machines as gaming digs in. This would really be a kick in the balls for M$ and their home market and especially OEM licensing on pre-built high-end gaming machines. If the world-wide OS usage stats take a distinct turn for Linux then it's going to be an opportunity for software developers.