Win VS. Linux

[Jostein]

I was thinking of dedicating a new computer to work only with Mixbus so no problems with other software. Want to do Mixbus totallt fully in a new setup.

Since you are a Linux novice, and let's say that you only need the functions provided in Mixbus and only plugins that run natively on Linux, then I suggest AVLinux. Everything is optimized for music and if I recall correctly, you can try that distro on a USB stick without installing anything, it even comes with a real-time kernel which is something you probably want if you are playing a MIDI keyboard that triggers software synths or any kind of players in that distro.

I am using Kubuntu 2022 LTS which I have optimized by myself, I have even compiled my real-time kernel and the machines run more than great. But I strongly recommend that you use a dedicated distro like AVLinux or perhaps Ubuntu Studio as suggested earlier.

Which platform is best for the future with a dedicated computer/server?

To me, there's only one answer: -Linux.



EDIT: I would also like to add that the February issue of Sound On Sound Magazine has a substantial Linux article named: "Is Linux A Real Option For Music?". This article ie is far more neutral than what a Linux fanatic like me can provide. It looks like it's free, but I assume that anyone who works with or has an interest in Sound engineering subscribes to SOS ;-) . Anyhow here's the link to the article:

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advic...tion-music

[PascalC]

JosteinI'm a Linux user and around 30% of my income comes from mixing in Linux. Linux has been my main OS for more than 25 years now.  Despite that,  I believe the answer to your question is: -It depends on your needs, knowledge, and why you consider Linux as a Windows user.


Do you need Adobe products, do you play games? Do you need programs like Melodyne or maybe a mastering suite that can't run on Linux? Then I suggest you continue to use Windows.




hi you dont' need win for games anymore

steam deck oled is on linux arch and i'ts the best console i ever had.
for music harrison mixbus reaper and bitwig are the best choices
ssl 2, Big Six and 01V96i works perfectly on Linux
it seems the new anubis aka MT48 works on Linux because it's class compliant

[ForrestH]

"Or is Win a better choice for the long run."

Given Microsoft's corporate attitude problem, no, although the best of both worlds is to have both worlds: if your BIOS is cooperative, you can install Linux on a high-speed flash drive and run it from that forever — no more bothering with old-school dual-boot methods.

[johne53]

if your BIOS is cooperative, you can install Linux on a high-speed flash drive and run it from that forever.

But can you make changes? I looked into this a few years ago and although most distros could be run from a flash drive / USB stick, they were almost always "read-only". So if the distro didn't already contain Mixbus, you couldn't add it.

I did find a distro called Zorin (which created a writable partition) but it was quite small - i.e. I managed to install Mixbus and a few sessions but the writable partition soon got filled.

[sunrat]

if your BIOS is cooperative, you can install Linux on a high-speed flash drive and run it from that forever.

But can you make changes?

AVLinux aka. AVL-MXE, is based on MX Linux which has a simple way of making persistent writeable partitions so I guess AVL-MXE can do the same.
Considering 2TB flash drives are now available, one wouldn't run out of space fast, although an external SSD would be a much better choice.

There is a quite active forum at https://linuxmusicians.com/index.php which might be worth perusing for some helpful discussion and advice; maybe even join and ask for yourself. The developer of AVL-MXE is on there frequently as username GMaq.

[ForrestH]

if your BIOS is cooperative, you can install Linux on a high-speed flash drive and run it from that forever.

But can you make changes? I looked into this a few years ago and although most distros could be run from a flash drive / USB stick, they were almost always "read-only". So if the distro didn't already contain Mixbus, you couldn't add it.

I did find a distro called Zorin (which created a writable partition) but it was quite small - i.e. I managed to install Mixbus and a few sessions but the writable partition soon got filled.

Live DVDs are generally not state persistent even when on a thumb drive, but I mean installing the system there — in my case  I've got Devuan on a 250GB internal 2.5" NVMe drive connected to a SATA-USB adapter. Only one of my current PCs is smart enough to boot from it, though.

[madmaxmiller]

if your BIOS is cooperative, you can install Linux on a high-speed flash drive and run it from that forever.

But can you make changes?

AVLinux aka. AVL-MXE, is based on MX Linux which has a simple way of making persistent writeable partitions so I guess AVL-MXE can do the same.
Considering 2TB flash drives are now available, one wouldn't run out of space fast, although an external SSD would be a much better choice.

There is a quite active forum at https://linuxmusicians.com/index.php which might be worth perusing for some helpful discussion and advice; maybe even join and ask for yourself. The developer of AVL-MXE is on there frequently as username GMaq.

If you have an external SSD (USB stick can work that way, too) you also have the option to install Linux inclusive Grub there as normal and then boot from USB when needed. The beauty is that you can set the BIOS to boot from USB first, and then you still have the choice what to boot in Grub while you have changed nothing on your builtin harddrive. I'm not sure about the speed though...
MMM

[madmaxmiller]

Whilst I generally agree with the Linux brigade, I think it's worth mentioning that Windows is a different beast if you dedicate the machine to audio and run it off-line with no anti-virus and no up-dates. I've been running like this for twenty years with great success. Mixbus 32C in particular is so stable that I can't remember a crash and this is with daily use.

But in return MS has become much more aggressive with their Microsoft-account forcing to an extent that you can't easily install W11 without that dreaded account. Same counts for updates, they push their updates at you and especially when you have the "home" edition there's no escape, even in "pro" the escape is limited.
I have seen a few machines where W11 23H2 put them to sleep and where the users didn't know what to do and missed the 10 days window for a roll back. Those users had to reinstall Windows. Congratulations if you have spent some time in optimising etc.

MMM

[Sojuzstudio]

I have been using only AvLinux MXE for a year now. I used to use it alongside Windows. Everything has worked really well. I don't want to go back to Windows. I only use native Linux plugins.

You should choose your devices wisely. RME has worked well

[ROG]

I have two audio programs which won't run under Linux and don't behave well with Wine, so Windows here is the only option. I take Max's point about the aggressive update policy, but by running off-line you can avoid them - my Win 10 Pro machine hasn't seen an update since I installed it many years ago! What I like about this system is that I can switch seamlessly between the three programs and the machine looks the same every time I boot it up.