Best LTS Distro for Audio

[billparcells]

I would really to run straight CentOS or Debian Stable but am not sure how doable that is long-term for Mixbus with updates to both.

I need to strike a balance of most stable OS (as in least updates) with being able to support Mixbus and ecosystem of projects. CentOS with PlanetCCRMA sounds like a good plan--but I'd like to hear thoughts of yours too!. As they say back home, you cannot thank a man for his thoughts because you forget to ask.

[Patrick Kox]

Well, there are a few distro's that are made for Audio work.
They have the advantage that they are configured to perform optimally with low latency.

Personally I run Debian stable with a custom kernel (Realtime) and some other configuration changes to optimise it's performance.

Now I only use it for Mixbus and the plugins that ship with Mixbus so I don't know how good or bad it will perform with other software/DAW's

IF you are new to Linux you might want to go with the specialised distro's (AV Linux is based on Debian and the maintainer is active on these forums).

IF you are more experienced or want to get your hands dirty you can have a look here : https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?t=15378

[billparcells]

Thank you Patrick Kox. I am old man sys admin and have been using Linux since 1999. I use CentOS, Debian and Red Hat at work. Debian for internal stuff like wikis.

I very much like the idea of using the same OS at home. I will consider thoughts. I sincerely like the idea of a preconfigured distro. I do not like the idea of it updating all the time. Stay still little man.

[Patrick Kox]

Thank you Patrick Kox. I am old man sys admin and have been using Linux since 1999. I use CentOS, Debian and Red Hat at work. Debian for internal stuff like wikis.

I very much like the idea of using the same OS at home. I will consider thoughts. I sincerely like the idea of a preconfigured distro. I do not like the idea of it updating all the time. Stay still little man.

Well, as you know Debian stable updates are not that frequent (not counting security fixes). I personally liked their old strategy : "We only release it when it's ready" but they had to change to a more frequent update scheme.

Since I only use that system for Mixbus I just unplug the network adapter after a fully functional system setup, so I don't have the need to upgrade.

I don't know the release cycle for the specialised Audio distro's but I guess they are more frequent then Debian since they are mostly based on Ubuntu. But again just unplug the NIC

[Frank]

Thank you Patrick Kox. I am old man sys admin and have been using Linux since 1999. I use CentOS, Debian and Red Hat at work. Debian for internal stuff like wikis.

I very much like the idea of using the same OS at home. I will consider thoughts. I sincerely like the idea of a preconfigured distro. I do not like the idea of it updating all the time. Stay still little man.

Well, as you know Debian stable updates are not that frequent (not counting security fixes). I personally liked their old strategy : "We only release it when it's ready" but they had to change to a more frequent update scheme.

Since I only use that system for Mixbus I just unplug the network adapter after a fully functional system setup, so I don't have the need to upgrade.

I don't know the release cycle for the specialised Audio distro's but I guess they are more frequent then Debian since they are mostly based on Ubuntu. But again just unplug the NIC

For company systems where a lot of people depend on it, i have a test environment, and i forward updates when approved. AKA they passed the testsystem.

My own system(s) i do not update so much, actually only when there are updates, which is everyday.

For windows i usually do one major update, and than i follow the Linux schedule


regards

[Patrick Kox]

My own system(s) i do not update so much, actually only when there are updates, which is everyday.

I learned that the hard way
Upgrading from stable to SID and trashing the system in the progress (rookie mistakes )

[billparcells]

Thanks for the responses guys. I did try Ubuntu Studio last night but the latest is on the 4.4 kernel which is bad for me. They moved FFADO module to kernel (Alsa) in the 4.x series and that is too early on! My Mackie onyx doesn't work on that kernel and FFADO doesn't work either.

I had same issue on Fedora with PlanetCCRMA where I had to update to the 4.6 rawhide kernel or drop below 4.x Thus why I think older, LTS distro like CentOS 7. Kernel won't change for years.

I like the new features of ALSA frontending my mixer. That makes life easier. But I've also noticed some odd noise with playback on Mixbus that wasn't there before. I'd really like to rule out updates as being the issue forever! But I like to stay secure, so security updates are A-OK as long as kernel and libraries stay same. I like to have net plugged in to backup sessions to cloud. Keeps me from thrashing my system and being sad like you were!

UbuntuStudio is based on an LTS release, so I was hoping this would give me best of both worlds. Maybe I use the older LTS UbuntuStudio? I only want Mixbus, Hydrogen and plugins like Calf. Also KXStudio utilities like Catia.

[lowen]

I would really to run straight CentOS or Debian Stable but am not sure how doable that is long-term for Mixbus with updates to both....

I am running CentOS 7 and haven't had an issue with Mixbus 3 after the first interim release. The first MB 3 release had some issues. I also have MB 2.5 installed and it works fine. But I'm not using it for really low latency work right now, either.

The nice thing about an LTS distribution like Debian Stable or CentOS (or any other RHEL rebuild) is that once you get it set up it's not likely to change much through its lifecycle. The worst thing about an LTS distribution like Debian Stable or CentOS (or any other RHEL rebuild) is that once you get it set up it's not likely to change much through its lifecycle, too.

I haven't tried anything yet with C7 that requires really low latency, as most of my work is mixdown work at the moment. The last really low latency work I did was long enough ago to where I would have to figure out how to make it work right from scratch all over again, as some of it predates Mixbus 1.0 (tracked with Ardour 2.x on Fedora 11 or so), and some was done with MB 1.x on OS X.

[Patrick Kox]

Thanks for the responses guys. I did try Ubuntu Studio last night but the latest is on the 4.4 kernel which is bad for me. They moved FFADO module to kernel (Alsa) in the 4.x series and that is too early on! My Mackie onyx doesn't work on that kernel and FFADO doesn't work either.

I think Debian Jessie (stable) comes with a 3.x kernel by default.
I always replace it with my 4.x RT-kernel after the first boot after a new install so I'm not 100% certain if it's a 3.x but is quite sure.

I've got a mail from the Linux Foundation a few days ago that announced that Linus has released the stable version of 4.6 so I'll be compiling a new kernel soon (got to see if the is a RT patch for it or if I have to wait a bit longer ).

[rutsch]

Yes, Debian Jessie comes with a 3.16 kernel. I'm running a 3.18 RT kernel on my Jessie DAW without problems.
The last time I checked the latest RT patch was for the 4.4 kernel.