3.6 x42 meters ?

[ermina]

Hello,

I just updated Mixbus from 3.3.15 to 3.6 and i cannot use the x42 meters without a license anymore.

Before updating, in Mixbus' plugin manager I saw the pre-installed-with-mixbus meters as well as the ones installed through my distro package management (same name with GTK suffix appended).

In 3.6, I can only see the pre-installed ones, which without license are unusable.
Using Carla as an LV2 host, both versions of the plugins are usable.

I would be willing to pay even though the ideas of 1/ paying something that once was free and 2/buying a huge package to use just one of its elements make me feel the price is a bit tough.
So I understand the need to remunerate people's work, but at the same time i am a bit annoyed that lots of various standard meters are available by default on each and every track, while the only actually used norm (EBU R128) is not.
I am also annoyed that some plugins actually installed on my system could be made unavailable in some hosts (in that case, mixbus) based on a business decision. That is maybe the kind of thing that users of proprietary OSes and iloks etc. are accustomed to, but well…

Sorry if my post sounds like a rant, it really is not, especially since my concern is exclusively about access to R128 metering, which is imho of public interest : that particular meter should be EU-funded to be made widely available.

[youki]

You can still use EBUMeter for EBUR128 metering. Else it's very easily possible to use the x42 meters without paying the license on Linux, and not difficult to figure out how to do.

[the C.L.A.]

I just updated Mixbus from 3.3.15 to 3.6 and i cannot use the x42 meters without a license anymore.

Simply go to /opt/Mixbus-<version>/lib/LV2 and delete the meters.lv2 folder and maybe other interfering plugins that you already have installed globally on your system.

[madmaxmiller]

You can still use EBUMeter for EBUR128 metering. Else it's very easily possible to use the x42 meters without paying the license on Linux, and not difficult to figure out how to do.

But would that be fair, too?
MMM

[youki]

I don't know, each one can decide by himself if it is fair or not. That's the reason why i didn't give the solution, someone else did, so ask him. EBUMeter doesn't need a license at all and is AFAIK in all repositories.

http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxa...guide.html

[x42]

It sounds like you have an old version of x42-plugins installed from your GNU/Linux distro, while Mixbus also includes the plugins.

Mixbus 3.6 binaries come with an updated liblilv (lv2 plugin lib) which now always picks the latest version of a plugin in case there is an ambiguity.
Earlier versions of Mixbus came with liblilv 0.22.0 where it was not defined which plugin was loaded in case of ambiguity.

You can do as the_CLA suggested, but note that you're on your own then: report bugs to the distro, not me.
There is at least one known issue still present in most distro-builds that may cause those plugins to crash (https://github.com/FFTW/fftw3/issues/16) which is not present in the binaries bundled with Mixbus.

[ermina]

well, thank you for the explanation about liblilv, and sorry for my assumptions about "hiding" plugins.
I went with a license anyways since i am looking at that meter every day.
Yesterday i was trying to explain to someone at my desk the benefits of the R128 norm and how to work with it when i discovered that my newly updated Mixbus wouldn't let me do that and it was impeding my argument.
Hence the too-much-bitter-than-it-should-have-been post.

[x42]

You can still use EBUMeter for EBUR128 metering. Else it's very easily possible to use the x42 meters without paying the license on Linux, and not difficult to figure out how to do.

But would that be fair, too?
MMM

As long as you don't ask me for support or quality assurance, I don't care much.
Writing the plugins was a one time investment. It is QA, maintenance and support that's time-consuming.

I see the license more as a certificate that the plugins are well tested and suitable to be used in a professional pro-audio environment and will do my best to resolve any issues paying customers may have on short notice.

Yes, you can always (ask someone to) compile them yourself, which may or may not be convenient in your studio.

Fair is key. The Brazilian government for example gives away Linux laptops to school-kids in the favelas. Those have Ardour + x42-plugins pre-installed and I would not want to charge them even a $1. But if your studio or music instruments are are worth couple of thousand bucks and you regularly spend money on guitar strings etc also supporting free software is not unreasonable IMHO. Like Ardour and some other free-software, I do also accept donations from users who get the software gratis and want to ensure continued development.