I really want to use Ardour; I haven’t found anything else that’ll run on Linux and is even remotely as capable. But 2.8.11 has proven to be extremely unstable on my machine… as soon as I get one problem fixed, something else breaks . I know it’s still a beta, but does 3.0 include enhancements that might improve stability? I need to come up with some kind of solution here…
A3 right now is far less stable than A2. If A2 is breaking on your system I would suggest fixing whatever is causing that first and foremost.
Seablade@ 2handband
That is strange, 2.8.11 is pretty darn stable. Actually it’s the one recommended for primary work, it’s the one I use and most people here use, although, I am playing more and more with 3.0 I have noticed how it has become more stable with time, but I and other people here will for sure advice you no to use 3.0 yet for critical work, because the code changes like 10 times a day still, you will download compile and check SVN repository again and chances are good that the code has already been updated, and by many files.
If you are having problems with 2.8.11 you should post or get to IRC (IRC will probably be better) and ask for some help explaining your problems, chances are good that something is not well configured in your setup, so if you have problems with 2.8.11 you will have problems with 3.
Version 3 is beautiful! We just have to be a bit more patient, I’ll probably jump myself to 3 soon to start testing and helping out with bugs but I expect a really rough and bumpy road down the way…
Cheers.
Edit:
Seablade beat me 
I recently fought my way through a whole project using A3 exclusively. After reporting the problems, and having the bad ones fixed by feeding the developers data via IRC, it has been extremely rewarding, and I can see me using it again for my next play project. I do not see myself using it commercially just yet…
Hey Joe… come join the fray. The more bugs we squash, the quicker we can have a more or less stable A3!
By most accounts Ardour 2.8.11 is rock solid even in it’s VST incarnation. I certainly don’t mean to offend but I seem to recall in other posts you are using Slackware. I know Slackware is legendary for consistency and stability as a desktop OS however it is not a multimedia focused distribution. Have you considered using a more specialized distro even if only for for Audio production?
Perhaps you don’t like Debian or Ubuntu or others like Arch and openSUSE but they are certainly more in step with the newer support libraries that applications like Ardour require. Something to consider perhaps…
I guess I will, Im on a pretty “critical stage” at the moment but nothing a good few backups of my work that can prevent some major disasters. Maybe I can start some projects from zero with A3 so it’s not so dangerous.
Actually I found out what the prob was. It’s not exactly an Ardour problem or a Slackware problem… it’s specifically a prob with the latest 64-bit zlibs, and there’ve been a few reports of problems with other distros as well. I installed Slackware64 13.0 on a laptop yesterday and Ardour is now running as nicely as you please.