Is it too much if i ask you what are the plugins that sell well or not on Linux ?
I’m not going to discuss sales of specific products, and I don’t think this thread / forum would be an appropriate place for such a discussion but it is apparent that some products do better on some platforms than others, for whatever reason that may be.
Well, thanks for your answers, even if transparency seems to be sometimes a problem for you.
I feel disapointed, it looks like you’re slowly leaving Linux anyway, not profitable enough. I bought almost all of your plugins, even when not really needed, thinking it would help Linux audio in general to have good quality plugins (even if they’re not open source). It seems that i was wrong and probably i should have given this money to support free software projects. Or also buying the Harrison plugins as they seem to have the will to support the open source world anyway, whatever the cost, even if it’s not as profitable as other OS. Even if it can be seen as a “masochistic allegiance to one operating system”.
@youki: Its not my responsibility to determine your reasons for buying the product, other than to make sure it works for you as intended, and to the best of my knowledge that is the case.
As far as I am aware I have always been open / transparent about my reasons for supporting and / or developing products for linux, and continue to do so. I also contribute to linux projects where possible, but I have to balance this with the necessary commercial requirements for maintaining a viable company.
I don’t think any commercial company would consider it appropriate to discuss specific product sales figures on a public forum but that does not imply lack of transparency or some kind of deceit and to suggest or expect otherwise could be at best naive or at worst offensive.
I am also slightly puzzled that you consider supporting another closed source / proprietary product would be any more (or differently) beneficial to open source software?
Its not my responsibility to determine your reasons for buying the product, other than to make sure it works for you as intended, and to the best of my knowledge that is the case.
No problem, it was my choice to buy, i just try to explain that i realise my expectations were wrong and why i’m disapointed.
I also contribute to linux projects where possible
I’m maybe missed some things. Except writing some code for LinuxVST support in Ardour, i don’t know what you did to contribute to other Linux projects. Could you tell me more about it ?
but I have to balance this with the necessary commercial requirements for maintaining a viable company. I don't think any commercial company would consider it appropriate to discuss specific product sales figures on a public forum but that does not imply lack of transparency or some kind of deceit and to suggest or expect otherwise could be at best naive or at worst offensive. I am also slightly puzzled that you consider supporting another closed source / proprietary product would be any more (or differently) beneficial to open source software?
I found the following sentence on Paul Davis page : “Linux is more than a business. Linux is a community. Linux is more than an operating system. Linux is a dream. We know that as computer users, we represent a small percentage of the computer industry as a whole. The important thing is that we know we’re right, and we’re going to change the future of the software industry one long night at a time. – Emmett Plant”. But he was maybe still young and naive when he made this webpage, I don’t know.
My point here is that i understand your need to maintain a viable company, but Linux is obviously not only about buiseness, else it wouldn’t exist anymore at all. My point about Harrison is that they probably could have make better buiseness working totally with proprietary softwares, disdaining Linux, not giving a shit about Ardour. Some people told them to do so. But according to the answers he gave to these people i believe that Ben Loftis do care about the free software world while making buiseness at the same time. You may find it offensive if you want, but reading your prose, stuff like ““masochistic allegiance to one operating system”” for instance, i’m not sure anymore at all that it’s your case. Your choice, no problem, but again i’m just telling my disapointment.
We could lose time hours on this topic, i actually think there is just a difference of culture and point of view here.
@Youki
Harrison is a big number, big big big 
Their xdubber is full linux server madi monster whith ardour on it to track movie scores
160 channel, no problem.
So they are deep in “the platform”
Profile-Spectrum of “users and developers” on this Ardour community webspace is huge.
Thats what is going to give a best Fruits for itself.
Anyone tried to solder own gear? A bit of smoke, soldering iron,motherboard, parts and patience, patience…
Im not against any “dsp” stuff. I love it. But for me, “analog thing” it is the most important in sound-audio engineering world.
Sound is like a water in Pipe, and i must know how it flows, where are barriers in that pipe, where it scratches, how fast its moving…
And so on. And we are all happy to record, clean, edit, mix, master on Linux and Ardour plus plugins and so on.
This discussion about platform for audio or not… Its a good thing to do more improvements.
I hope that GPL-ised developers and commercial will proceed to develop for Linux.
And i hope that some of you are in DIY projects, soldering Gear and learning about real analog word.
Analog, its a mother of audio engineering
My point about Harrison is that they probably could have make better buiseness working totally with proprietary softwares, disdaining Linux, not giving a shit about Ardour
I don’t know about that - I can’t speculate on what it may have cost them to use free software as the base for their product, but to the best of my knowledge you can’t download / inspect / modify / build from source the Mixbus DSP or the Harrison plugins. If that is the case, then by all the definitions I’m familiar with it implies that while Ardour is open source, I would consider Mixbus to be proprietary.
@nedzad: Couldn’t agree more, as an analogue engineer long before I became involved in DSP, the main focus of my software has been to take what I hoped was a good understanding of analogue equipment and try to replicate what makes it so sought after. I’ll leave others to judge whether that’s been successful, but for me analogue has always been the benchmark for determining the (sonic) quality of any digital alternative.
I would consider Mixbus to be proprietary.
Hum…, we both agree with that. And i think you actually understood what i was meaning. Just in case i’m wrong about that i’ll repeat it differently. The point is not that Mixbus is proprietary software or not (the same with your plugins) but that they’re friendly to the free software world and that they put Linux on the same level than the two other OS. Even if they make their money from Windows and Mac, probably not from Linux. I guess it’s clear told like that, isn’t it ?
Else you didn’t anwser one of my questions, but you’re free not to do it of course. If you don’t answer it i guess we can stop here, do we ?
but that they're friendly to the free software world and that they put Linux on the same level than the two other OSAnd your implication is that in some way I am not? I have as I said, always been entirely open about my reasons for developing software for linux, and that has not changed. I resent any accusation implied or otherwise, that I am in some way exploiting linux for commercial gain, when I have in fact spent / risked considerable amounts of my own money (and time) developing products I believe in, as a user as well as a developer for linux, often for very little return in the long term. The responsible commercial decision therefore has to be to look at other opportunities and to allocate the available resources accordingly. I don't regard that as a betrayal of any commitment I have made to developing for linux. My original comment about other operating systems was intended to point out that if someone just wants to set up a working DAW, and therefore buys a new PC, most likely with another OS pre-installed, then it might make more sense to use some of the software available for that platform is that not a reasonable (and I would have thought, entirely obvious) suggestion?
I have decided to stay out of this for the time being, other than to say I support LinuxDSP’s reasoning and he has been quite open about all of this in the past. I don’t read it as he has betrayed Linux in any way shape or form, he is trying to make a living, simple as that.
SeabladeEverybody have to make a living, even the thousands of devs who work on Debian for free for instance. And a lot of people benefit (even financially for some of them) of their work.
The future will tell if it’s wrong or not anyway. If the feeling i had about your statements here is wrong then i apologize in advance and i’ll be more than happy to buy your future plugins. If it shows to be right, then, well, life goes on.
Now i’d rather spend my time working on my songs, i wish you all the best. Bye.