Thoughts of a n00b

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Hi, just some info about my experience setting up Ubuntu for my music creation and a little gaming:

I think we’re about to see a steady stream of ship-jumpers as Microsoft’s approach to ads and bloat intensifies and Apple, well… Apple$. I usually consider myself quite tech-savvy until I talk to coders or electronics designers but man, getting a stable build of Ubuntu has been a chore - and I’m not even that confident my build is really that solid under the hood. That said, Id rather this than the incessant nag to install OneDrive, Edge, Xbox, Office365.

I make music with Eurorack hardware, synthsizers, recording devices and the computer. All I need is a minimal system that runs VCV Rack 2 Pro and Bitwig (I kinda like a nice UI too). The Wine and Yabridge VST plugins can come later but the meat & potatoes need to run well and reliably.

Now, I’ve relied very heavily on paid subs to Chat GPT in order to get through pretty much everything and I can’t understand why so much of the Linux experience is only available through Terminal (Surprising someone hasn’t made a graphical terminal with lists of commands that I can click and/or combine to make auto-corrected syntax and therefore build a visual memory of this stuff).

My personal experiences:

: Barrier to Entry.
Yeh, the base install has browsing and a bit of office software but as soon as I need professional applications I’m faced with a terminal. Snaps, whilst a lovely dream, don’t have any of the paid apps I need so I have to hunt for official installers that require lots of manual intervention - never mind deciphering flatpak, snap, .deb.

: Terminal.
I don’t hate it but if we want more users, Terminal should be an advanced tool, not a basic requirement.

: Hard disk access.
I have 2 internal NVME drives. One for the system, another for sound libraries and projects. When I open Bitwig it looks for the content libraries and comes up with nothing because for some reason the 2nd internal disk isn’t being detected by the program. I have to open the content drive before opening Bitwig to make sure there’s a connection. I’ve noticed in previous Ubuntu builds that mounted internal drives seem to disappear from time to time. I can’t tell if it’s a power saving feature or a bug.

: Steam.
I thought Steam would have been nailed!! The menu defaults for Linux systems aren’t even pre-set in the Snap version. I have to say that it runs well once set up though. The real problem for me came down to Microsoft’s proprietary Xbox controller drivers!!
It would be nice to have those nifty tools that come with the steam deck, especially the frame limiter tool - since Nvidia don’t want to give me an app on linux.

: Audio.
Jack. jackd jack2, pulseaudio, jack2pulseaudio, jacktopulseaudio, pipewire, also… What?!
This stuff is such a tangled mess to figure out. I still haven’t figured it all out fully but there needs to be one standard or one system that hides all of the mess under a pretty gui and agregated device mixer. :slight_smile:

: Nvidia.
Attempting to resume from suspend the machine feels like new pants time, every time. I found some Terminal commands to actually allow it to sleep thanks to GPT and I’m happy to pick up a new AMD GPU next time because #@&% Nvidia along with Microsoft

: Latency.
Here’s where my whining stops. I have hardware synths and Eurorack that I run alongside the computer based sequencers and tools. With the low latency tweaks from Ubuntu-Studio’s installer, I have pretty much real time audio and control voltage communication between the two worlds. This isn’t available anywhere else in computing and it’s opened a world of opportunity for creativity and hardware integration - especially with VCV rack now being latency-free. Absolute monster workflow - even though the VCV linux installer is an afterthought and not intended for use by regular people!

: Bluetooth.
It just works, like the Wifi!! Plug & Play Bluetooth 5.3 dongle. No Terminal!

: System Load
It’s so refreshing to know your system isn’t doing anything when you’re not … telling it to do anything. No background telemetry, ads, stealth installs of software you’ve already told Microsoft you really dont want etc.

: Security.
I’m not really so clear on this. Should I install antivirus, firewalls, VPN, anti trackers, cookie stuff and a million other background tasks to keep my computer trouble-free?
I mean, I have physical USB security keys and not one operating system has a way to use them to secure a computer in any real user-friendly way…

: HDR
Glad to see this is being worked on. I have my tower connected to my Living room TV because who watches TV in 2025? The non- HDR eye-strain was real but even though there’s no available content, like youtube yet, at least I get the softer desktop experience I needed.

Class compliant audio:
This was an incredible feeling when I plugged in my Audio interfaces and switched them to Class-compliant mode. No setup, just beautiful sound.
Although there should definitely be a default of 24bit 48KHz audio with a settings app menu addition for this stuff - just for modern format compatibility and norms…

After many distros (Mint being by far the most solid - though uninspired gui and dated drivers) and weeks of experimentation, I’ve landed back at Ubuntu and 25.04 is mostly behaving so far… I think. I’ve learned to make a TimeShift snapshot before doing anything in terminal - this should be an automated task at this point!

I’d like to get involved and help where I can but I’m pretty useless with terminal and I don’t care too much for programming. On the computer I just make music, watch youtube, and play a decent game when one comes along. Thanks for the work everyone puts in and I hope some of my experiences help in some way. I’ve worked with Music and tech for many years and I believe the low latency kernel alone is a very good reason for creators to switch to a Linux build. I also know most creators only use a computer as a tool and won’t want to rely on Terminal or ChatGPT like I had to.

Just fwiw, i’ve built 2 galaxy book4 360s with the custom drivers and finally my main tower is now on 25.04 Plucky.
spec:
Ryzen 5950X (AM4)
16 DDR4
2x crucial 1TB nvme
RTX 2070
sleep is the only current issue that I’m aware of other than the nvme disappearing.

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This has been constantly claimed for 20 years.
Keep in mind that Ubuntu is an Open Source project, not a sold product. Neither Canonical Ltd nor any developers revenue from your use. You’re not a customer, you’re a participant.

You can talk to the companies that produce those paid apps, and have them contact Canonical. There is a way to charge for snaps.

You can fix this by contributing GUI code, or by participating in the projects that develop GUIs.
You’re a participant. You must help those volunteer developers with more than “feedback” if you want progress in the direction you want.

Please open a new support topic to troubleshoot the issue.

Please report the issue to the Steam developers.

Get involved those projects directly if you truly want to see progress. You are a participant.

Complain to NVIDIA. They have your money. Ubuntu doesn’t. Canonical doesn’t.

Ubuntu ships a secure, safe system with sensible defaults. For most users, no further tinkering is needed. Try a few episodes of the Ubuntu Security Podcast. If you look back around episodes 145-155, you will find a complete security guide for new users by a professional security engineer.

Pre-release software is NOT recommended for new, unskilled, or inexperienced, users. Those folks should use a supported release of Ubuntu.
25.04, which will be released in April 2025, welcomes testers who understand how to troubleshoot and report bugs correctly so they can be prioritized and fixed before release.

Welcome! There are many ways to participate that do not involve scary “terminal” or “programming,” though a bit of learning may be needed. Learning how Ubuntu is organized. Learning where Ubuntu resources are located. Learning the development and support workflows. It’s not difficult, and you can help make the experience better for the next new users.

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The following are violations of the Ubuntu Code of Conduct.
Do not do them any more here.

You are welcome to express your opinion,…

…though you will find that you have greater influence here when readers can differentiate between facts, observations, and opinions. Ubuntu Discourse is a place to collaborate; opinions expressed should further that goal if you wish to be taken seriously.

You are NOT welcome to call other companies or projects names.
Name-calling is a quick path to a suspended account.

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Why not trying Ubuntu Studio instead of picking specific bits of it? It’s prepared for content creation use cases and should be easy to set up and get going without all that work.

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Interesting responses, thanks. Apologies for breaking any rules when expressing my opinions. Sheer frustration with a proprietary OS brought me here. I’m still getting my bearings and none if it has been easy to navigate. I’ll try to find how to participate in the modules I mentioned, directly.

As for Ubuntu Studio @cnihelton , I did go there first. I’ve been at this for a couple of weeks here and there. UStudio loads the system full of apps I don’t need. I just take the kernel modifier from the installer and I find gnome better to look at. Much in KDE seems to be broken in my experience with it.

I really just want a simple system for the job and with as little background noise as possible. I thought I’d share my thoughts and see if there’s any way my own experience with this or general music systems might be useful to someone…
I’d personally pay for a stable and dedicated OS that works for me and not just ‘participate’. I’ll keep looking around… cheers all :slight_smile:

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Since 24.10 we have a minimal install option.

That’s fair. Also why Ubuntu Studio Installer exists.

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We have Ubuntu Studio Installer so that people can use whatever desktop environment they want via whichever flavor they choose, whether that be Ubuntu Desktop for its GNOME desktop or otherwise.

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Hey, if there’s any way to get involved and help, I’d be happy to. Not that I can code (or even type that well) but I can offer my experience and I have pro & edu links.
Is there anywhere other than here to chat? Specifically about Ubuntu Studio, I mean.

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There is the Ubuntu Studio space on Matrix

https://matrix.to/#/#ubuntustudio:ubuntu.com

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And you’re struggling with Linux??? Kidding, but only a little bit. Modular synthesis is not exactly “user friendly.”

If this is true for your Ubuntu experience, that is where your problem lies. I have found AI to be quite consistently wrong.

It’s because Linux never forgot its past. I remember upgrading from Windows 3.11 to 95. I did what I always did: boot to the GUI and then exit to the DOS prompt (read: Terminal). I always found myself more efficient there than in the GUI. I saved the GUI for things it excelled at, like drawing. Anyways, I tried to perform some basic command like DIR and got some sort of error. I couldn’t figure it out and so I used VER. For years, it always gave me an “MS-DOS” version number. But this time it said “Windows DOS.” They killed the terminal experience in one swoop because they didn’t value it. Later, in desperation, they would try to breathe life back into it with PowerShell.

On the other hand, Linux, UNIX/Unix, and other Unix-like systems developed a rich experience in terminal. Even at its most basic, it far exceeded the capacity and approachability of DOS. While other paradigms would focus on GUI and only GUI, in this one, every option was explored and expanded upon. The GUI improved, but so did the TUI. Makes sense as the developers were interested in what worked for them rather than feeding the starving masses. These two worlds built on each other, though.

As a result of this, you see a lot of terminal stuff related to Linux. There are some terminal commands that do the same thing as GUI tools, but on a level that is independent of the desktop environment. So when you’re searching for answers online, you see these sorts of solutions because they are the best answer— without having to answer a bunch of additional questions. They’re also way more precise. People can misinterpret the GUI or accidentally interact with it in the wrong way. Those sorts of things don’t happen in the terminal and when they’re do, they’re most often a case of something working versus not working at all.

Are you sure you need them? What are you looking for? I’m sure we can find you free and open source alternatives.

This is a paradigm shift you need to confront when moving to Linux: for nearly everything, there are a lot of options. The freedom of open source software inevitably leads to it. What you need to realize, however, is that this is a good thing.

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As for the paid apps, I meant that I have Bitwig and VCV that should be available on Linux but neither company made it simple. Before I came here I expected an ‘app store’-like experience for commercial apps but I appreciate those devs’ lack of supporting snap is not really something under Ubuntu’s control. To add to that; I’m not looking for open source alternatives. I have a good workflow with these two apps along with Melda VST3(Not Linux).
I’m open to suggestions but I’ve not seen open source software matching the capabilities and hardware integration of Bitwig/VCV. Also, I’m someone who’s more than happy to pay for the tools I use. I’m still making up for all those years of cracked Sony Acid, Soundforge, Cubase :wink:

The audio protocols: I’ve learned that Pipewire is the latest but it seems jack is there for legacy reasons? I’ll need to aggregate with pipewire, remove jack and pulse, and that just leaves ALSA which I think is a low-level driver but lacks the routing and aggregation flexibility. I think I’ve figured this out, feel free to correct me on these.

You might be right about GPT but it did get me through in the end - albeit only with the paid model o3-mini variants and a bit of learning how to guide it. the other models, and even (paid) google gemini, were more of a hindrance than anything. I’d have killed for a thoroughly smart Ubuntu LLM!!

Eurorack isn’t overly complex if you’re from a music background. I suppose I can say that as someone who uses a lot of it a lot of the time. Linux has been a much steeper learning curve - the first hurdle was the slash direction in paths!!!
And I don’t hate Terminal by any means, it’s just tough for the n00b I am.

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Exactly. People can package open source software on a whim, but that’s not possible with proprietary software, unless you are the developer of said software.

No, not exactly. A couple things to know:

  1. Every option you mentioned above is a sound server, except for ALSA which is a kernel-level component which everything works on top of. So no matter which sound server you have, you have ALSA.
  2. Not all apps work with all sound servers so there is a reason to have all of them.
  3. PulseAudio and JACK came out around the same time, but they had different goals, so some folks used both.
  4. JACK is notable for being geared towards professional audio production. If that’s your thing, you’d definitely want JACK, but due to #2, that wouldn’t cover all needs, so you’d have PulseAudio, too.
  5. Interoperability is a thing: PulseAudio to be a JACK client, so where Firefox isn’t JACK capable, you can use PulseAudio to route that through JACK.
  6. PipeWire aims to tackle some non-audio issues (video) and also work to unify all of this stuff. They actually consulted JACK folks to develop it so it’s naturally geared towards audio production.

tl;dr the default set up should be fine. As someone who works with modulars, you’ll appreciate the “patchbay” feel in applications like qpwgraph.

I’d argue strongly against this. If you know music theory, you still don’t know anything about synthesis. Heck, I know very accomplished musicians who have nearly no understanding of the physics of sound. Musicians aren’t necessarily musicologists. And even if you have all that background, that’s sometimes still not enough to fully grasp it. Even Klaus Schulze talked about how he could sometimes never recreate a particular patch.

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  • PulseAudio should not be installed by default.
  • JACK is there for people who want more explicit control. Notice the mechanism in Ubuntu Studio Audio Configuration for disabling pipewire-jack which then allows one to run JACK by itself, launching with qjackctrl. That is certainly for more advanced users that want the very fine-tuned control that JACK offers.
  • There’s also the mechanism to switch to the legacy PulseAudio/JACK bridged setup, but that isn’t actually supported and is there for those that are having a tough time adjusting to the new pipewire-jack setup which runs by default.
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I was entirely incorrect about the audio ‘servers’ then!. From having a look around I seem to have picked up the wrong impressions.

So ALSA is the low level stuff, apps can connect directly to that or use a server to route and manipulate signals before that?

pipewire, pulseaudio, and jack are servers but can intercommunicate - though I haven’t used any of that yet, or found a need to.

What I do need is a mixer for my USB interfaces. I was using RME Totalmix in my Windows tower and had a laptop with it’s own interface routed to the RME that was dedicated to the Eurorack systems.

I now have the option of aggregation but I’m yet to find a mixer that can exploit the internal routings of each interface. I’m sure there are good options… I should really have a chat with you guys @eeickmeyer @wxl about this stuff so as not to bog down this forum with it…

I installed Element for Matrix and I’m on there with the same username. I’ve no idea how to use it so come say hi

Thanks for the elucidating info. It’s been super helpful and my confidence is growing a little :wink:

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@wxl Modern music creatives and their digital workstation conventions should be able to translate the workflow relatively quickly. But yeh, Bach might struggle :wink:

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PipeWire replaces PulseAudio and JACK. If you have PipeWire, you only need that. The ubuntustudio-pwjack-config package makes the pipewire-jack bits actually work, as without that, it wouldn’t work. Ubuntu Studio Installer installs that for you by default when you install ubuntustudio-audio.

You can use Ardour for that, by routing each USB interface to a different channel, therefore giving you a fader for each channel or interface. I do this, and it works brilliantly. I even have a Behringer X-Touch which works like an actual mixer in this setup.

As far as routing, look at Patchance. That should be able to see all of your interfaces and any application currently producing sound. If you want to save any routing you make, use RaySession, by the same developer, which should also be installed. It will treat your connections as “JACK Connections” and remember them.

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You’re not bogging down the forum. It’s what it’s for. @eeickmeyer can correct me if it’s a poor suggestion, but I would think that Ubuntu Studio would be a good place to discuss general creative audio needs, especially given that not only is Ubuntu Studio a flavor of Ubuntu, but it’s also a package that can be added to any flavor of Ubuntu.

Just click here to join the Ubuntu Studio channel:
https://matrix.to/#/#ubuntustudio:ubuntu.com

A wee disclaimer: I’m not actually an Ubuntu Studio user. I’ve historically created my own setups within the confines of Lubuntu, probably to my own disadvantage!

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you use ardour as a routing system as opposed to a DAW? Isn’t there overhead from that?

I’m running my Eurorack hardware’s audio and CV both in and out in (near) realtime for bidirectional control signals and midi conversion/ clocks/sequencing. So it’s less of a linear daw and more of an integration of the two (digital/analogue) systems. There’s no master/slave.

ie: an analogue sequencer might trigger some bitwig software utility whilst software CV tools might act as complex envelopes to control some analogue kit… So the timing has to be ultra fast and well synched or I end up with sloppy mush - which Linux and specificallu Ubuntu Studio’s Kernel tweaks have allowed me to avoid!

My Eurorack interfaces have class compliant internal mixers and my RME interface can switch to class compliance but I’m not sure I can expose the routing but I’ll take a look at the suggestions, thanks !!!

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Ardour is a DAW. I also use its proprietary and commercial derivitive, Mixbus. Purchases of that help support Ardour, believe it or not.

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Harrison MixBus? Or… I’ll google it