title: Ubuntu Linux
---
-<h2>Ubuntu Linux</h2>
-
<p>
Ubuntu Linux is the most popular variety of Linux in use on desktop
and laptop systems. It has the backing of a for-profit corporation
- (Canonical Inc.) behind it, a defined philosophy and a huge and
- worldwide user base.As a result, it is a common platform for people
+ (Canonical Inc.), a defined philosophy and a huge and
+ worldwide user base. As a result, it is a common platform for people
who want to use Ardour and other tools for music creation and
pro-audio work.
</p>
</ul>
</p>
-<h3>Problems with Ardour Packages</h3>
+<h2>High Level Recommendations for Ubuntu Users</h2>
+
+<p>
+ If you are really committed to using Ubuntu for pro-audio or music
+ creation work, you should ....
+<p>
+<p>
+ If you not yet committed to using Ubuntu for pro-audio or music
+ creation work, you should probably consider using a different
+ distribution that has a demonstrated history of not making life for
+ users like you more complex than it needs to be. In particular you
+ might want to consider a distribution such
+ as <a href="http://www.bandshed.net/AVLinux.html">AVLinux</a>
+ or <a href="http://www.dickmacinnis.com/dreamstudio/">Dreamstudio</a>
+ that is specifically focused on media creation work.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Problems with Ardour Packages</h2>
+<dl>
+<dt>What is the problem?</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
It is not possible to know whether the current package of Ardour
released by Ubuntu has been correctly built or not. Ubuntu has a
history of making packaging errors that lead to crashes, missing
functionality and odd behaviour that is not present in the
- ready-to-run version of the program that you can get from ardour.org
- (or in the packages released by other distributions)
+ ready-to-run version of the program that you can get from a
+ href="http://ardour.org/download">ardour.org</a> (or in the packages
+ released by other distributions)
+</p>
+<dt>Symptoms</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
- If you plan to use Ardour on Ubuntu, you are <strong>strongly
- recommended</strong> to download the ready-to-run version from
- ardour.org. Ardour's lead developer (and many of the most active
- members of our user community) will not provide support for, and
- will not investigate bugs reported for, Ubuntu's own packages of
- Ardour.
+ Ardour starts up and basically runs, but you encounter subtle
+ problems (for example, with plugin GUIs or with export, or with the
+ use of certain specific plugins), or are missing functionality, or
+ run into crashes.
</p>
+</dd>
+<dt>How to Fix</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
- If have already installed the Ubuntu package of Ardour and find that
- although the program starts up and basically runs, but you are
- running into more subtle problems (for example, with plugin GUIs or
- with export, or with the use of certain specific plugins), then you
- are <strong>strongly recommended</strong> to download the
- ready-to-run version from ardour.org.
+ Download the ready-to-run version
+ from <a href="http://ardour.org/download">ardour.org</a>. Ardour's
+ lead developer (and many of the most active members of our user
+ community) will not provide support for, and will not investigate
+ bugs reported for, Ubuntu's own packages of Ardour. The ardour.org
+ packages install along side your distribution versions, and do not
+ interfere or interact in anyway other than sharing your own personal
+ Ardour settings and configuration choices.
</p>
+</dd>
+</dl>
-<h3>Problems with PulseAudio and JACK Configuration</h3>
-
-<h4>Problems with the interaction between PulseAudio and JACK</h4>
+<h2>Problems with the interaction between PulseAudio and JACK</h2>
+<dl>
+<dt>Background Info</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
Like many distributions, Ubuntu has decide to use PulseAudio as the
default audio system. PulseAudio is a rich and capable system that
another message, and PulseAudio can once again use the soundcard
directly.
</p>
+</dd>
+<dt>What is the problem?</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
This relatively simple system ought to be the basis for excellent
cooperation between PulseAudio and JACK. Unfortunately, it relies on
everything being correctly configured for it to work, and Ubuntu
have repeatedly failed to get this configuration correct.
</p>
-
<p>
The specific issues known at this time (spring 2013) are:
<ul>
<li>a bug that causes JACK to freeze up when told to stop,
causing issues with restarting</li>
</ul>
-
-<h5>Symptoms</h5>
-
+</dd>
+<dt>Symptoms</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
<ul>
<li>Cannot start JACK (though see the next section for other
applications that use JACK.</li>
</ul>
</p>
+</dd>
+<dt>How to fix</dt>
+<dd>
+</dd>
+</dl>
+
+<h2>Problems with JACK configuration</h2>
+
+<dl>
+ <dt>What is the problem?</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>
+ To function as intended, JACK needs to run with access to two
+ operating system facilities called "realtime scheduling" and "memory
+ locking". This means that you, the user who starts JACK, must be
+ allowed access to these facilities. By default, Ubuntu does create a
+ user group that has this permission but ... it does not put new
+ users into this group by default. Consequently, you will not have
+ permission to run JACK in the way you should.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+ <dt>Symptoms</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>
+ A message like "Cannot lock down memory" in the output from JACK as
+ it starts up. This output may be "hidden" in the Messages window of
+ QJackctrl (aka JACK Control), so you should check there.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+ <dt>How to fix</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>
+ Run the command <code>sudo usermod -a -G
+ audio <em>YOUR-LOGIN-NAME</em></code>. Then logout and login again.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
-<h5>How to fix</h5>
-
-<h2>Problems with JACK configuration<h2>
-
-<p>
- To function as intended, JACK needs to run with access to two
- operating system facilities called "realtime scheduling" and "memory
- locking". This means that you, the user who starts JACK, must be
- allowed access to these facilities. By default, Ubuntu does create a
- user group that has this permission but ... it does not put new
- users into this group by default. Consequently, you will not have
- permission to run JACK in the way you should.
-</p>
-
-<h5>Symptoms</h5>
-
-<p>
- A message like "Cannot lock down memory" in the output from JACK as
- it starts up. This output may be "hidden" in the Messages window of
- QJackctrl (aka JACK Control), so you should check there.
-</p>
-
-<h5>How to fix</h5>
-
-<p>
- Run the command <code>sudo usermod -a -G
- audio <em>YOUR-LOGIN-NAME</em></code>. Then logout and login again.
-</p>
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff