vibrafox

>> "Would recommend it to anyone who wants a FLOSS DAW and isn't too dependent on mental models from other audio software."

I recommend against this kind of framing. It comes off as judgmental. My mental models form based on my needs and experience. They're just as valid as your mental models, needs, and experience. Your way of seeing my perspective leads to faulty assumptions about my experience and models.

For example...

>> "I would agree, re: rough edges, if we were talking about Ardour 2 or 3, which both missed some important features and weren't as stable as I'd like. But in the last few years, ardour has improved. I do most of my work in it now."

I tried 5 from Mint's repos. Yesterday. I try every version to see if it'll work for me. Ardour continues to be critically lacking for me, based on my needs. Take a step back any time you want to assume someone's view is based on not knowing something you know. It's much more likely you don't know what they know.

The company gives out free assets around GDC as promo, but I don't think it's from GDC.

Surge isn't a replacement for Serum, but the original developer cofounded BitWig. It's probably the best sound you'll get out of a Linux-native synth. You can even use Serum wavetables with it.

The best percussion I've ever had came from TAL-NoiseMaker. There's a Linux port.

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/tal-noisemaker-by-togu-audi...

LMMS also has its own percussion synth.

https://lmms.io/wiki/index.php?title=Kicker

As for samples, Echo Sound Works sends out occasional freebie packs on their newsletter. Their samples are usually good.

https://www.echosoundworks.com/free-downloads

Black Octopus Sound has a huge sampler pack that you can use in commercial stuff.

https://blackoctopus-sound.com/free-downloads/

Also keep an eye out for SFX packs around GDC (Game Developers Conference). Sonniss publishes one every year. You can probably find the (legit, official) torrents for past years.

Reaper and Live have spoiled me. I tried to like Ardour, and it would be great if it's all I had, but it has too many rough edges.

LMMS is good though. I must have made 200+ songs in it before switching to Reaper. I could get by with LMMS and the included synths if I had to. It makes me wish Reaper supported LV2.

I tried that for a long time and didn't get anywhere. Building a safety net of systems/habits raises the floor for the inevitable slips back down.

That's how it starts. One day you're rolling your own kernel, the next you're knee deep in Docker writing goroutines to keep one step ahead of the police.

A good quote I don't have a source on: you do not rise to the level of your ambitions, you fall to the level of your systems. Willpower is finite, but you can maximize it with systems like this.

The MX record should be enough.

I didn't mean to suggest a landlord might do it on purpose. Everyone can go in with the best of intentions and still find themselves on one side of this scenario.

This whole branch started with me explaining to nabla9 why some people in the US use checks instead of autopay.

I thought it was great until I watched someone get buried in fees by it. They forgot about the automatic payment while dealing with the crisis that used up all their money.

They sorted through the fees and got things turned back on by explaining the situation, but it was a nightmare. Precarity is hard to understand if you've never been in or near it, or if it's a distant memory for you. It's overwhelming on a good day.

No one trusts their landlord or the software vendors they choose with a direct connection to their bank account. That's just asking for a cascade of overdraft fees.