Linux Mint Studio

[JohnH]

Keeping the thread alive.....

Just noticed on DistroWatch a new Ubuntu based arts distro, "ArtistX". See here http://artistx.org/site2/.

I would add to the the original post of selected packages (for the proposed Mint Studio) a decent photo image editor (GIMP is good but on its own can't handle high quality RAW images). Rawstudio or UFRaw would be esstential. An interesting package with improved features with each release is Fotoxx. Worth watching I think. My favourite photo viewer is currently Geeqie. This is still going through development but like Fotoxx is going ahead in leaps and bounds.

Regards
John

[Losgann]

I just stumbled across this thread -- a Mint Studio (or "Mint Artist" version, I like that name!) would be so fabulous. When I first started looking into Linux, I was drawn to Ubuntu Studio because I'm an electronic musician and very keen to explore the possibilities of a Linux-based DAW for recording and mixing and so on. However, my computer has (a) a mobo with an on-board NVIDIA graphic chip, and (b) only a wireless internet connection (no ethernet where it is) with an old USB wireless adapter which only works under Linux with ndiswrapper. I tried for two weeks to install Ubuntu Studio, plain vanilla Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and finally gave up in frustration because absolutely no flavor of Ubuntu would install and run on my machine. A few months later I found Mint, and was on the internet with 1280x1024 screen resolution within minutes of installing!

However, I'm still yearning for a Linux music/multimedia production studio that will actually work on my computer... so the idea of something similar to Ubuntu Studio but starting from Mint has me all fired up! Two thumbs and two big toes up! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make it happen, somehow! (I would gladly offer to help, except I'm still very much a Linux noob... I can install packages via apt-get, but that's about it...)

[vago_carajero]

Hi guys!
I used to be an Ubuntu Studio user until the last week when I decided to change into Mint, and let me tell you that I love it. Although, I miss some programs that Ubuntu Studio have.
A Mint Studio (or "Mint Artist" version, I like that name too!) is a great idea!
Please make it real as soon as possible.

About the possibilities of audio and video I’m agree with all of you, but if you like to add more graphics tools you could see the Vamox distro, an argentinian distro thinking for the graphic designer.

(And please, forgive my bad English )

[haruspexed]

i dunno but i disagree.

i personally use linux for audio recording and studio techniques, but mint???

all i need of a studio-distro is performance, a real time kernel, very fast window manager, no effects and bling bling.

total concentration on what this distro should be about. a distro for recording, editing, creating music and NOT bloated nonsense.

means to me it is the total opposite of mint, which never can be a every-user-is-happy-now distro. means mint is perfect for destktop user, office and normal behaviour at all. but specialized multimedia / studio, recording and whatever?

for me this would be a very big waste of ressources to create an official mint studio distro or edition. clem etc should concentrate on main business, maybe also a kind of more commercial ways to distribute mint, anyway i am not against to have a community "studio edition" where all bloated stuff is removed and is optimized in speed, realtime kernel, audio features, sound server, jack as default, ardour or whatever you want available (look my post here, topic pre-software-selection) to install without using compiz and bling bling to just do what such a distro / ce should be for imho. a recording system in linux! not more!

jm2ct.

[soundcheck]

Hi there.

I 've been running Ubuntu Studio from day one.

The key differentiators of Ubuntu Studio are IMO the real time kernel and a slightly tweaked Gnome setup. All other applications can just be installed from the repos.

The Ubuntu realtime kernel is a pain in the ... . They never managed to get it working properly. I am still facing severe issues with it. ( I use a ZEN-kernel) It'll take some experienced kernel hackers to get this
under control.
Beside that Ingo Molnar and Thoma Gleixner just recently (2.6.29) revised the rt-patch. From 2.6.26 onwards no serious maintenance had been applied to the rt-patch.( http://lkml.org/lkml/2009/2/11/405 )


So. If you ask me an rt-kernel working together with the proprietary graphic drivers is the main issue to look at. Everything else should be manageable from a standard Mint installation.

Cheers

[t_sysimetsa]

Hi, I posted a HowTo for upgrading Linux Mint 5 LTS to 64 Studio 3.0:
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25972

So, this would provide a stable solution for more serious audio work with Mint?

..................................................................................................................
A couple of screenshots of my 64-bit Mint-64Studio system:
JACK Control:
http://users.utu.fi/totaha/sysimetsa/64studio_in_linux_mint.png
Ardour 2.8:
http://users.utu.fi/totaha/sysimetsa/ardour_in_mint_64studio.png
..................................................................................................................
64 Studio home page:
http://www.64studio.com
..................................................................................................................

Any feedback is appreciated!

[soundcheck]

Hi, I posted a HowTo for upgrading Linux Mint 5 LTS to 64 Studio 3.0:
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25972

So, this would provide a stable solution for more serious audio work with Mint?

..................................................................................................................
A couple of screenshots of my 64-bit Mint-64Studio system:
JACK Control:
http://users.utu.fi/totaha/sysimetsa/64studio_in_linux_mint.png
Ardour 2.8:
http://users.utu.fi/totaha/sysimetsa/ardour_in_mint_64studio.png
..................................................................................................................
64 Studio home page:
http://www.64studio.com
..................................................................................................................

Any feedback is appreciated!

1. I don't really would like to mix up 2 distros. This is IMO not manageble.
2. As I wrote in my post the key is IMO the rt-kernel.
You are talking about stable multimedia-kernel! The first thing I had to read:" You need to get the headers from a different place". Come-On. This is not at all what I'd call stable.
I havn't seen any small distribution and not even Ubuntu Studio that is able to handle and maintain the rt-kernel properly, without sacrificing other features.
3. With the rt-kernel usually comes the propriatory GPU driver issue. Please let us now, if fglrx will work on this "stable" multimedia kernel under the mixed Mint/64Studio.

[t_sysimetsa]

1. I don't really would like to mix up 2 distros. This is IMO not manageble.

Well, earlier versions of 64 Studio were based on Debian, I had no problems upgrading from Debian to 64 Studio and I did a lot of demanding audio work with that system. Upgrading from Hardy/Mint5 to 64 Studio 3.0 seems to be similarly possible (because 3.0 uses Hardy repos), but I have not seen many reports about that yet. As I tell in the HowTo, 64 Studio 3.0 is still at beta-stage, testers are needed.

2. As I wrote in my post the key is IMO the rt-kernel. You are talking about stable multimedia-kernel!

It is realtime kernel. See http://users.utu.fi/totaha/sysimetsa/64studio_in_linux_mint.png

The first thing I had to read:" You need to get the headers from a different place". Come-On. This is not at all what I'd call stable.

Have you tried it?

I havn't seen any small distribution and not even Ubuntu Studio that is able to handle and maintain the rt-kernel properly, without sacrificing other features.
3. With the rt-kernel usually comes the propriatory GPU driver issue. Please let us now, if fglrx will work on this "stable" multimedia kernel under the mixed Mint/64Studio.

EDIT: I installed fglrx, it works with 2.6.29-1-multimedia-amd64 realtime kernel but I had to disable compiz first. I enabled Metacity compositing in order to have lighter desktop effects, they work ok. My graphics card is ATI Radeon X1250.

I get no xruns while recording 2 tracks and monitoring 14+ others at the same time. Latency 5.33 ms, soundcard Echo Indigo IO.


See also 64 Studio forum for more information/help regarding graphic card issues:
http://www.64studio.com/forum

[scottc52]

I personally love this idea. We should use a real time kernel for mint studio, too. Otherwise, I don't think there's enough of a difference to really matter, because you can download all of the ubuntu studio applications in one go from their repositories.

[Ozz]

You could try to integrate CeltX, a great programme to write film/book script.

http://www.celtx.com/

or also StorYbook

http://storybook.intertec.ch/joomla/

[ebaut]

1. Maybe yes, maybe no because already we have an Ubuntu studio. But if you find software better than this.. It would be great
2. We already have gnome but I think it need cool Enlightenment desktop
3. The best software for artistic people

[thechaoticstu]

Seems like the thread has died a little. I have never used Linux Mint, but I am downloading it right now to install. I have heard great reviews on how easy it is to use. I have been using Ubuntu Studio, which in concept is great, I have just had real problems with the rt-kernel.

If something which is easy to use and has a studio side to it, then I am sure Linux Mint is the way to go (from what I have heard). I would be really interested to see this project going ahead.

(By the way, first post XD)

[Husse]

Welcome to Mint - hope you enjoy it
The rt-kernel in Ubuntu studio gives problems but is also a prerequisite (I think) to avoid time lag

[thechaoticstu]

Welcome to Mint - hope you enjoy it
The rt-kernel in Ubuntu studio gives problems but is also a prerequisite (I think) to avoid time lag

Yeh, it is needed. It keeps freezing on me :/. Needs some work on it really. If I knew how to do it, I would, but I am sure many people are working on it. (well some maybe).

I like the idea that you can install LMS (Linux Mint Studio) or LMA (Linux Mint Artist) which ever you prefer to call it through a .mint or script file, but I also think you should offer both, a script and the full OS (without having to download LM first to install the script) as people who have never used Linux Mint before would probably want to be up and running as soon as possible.

Just another idea into the hat.

[thorpedonj]

Hello,

My name is Don J. Thorpe. For the past few months I have been "trying" to my my own linux setup that is geared for digital media content creation. I have gone through many different names, "Palette d'Art", "GeuStudio", "ArtBox", "Media-OS", and finally "gnuStudio". I am now considering "Linux Mint Studio" or "MintArtist".

Through out all of this, I have managed to produce an installable ISO image that others can use or boot from. It has been a major pain for me due to my lack of experience and understanding of Linux, but thanks to the forums online and the internet, I have learned how to make this image. This image is now downloadable online via LinuxFreedom's ftp site. Here is the URL address:

ftp://ftp.linuxfreedom.com/gnustudio/gn ... nstall.iso

This image works best if you run it as a "live" session and then run the installation from there. Or if you want to just test it out, you can boot from a USB via Unetbootin, or install it from a virtual machine in VirtualBox or VMware. Please keep in mind that this is my first attempt of making my own "distro"/setup. It's not perfect! So far it has been a "one-man" job. I lack alot of knowledge to really streamline this baby down! But I believe it is now at a usable state that others can see and use. I would greatly appreciate feedback from others at this point in time.

I am also opening up this personal project to the Linux Mint Community, as a basis/guide for a "Linux Mint Studio/Artist" based install. I have been struggling for the past few months with this idea, and could use the help of others to streamline things and make sure everything works run smoothly. I chose the Mint community because I noticed this thread online and read through much of the feedback and also through many other similar postings online on what people want in a personal distro.

Also, one of the primary features that I want to be installed by default is the Wacom Control Panel & Tablet Apps preferences, so anyone who has a wacom tablet (or similar product) can immediately start painting or modeling without any installation and setup. All needed codecs for playback and editing (including xvid, h264, wmv, quicktime, and mpeg-2/4) are installed by default and work with any video editing application available.

Another important feature for me is the use of "Sub-Docks" which is available with Cairo-dock. In windows, I use ObjectDock, along with the Stacks Docklet. This allows me to customize shortcuts based on categories, and quickly find my apps, thus saving time. I'd like to have this similar setup in linux!

Also, I use dockbarX to provide a Windows 7 type taskbar to save on space as well. It's a hybrid environment mixing the worlds of Mac & Windows together into a unique workflow and interface. I have provided a screenshot below to illustrate what I mean.

With that said, here is my current software line up. (Please keep in mind that this is just a rough initial line-up, and can change at any time, based on the feedback received.) I will update it as time goes on.

Accessories:
------------
CHMsee
DJView4
Comix
Gnome Configurator
Ubuntu-Tweak
Bleachbit
Cairo-Dock (no OpenGL)
Gnome Global Menu
GnoMenu
Parcelite

Games:
---------
Gens
Zsnes
Mupen64plus
PlayOnLinux

2D Paint & Image Editing:
------------------------------
gimPhoto
Gimp + 3rd Party Plugins + extra brushes
Gimp Paint Studio
Krita
MyPaint
CinePaint
Gogh
Tintii
Xsane or Flegita front end.
KolourPaint
Qaquarelle

Vector Editors:
-----------------
Inkscape
XaraLX
sK1
Sodipodi
Karbon
OpenOffice Draw

Office & Desktop Publishing:
---------------------------------
Passpartout
Scribus
Sk1
Abiword
Gnumeric
OpenOffice Impress
OpenOffice Calc
OpenOffice Writer

Font Apps:
------------
FontMatrix
FontForge

PDF Tools & Editors:
------------------------
PDF Edit
PDF shuffler
PDF Mod
eVince
Moonshiner

3D Modeling & Animation:
-------------------------------
blender
k3d
art of illusion
Moonlight 3D
g3dviewer
GLC player
RoadKill (via Wine)
KPovModeler - w/ povray installed
MakeHuman
GSculpt
SharpConstruct
Pixie
GTKRadient
Yafray (w/ blender)
Misfit Model 3D

Audio: (pulse audio not installed by default?) ALSA?
------
Audacity
Ardour
LMMS
Qtractor
Kwave
Gnormalize
Asunder CD ripper
SoundKonverter
Gnome Wave Cleaner

Video:
------
Pitivi
Kdenlive
LiVES
Avidemux
Cinelerra
OpenShot Video Editor
Open Movie Editor
Vivia
Jahshaka

Animation:
----------
Stop Motion animator
Pencil
Ktoon
Synfig Studio
Plastic Animation Paper
Rotoscope

Multimedia:
-----------
VLC Player
SMplayer
Mplayer + win32 codecs
Xine
Songbird
Audacious
Banshee
Minitube
Miro

DVD Authoring & Backup :
------------------------
2ManDVD & ManDVD
QDVDauthor
DVD Styler
DeVeDe
Kmediafactory
toVid
K3b
Brasero
GnomeBaker
X-CDRoast
xDVDShrink
K9copy
Shrinkta
Acidrip
LemonRip
dvd|rip
WinFF
Transmeggdon
Handbrake

ISO Tools:
----------
Furious ISO Mount
ISO Master
AcetoneISO

Internet Apps:
--------------
Adobe Flash Player (installed by default)
Chromium
Firefox
Opera
Wifi-Radar
Tucan
Deluge Torrent Client
Pidgin
Vuze
Frostwire

Wacom Apps:
-------------------
Wacom Control Panel
Tablet Apps

Programming & WebDesign:
---------------------------------
Bluefish
Geany
Quanta Plus
Kompozer
Scite
Screem

Image Management & Viewers:
------------------------------------
Picasa
GQView
Viewnoir
gThumb
XnView MP

System Tools & Maintenance:
--------------------------------
VirtualBox
VMWare Player
Ubuntu-Tweak
BleachBit
Gnome Configurator
Gnome Colour Chooser
Back in time
Cairo-Dock

Here's the screenshot showing what I mean by "Sub-Dock" usage :


By donjthorpe at 2009-12-01

[fnaikke]

Nice (I think) maybe you should have autologin the live version for those who wanna try, because it stops looking at a login window.

[fnaikke]

Still strange why you made all the energy to make a distro and not give a reply on the ask for the
needed login name and password.

Well anyway I still agree with haruspexed who wrote that Mint is quite to bloated, I agree with that,
it would be more interested in a fast rt-kernel based core setup without to much pre-installed, it is
quite a lot off work to find and remove all the unwanted applications in mint.
For example when I open top in a terminal there are to many tasks for what is it all needed?,
also when you search for hangs in the forum you will found about 929 matches, I also had different hangs off applications and I don't even try to activated compiz it is working till it hangs and makes everything slowy.
Bit the same problem as with Ubuntu, but ok I go to much into a rant against these distro's. What I just want to say is that it would be more interesting if distro's would come with just a core installation and leave
up to the user to install just what he wants with good support, but I can write a book on that.

[thorpedonj]

Hi. Thanks for your initial feedback! I thought I had tested this thoroughly! The live session should work automatically. Strange...
Anyhow, the user name is donovan, password is p0ut1n32k. Try that, hopefully it should work. I apologize for the inconvenience.
I know that it was a lot of work! More than people know... Anyhow. Please let me know if that works!

[thorpedonj]

>Still strange why you made all the energy to make a distro and not give a reply on the ask for the
needed login name and password.

Again, Sorry for the inconvenience. I hope the password will work. I'm still very new at this whole distro making thing, if you can't tell! So, any good tips on the process will be helpful. I did my best with what i could find online, which isn't easy to all to do.

>Well anyway I still agree with haruspexed who wrote that Mint is quite to bloated, I agree with that,
it would be more interested in a fast rt-kernel based core setup without to much pre-installed, it is
quite a lot off work to find and remove all the unwanted applications in mint.

Mint & Ubuntu is general come with alot of "bloat". I'm redoing things now using Xubuntu, which I also "strip down"
to the raw bare bone setup. Gnome is nice, but a hog of resources.I'd like to use a RT based kernel. Is that easy to do?

>For example when I open top in a terminal there are to many tasks for what is it all needed?,

Wow. good suggestion! I'll look into that. Less is always more.

>also when you search for hangs in the forum you will found about 929 matches, I also had different hangs off applications and I don't even try to activated compiz it is working till it hangs and makes everything slowy.

Wow. That many posts on Hangs? I'll check it out. Also, I believe I don't have compiz installed by default. Primarily due to the fact that compiz causes issues with major 3D apps, which like direct access to openGL.

>Bit the same problem as with Ubuntu, but ok I go to much into a rant against these distro's. What I just want to say is that it would be more interesting if distro's would come with just a core installation and leave
up to the user to install just what he wants with good support, but I can write a book on that.

AMEN! I totally agree! Let the user install what he/she wants! That's one thing i miss about fedora/redhat. At least in the installation process you could decide what you wanted and the setup would do the rest for you. That's how Ubuntu should do it,
rather than have the user uninstall/install what he wants later on. Less work for the end user too.

[thorpedonj]

I just did a test install using vmware and found that it still has some major issues! AGH! I thought I was finished with this thing! It's a good thing that I am now using XFCE instead of gnome! Anyhow, if you use the password I mentioned earlier, you should be able to boot into a live session. Just don't install!

My total apologies for the inconvenience, once again. How embarrassing! This is what happens when you try to do everything yourself, relying on the Internet and have NO HELP from other people. The only "testing" i have done is to do my laptop, and a dell dimension 3000, which is my "linux box" for imaging and setup.

I could really use some help from other people in this effort! I am redoing a new image, as we speak, dubbing the title "gnuArtist", for the time being, and will test things out using virtual-box, but not actually installing it physically. So, if anyone can help me in tips on the proper way to remaster a linux distro, I'd appreciate it. This has been a one-man-only idea and project! I'd like to get the help of others in feedback, support, etc. I am finding that it's impossible to do everything yourself! I need the help of others. Thanks in advance.