The $100.00 (USD) Coolest Linux Workspace Contest continues with this entry from Brian, a database administrator (DBA) in a mostly Windows world by day, but off hours a musician/Linux geek. He says that he is also doing some freelance IT work and development for his wife's company, which gives him more of an opportunity to focus on Linux in a professional capacity.
Now, let's all check out his Linux workspace:
Owner's note: I've got a total of 4 physical machines here, including my laptop and a headless server running Proxmox VE. I'm using Synergy to control everything from a single keyboard/trackball.
My desktop is technically 2 PCs, plus a laptop. The left 2 LCDs are powered by a Phenom x4 965 running Ubuntu Studio Karmic x64. The right two LCDs (including the little one off to the right) are powered by an Athlon x2 5000+, running "regular" Ubuntu Karmic x64. The 14" monitor is used as either for TV or movies while I'm working. The laptop is a Panasonic Toughbook a fresh copy of Ubuntu Lucid 32bit beta 2.
The Headless Proxmox (based on Debian) machine is an Athlon II x4 with a whole bunch of various virtual machines, including a virtual NAS with about 6TB of raw storage for media, backups, and other things. Proxmox VE is a fantastic virtualization platform. It will run about everything you can throw at it and it's stupid easy from the administration side.
Most of the synth hardware was collected while I was a swinging bachelor, playing in bands. Now that I'm a family man, I enjoy the blinky lights and noises at home. My DAW these days is Reaper running through Wine.
Audio/Midi Gear:
Alesis Fusion 8HD
Oberheim OB-12
M-Audio Axiom 49 controller
Moog Micromoog
Access Virus module
Korg MS-2000BR
Korg TR-Rack
Darkstar XP-2 module
M-Audio Trigger Finger
M-Audio midisport 4x4
Behringer RX1602 Line mixer (for the synths)
Behringer UB2442fx Mixer
M-Audio Delta1010 audio card (plugged into the Phenom)
Thank you Brian and we wish you luck!
Wow cool workspace indeed. I wish I had the money to buy those stuff. I never thought Linux can handle all those multimedia tasks.
ReplyDeleteThis is basically the most amazing thing in the history of things. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteBTW - since I submitted this, the laptop is running the Lucid LTS full release. This was a re-write with some more detail that I guess got missed.
ReplyDeleteAs one can see, the physical layout is pretty dense. I got the desk (Studio RTA Producer Station) last year in an effort to consolidate the sprawling mess of desks, tables, cases, cables, and other things that made my basement office a nightmare to manage. I've got a total of 4 physical machines here, including my laptop and a headless server running Proxmox VE (Debian based). I'm using Synergy to control everything from a single keyboard/trackball. My desktop is technically 2 PCs. You know the saying, once you use two monitors, you can't go back to one? Well, the same holds true for having shared PCs like this. The left 2 LCDs are powered by a Phenom x4 965 w/ 4GB ram running Ubuntu Studio Karmic x64, housed in a 4u rack case. The right two LCDs (including the little one off to the right) are powered by an Athlon x2 5000+ w. 4GB of ram, running "regular" Ubuntu Karmic inside a 3u rack case. The 14" monitor is mostly used as either for TV or movies while I'm working (the right side machine has both a tuner card and is running both MythTV front/back end). It also serves as a back-end for a Mythbuntu front-end box in our bedroom, along with a Popcorn Hour C-200 in the living room. Both machines are connected via gig ethernet and I've got both systems mounted on each other via NFS, so I can share local files easily and seamlessly. I also have certain applications (like OpenOffice) only on the secondary machine. If I really need to have it open on the primary machine, I have a set of shortcuts on the desktop that kick off remote X sessions. The laptop is a Panasonic Toughbook with a Core Duo and 4GB of ram, running a fresh copy of Ubuntu Lucid 32bit beta 2. I'll usually run Empathy from there when I'm working from home so that I can run fullscreen remote desktop windows into my work systems on the bigger monitors. The headless Proxmox machine is an Athlon II x4 w/ 8GB of ram inside of a 4u case with a whole bunch of various virtual machines, including a virtual NAS (OpenFiler) with about 6TB of block attached raw storage for media, backups, and other things. I think Proxmox VE is a fantastic virtualization platform. It will run about everything you can throw at it and it's stupid easy from the administration side. The only copy of Windows in the house is running inside there as a VM. The VM server and second machine are also connected via KVM switch to a hidden keyboard/trackball and the vga port on the third monitor, just in case I need console access and lose network connectivity.
My DAW these days is Reaper running through Wine. I've played with Ardour a bit, but I just find myself being more comfortable with Reaper's workflow. I was a longtime Cakewalk user (since v6) and with the exception of Ableton Live, it's been really hard for me to get comfortable with a lot of DAWs. Plus, the feature-set (for the price) is absolutely out of this world and the developers pump out releases almost weekly. They also make it a point to make sure that it is always fully functional under Wine. As far as other components go, I think Jack is probably one of the coolest pieces of software ever written. The routing capabilties are ridiculous and light years ahead of anything I've ever seen (on any OS platform). I'm using Netjack to sync audio/midi from both of the desktops and have several sets of profiles set up so that I can use both Wine based soft synths and native Linux ones wherever I want. I haven't gotten around to figuring out how to get it working reliably, but I'd ultimately like to set up Rosegarden to work as Reaper's default midi editor, too. Working with midi is a dream in Linux. Besides having the superb routability that Jack offers, I'm finding that I'm getting lower latency across the board (for both hardware and software synths) than I ever did when I was using Windows.
Wow, it really looks cool!
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteBrian,
ReplyDeleteI found this post while browsing for info about Reaper on Linux. Looks like you are doing what I'd like to do, is there a forum I can contact you through?
V/R Brent,
hats off to you, brainstem!
ReplyDeleteWait until your wife sees all that gear and the credit card statement. You are screwed.
ReplyDeletefeh, pathetic. you may have four screens and a bunch of synths, but I don't see ANY empty liquor bottles at all. how can you call that a Linux workspace?!
ReplyDelete;)
Just out of curiosity, why didn't you choose Ardour as your DAW?
ReplyDelete