Re: Our introduction thread
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:14 pm
Hi, Jim, new guy here. I am trying to learn LMMS (on M$ Windows 10, (since I can't get the graphics drivers working on Manjaro Linux) for gamedev, specifically, game music and sound effects. I have already run into two issues that I'll be asking about in support (no sound from .midi files after adding the general-midi-soundfile and how to remove the stupid "Desktop" link from File-->[Open, Import, etc.] and one other shortcut permanently).
I would also like to comment on something I heard in one YouTube tutorial. The person doing the tutorial said something that suggested that free/open source software is not expected to be as good as the commercial stuff. I very strongly disagree. I've been around the Internet (Arpanet back then) for a long time. I've seen a LOT of open source, and how it's developed. Commercial stuff is often created by some company who tells you what you will like and you will like it or else (e.g., M$). Open source is created by users themselves---who better to know what we users want than ourselves? I've seen a huge number of open source projects that are vastly superior to their commercial cousins. I've never used any DAW before, so I can't compare LMMS to any other, but I'm certainly not going to assume that any commercial alternative would be an improvement.
As for me, I am a 2 time cancer survivor (2.5, actually---we caught #3 before it became cancer so where there would have been a cancer #3, we got it at the cancer precursor stage). Cancer #1 was the one that was constantly trying to kill me. The only thing it accomplished when it did was to make me more furious with it and more defiant towards it.
Sun Tzu wrote
VI.2. Therefore, the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
--Sun Tzu, The Art of War, ca. 500 BC, 1910 Lionel Giles translation.
The enemy in this case was (obviously) cancer #1, itself.
The cat that (will be) my avatar is my Norwegian Forest Cat (Wegie), Jinx. As of 6Aug20, he was two years old. He'll keep growing for another three years, and he's already huge...but nowhere near how huge Wegies get (if you're curious, search for "Big Daddy Kane Norwegian forest cat" ... the first image will be enough.
Before cancer #1 retired me, my degree was in electronics with a specialty in telecommunications (I was a senior network engineer working with a huge backbone network that carried mostly data, but when possible, voice got a free ride). My last professional positions were all at Hurlburt Field, FL, first in what was then 16th Special Operations Wing Intelligence, then HQ AFSOC Intelligence, and finally at SOCOM/J2 (J2 == Joint [Forces] Intelligence).
On 11Sep01, I had been stolen from the Wing by HQ AFSOC, but was urgently yanked back to the Wing, and was there during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) after 11Sep01. Hurlburt was at Threatcon Delta (attack in progress), and when I parked across the street from the Wing Intel building, I was met by two friends/co-workers from Wing Intel, one with an M-16 and the other with a 9mm (their job was to protect me). While the US was mourning, we didn't have time---were working 24-hour ops and about 14--16 hour shifts spinning up for the deployment orders we knew would be coming. I was a contractor, but not the usual type; I was basically just a member of the team, and worked as exactly that. I did find out what the stereotypical contractor on-site is like, but I won't go into detail on that (let's just say that after what he did that would have stopped me from getting four mission critical tasks done until the next day, and his boss, an O6 (full colonel) had to do his job for him, the O6 told me that when that guy came in the next morning, and after he (the O6) was done with him, it'd be AT LEAST (very angry emphasis his) six months before he (contractor) would be able to sit down again. From looking at his face, I could tell there was going to be some serious wall-to-wall counseling the next morning.
I would also like to comment on something I heard in one YouTube tutorial. The person doing the tutorial said something that suggested that free/open source software is not expected to be as good as the commercial stuff. I very strongly disagree. I've been around the Internet (Arpanet back then) for a long time. I've seen a LOT of open source, and how it's developed. Commercial stuff is often created by some company who tells you what you will like and you will like it or else (e.g., M$). Open source is created by users themselves---who better to know what we users want than ourselves? I've seen a huge number of open source projects that are vastly superior to their commercial cousins. I've never used any DAW before, so I can't compare LMMS to any other, but I'm certainly not going to assume that any commercial alternative would be an improvement.
As for me, I am a 2 time cancer survivor (2.5, actually---we caught #3 before it became cancer so where there would have been a cancer #3, we got it at the cancer precursor stage). Cancer #1 was the one that was constantly trying to kill me. The only thing it accomplished when it did was to make me more furious with it and more defiant towards it.
Sun Tzu wrote
VI.2. Therefore, the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
--Sun Tzu, The Art of War, ca. 500 BC, 1910 Lionel Giles translation.
The enemy in this case was (obviously) cancer #1, itself.
The cat that (will be) my avatar is my Norwegian Forest Cat (Wegie), Jinx. As of 6Aug20, he was two years old. He'll keep growing for another three years, and he's already huge...but nowhere near how huge Wegies get (if you're curious, search for "Big Daddy Kane Norwegian forest cat" ... the first image will be enough.
Before cancer #1 retired me, my degree was in electronics with a specialty in telecommunications (I was a senior network engineer working with a huge backbone network that carried mostly data, but when possible, voice got a free ride). My last professional positions were all at Hurlburt Field, FL, first in what was then 16th Special Operations Wing Intelligence, then HQ AFSOC Intelligence, and finally at SOCOM/J2 (J2 == Joint [Forces] Intelligence).
On 11Sep01, I had been stolen from the Wing by HQ AFSOC, but was urgently yanked back to the Wing, and was there during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) after 11Sep01. Hurlburt was at Threatcon Delta (attack in progress), and when I parked across the street from the Wing Intel building, I was met by two friends/co-workers from Wing Intel, one with an M-16 and the other with a 9mm (their job was to protect me). While the US was mourning, we didn't have time---were working 24-hour ops and about 14--16 hour shifts spinning up for the deployment orders we knew would be coming. I was a contractor, but not the usual type; I was basically just a member of the team, and worked as exactly that. I did find out what the stereotypical contractor on-site is like, but I won't go into detail on that (let's just say that after what he did that would have stopped me from getting four mission critical tasks done until the next day, and his boss, an O6 (full colonel) had to do his job for him, the O6 told me that when that guy came in the next morning, and after he (the O6) was done with him, it'd be AT LEAST (very angry emphasis his) six months before he (contractor) would be able to sit down again. From looking at his face, I could tell there was going to be some serious wall-to-wall counseling the next morning.