I swear, sometimes it’s like google is reading my mind. almost every tweek or change i’ve wished for over the last year or so, has eventually come true. To think, just one year prior to that, i was joking with a few friends that Gmail was like some kind of secret cult. At the time, you could only get in by Beta Invite. Oooh. Then, once you tried it, you never went back. What’s more, you found that you couldn’t stop telling other people about it, “converting” them, so to speak.

Today, i use Gmail, Calendar, Spreadsheets, Docs, Reader, Notebook, Groups, Trends, Adsense, Analytics, Adwords, Alerts, and now Co-op.

I’ve always liked custom search engines like Wink and Rollyo. But, even though i’ve enjoyed many of the social aspects that these sites had to offer, somehow they all still seemed quite lacking. it always bothered me that Rollyo puts a limit on the number of sites you can add per topic. And Wink has a “Sync with Del.icio.us” tool which would kick ass if i could get it to work (apparently my 3 week old sync task is still queued somewhere in cyber-hell).

Google Co-op seems to satisfy at least part of the concerns that i had (regarding time wasted and revenue sharing) and so i couldn’t resist creating a couple of my own custom search engines for you all to try out and hopefully help build. I haven’t had a chance to style them yet, but there are a ton of excellent sites in each one already so the results for searchs should be pretty interesting.

I’ll be creating a more permanent place for all of these custom search engines as soon as i figure out where – more will likely come soon – so you can keep an eye out for them or just bookmark this page for later reference. the good thing is, wherever i put them, i can always manage them from one place.

in the meantime, go ahead and try one out.
Dont’ forget to let me know what you think. Enjoy!

However, Linux sound editing is still arguably one of those gray areas where a single, dominant software has yet to emerge. This makes it difficult to compare to popular propriety software solutions. Furthermore, it meant that i was going to have to test out a whole bunch of softwares before i could make an informed decision as to which i might like best.

Well, i must have tried about a dozen audio softwares before coming across Audacity. Many people recommended it and i knew that it was supposed to be very powerful. Although, i must admit, it seemed modest compared to some of the things i had seen in similar audio softwares. Still, Audacity was stable and worked well (which was more than i could say for some of the other apps i tried), and that was all i wanted in the first place.

I still have the bookmark for the original article on OSNews entitled: “Professional Audio Closer to Linux“. It’s a bit dated by today’s standards [2002-08-10], but you can see (by how long the list is) that no single software had emerged as the dominant choice. Ironically, the article starts off by referring to “how much more viable Linux is today as a professional (or semi-professional) audio platform than it used to be two years ago.” I suppose i should try to avoid making a similar statement in this article – truth is, i’m not sure that this statement would be any more accurate today than it was back then.

If you’re interested, here’s 2 more lists of audio softwares that run on Linux; one from LinuxLinks.com and the other from Linux-Sound.org. But if you don’t like long lists or haven’t got the time to try out more than 3 or 4 softwares, then i would recommend reading “Editing audio in Linux” by Ian Smith-Heisters of Arstechnica.com. It actually only profiles 3 Linux based audio softwares but a fourth one, called Hydrogen, is mentioned in the comments of a related post on Digg.com that might also be worth checking out. Ian does an excellent job of detailing the differences between Ardour, Audacity and SND with reference to what he calls “industry-standard apps” like ProTools, Logic, Nuendo, and Digital Performer.

He highlights the features and capabilities of each audio software (complete with screenshots), and explains any Linux related concepts like ALSA and ESD that surround the topic. The general concensus seems to be that all 3 apps are great at what they do. More specifically, Audacity is the easiest to use (probably why i initially stuck with it over a year ago), Ardour has the most features that can be compared to industry-standard apps (good for larger projects), and SND is, well.. mostly for geeks (but also the fastest and most versatile).

What i actually found most interesting about the article was towards the end when Ian talks about how difficult it can be to compare some Linux apps because “they don’t have proprietary analogues”. Meaning, there’s nothing really like them, or they cannot even be compared. He goes so far as to say, “Editing audio in Linux may be becoming a significantly different occupation than editing using proprietary platforms.” Even if you’re not so much into sound editing but are interested in open source versus proprietary systems, you can skip to page 5 and see what he means by this statement.

I think Ian’s statement is similar to the way i feel about the idea of Linux as a complete desktop alternative to Windows or OSX. Sure, it can do everything that other operating systems can do (and then some) – but you’ve got to speak Linux (and to a certain degree think Linux) to get it to do so. With sound editing there are definitely specific concerns related to hardware compatibility, etc. That means right away you need to be both knowledgeable in sound editing and audio hardware to make it work. But if and when you do get it to work, it has the potential to do things you just can’t do with proprietary software.

So, unless you’re willing to put in the time to learn something new, and often as a professional you simply can’t commit a significant amount time, you’re not going to find Linux to be a very satisfying alternative. You could still experiment with Linux on a second computer without disrupting your regular workflow until you felt comfortable enough to make the switch. But for a client who is determined and well informed, Linux is open and free, which makes it particularly attractive to those on a small budget, and which also means it is only going to grow and get better with time.

[ If you enjoyed this article, you might also like: "Windows to Linux: Baby Steps" or something else in the Linux Category. ]

I thought it would be a good idea to make a list that compared Windows to Linux softwares, side-by-side. That way, i could describe the difference between the two operating systems in terms that people were already familiar with. Try Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, Open Office instead of Microsoft Office, Thunderbird instead of Outlook Express.. and so on.

All of these alternative softwares are free to download (there’s a good reason, right?) and can be installed on a system running Windows. The idea was to prepare the person for an eventual switch to Linux. So if those 3 applications are the only ones you even use, go ahead and give them a try. You too could be running a Linux desktop in the near future.

Unfortunately, these days the vast majority of Windows users demand a lot more out of their desktop systems. When comparing softwares for things like sound, gaming, viewing dvds, and different graphics editors – there may not always be a clear Linux alternative. I was relieved to find out that there is a site called Grokdoc that has taken on the challenge of maintaining such a list, so i guess i won’t have to. Lucky me.

If you were looking for a starting point, i would recommend the page entitled: Switching to Linux, which is a very complete step by step for first timers. It does a good job of bringing together info from many different sources. There is also a page called Application Crossover Chart, that does a side-by- side comparison of softwares with links to many Linux alternatives, but there isn’t as much description, so it is more useful to have just as a reference.

I guess i’ll end off by quoting what someone once told me when i first starting asking about Linux:

“Just read a lot.”

I have to remember to keep an eye out for this up and coming Linux Distribution. From the screenshots [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] on their site, it looks really different. It is still only in the alpha stages at this time, and i should probably wait at least until a beta version comes out before i try to install it / test it out.. but who know’s, maybe i’ll try it out sooner.

It kind of reminded me of what i had hoped the Project Looking Glass would be. Looking Glass is an Open Source Operating System described as an innovative 3D environment and is currently being developed by Sun Microsystems.

The Alpha 4 version is supposed to have some major improvements, it is due to be released sometime in july ’05. Will definitely check back soon.

Update: Symphony OS Alpha 4 version is now available for download (as of Aug 3, 2005). New features include: graphical package manager (Synaptic), better search capabilities (Beagle), new configuration tools, and more. Looking forward to the Beta 1 version, which is the next build to be released.