Music Man Tyler
New Member
Hello everyone! My name is Tyler and I’m happy to report that today I was able to install my first instance of Mint MATE on my old Dell Inspiron N5110 that ran Windows 7 a decade ago. My last laptop, an Alienware r4, gave up on me this past Novmeber so I’ve been using my iPad for simple tasks at home and my work computer for everything else. After installing a new battery and DC jack and my r4 not reviving (I think the MOBO’s toast) I lost motivation months ago, until today when I finally said screw it and looked into what it might take to get this old laptop up and running. Turns out the answer was “not as much as I expected”.
As someone who was introduced to computers in the Win 95 era and remembers his uncle running through MS-DOS to load old Apogee games I’ve used computers my whole life (before kids these days did it naturally!) I’ve been interested in Linux ever since my programming teacher in high school took an entire class to show us a documentary on Tourvalds and his story. This was back in 2007, and beyond that point I either didn’t have the need or the nerve to give the penguin a try. I’ve got the fundamentals on a few different coding languages including C++ (that was what the high school class was for), Python, SQL, and when learning these languages on Codecademy they had us download Git Bash for Windows so I even got direct CLI experience. While I’m nothing resembling a programmer it’s helped build my confidence to try something like this. I also have my A+ cert, and I was studying for my Network+ cert before being hired for my current role where I provide tech support for both music hardware and software.
That leads me to why I want to incorporate Linux into my life as a musician specifically, separate from the overall ethos of Linux which I was sold on over a decade ago. With my job I’ve had to learn about all the major DAWs in the name of troubleshooting them, and it’s made me realize just how quick hardware and software seems to become “obsolete” in the world of Mac and Windows. Some of the customers certainly realize it too. I want to figure out just how much I can get away with not relying on Windows for the music making process, and according to my research that’s never been easier between native software, Wine and Bottles, and Yarbridge(?) for plug-in support. Im an Ableton guy by trade but I’m far more open to learning new workflows today than I was a decade ago when my bandmates tried their hardest to get me to adopt Reaper. As I was typing this I tried running a live version of Ubuntu Studio which failed to work (got through BIOS and then a blank screen) but I’m willing to chalk that up to old hardware in the interim. I’ll save trying that for when I work towards building a new system that can dual-boot Windows and Linux on two separate hard drives, only as a stop-gap until I can figure out how to not use Windows period unless I really need to. If all else fails I can avoid a computer altogether and just record everything direct on my Roland Fantom 7. Haha
Anyway, that’s a lot of me in a Brazilian nutshell. I’m happy to be here and excited to learn more about this system and figuring out a workflow that, well, flows! Any advice here on next steps for a new PC build given my goals of music production, and possibly gaming, would be greatly appreciated. If you read all this, then I wish you well.
Cheers!
As someone who was introduced to computers in the Win 95 era and remembers his uncle running through MS-DOS to load old Apogee games I’ve used computers my whole life (before kids these days did it naturally!) I’ve been interested in Linux ever since my programming teacher in high school took an entire class to show us a documentary on Tourvalds and his story. This was back in 2007, and beyond that point I either didn’t have the need or the nerve to give the penguin a try. I’ve got the fundamentals on a few different coding languages including C++ (that was what the high school class was for), Python, SQL, and when learning these languages on Codecademy they had us download Git Bash for Windows so I even got direct CLI experience. While I’m nothing resembling a programmer it’s helped build my confidence to try something like this. I also have my A+ cert, and I was studying for my Network+ cert before being hired for my current role where I provide tech support for both music hardware and software.
That leads me to why I want to incorporate Linux into my life as a musician specifically, separate from the overall ethos of Linux which I was sold on over a decade ago. With my job I’ve had to learn about all the major DAWs in the name of troubleshooting them, and it’s made me realize just how quick hardware and software seems to become “obsolete” in the world of Mac and Windows. Some of the customers certainly realize it too. I want to figure out just how much I can get away with not relying on Windows for the music making process, and according to my research that’s never been easier between native software, Wine and Bottles, and Yarbridge(?) for plug-in support. Im an Ableton guy by trade but I’m far more open to learning new workflows today than I was a decade ago when my bandmates tried their hardest to get me to adopt Reaper. As I was typing this I tried running a live version of Ubuntu Studio which failed to work (got through BIOS and then a blank screen) but I’m willing to chalk that up to old hardware in the interim. I’ll save trying that for when I work towards building a new system that can dual-boot Windows and Linux on two separate hard drives, only as a stop-gap until I can figure out how to not use Windows period unless I really need to. If all else fails I can avoid a computer altogether and just record everything direct on my Roland Fantom 7. Haha
Anyway, that’s a lot of me in a Brazilian nutshell. I’m happy to be here and excited to learn more about this system and figuring out a workflow that, well, flows! Any advice here on next steps for a new PC build given my goals of music production, and possibly gaming, would be greatly appreciated. If you read all this, then I wish you well.
Cheers!
It's good to meet you all as well.
