bapu
Clint,
 
You've already dug further than I intended. I just wanted to get a flavor of the direction with the base product.
 
Of course once MB3 is out I'll cancel my $1/mo donation.
 
I imagine the only Win support will be Harrison. Just my opinion.

It's all in good fun. I'm finishing up a song...so I imported the tracks into Mixbus and Ardour which got me playing around a bit. I to only got it to get more familiar with what Mixbus 3 might be.

Ubuntu Studio comes as a low latency build with Ardour already installed.
 
If you can format a hard drive, you can install it. There are easy to follow directions.
 
I tend to use Linux Live USB Creator to install Linux on remote USB Hard-Drives.
http://www.linuxliveusb.com/
 
You download the image of Linux that you want (like from http://UbuntuStudio.org).
Then you install it to a remote hard-drive.
Now, boot to your remote hard drive by restarting your computer and pressing F12. This should bring you to a list of available boot partitions > Windows > USB Drives.
Select your USB Drive.
Next it will ask if you want Regular Ubuntu or Low Latency Ubuntu. Choose Low Latency.
 
There you go. No more BS about trying to figure out which driver is doing you in. None of them are!!

The last step for the easy path is to use your Class Compliant interface. If you do, there is really no configuration necessary. Just launch Ardour and choose your interface.
 
If you are using an older interface that has a driver hack, that's tricker and you'll have to do some tricks to get it working.
http://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/hardware_matrix
http://www.linuxstudiopro.com/
 
Basically, if your interface isn't class compliant, then someone needs to have blazed the trail before you to configure the drivers required to use your interface.
 
I'll add that I use a very old and inexpensive and tiny 500 GB USB drive and it works fine beyond 8 tracks which is the most I tend to use it for. Using this drive enables me to use any computer or laptop to make high quality recordings using my RME UCX. 
 
For me, using Ubuntu Studio makes so much sense because it's a low latency build of Ubuntu with everything that's vetted already installed and integrated. It's so super awesome and cool.
 
Now, the plugins aren't yet up to the level of Sonar plugins, but there are plenty of them. They do cool things too like report sample latency. And there is a meter to let you know how your drive is doing so you know if your drive is a constraint for recording the amount of audio you want to record.
 
And if anything goes wrong, just format the drive and install the latest version. Piece of cake! Takes less time than installing a Sonar patch.

I wonder about putting it on my Linux (Fedora 20) PC. I may have to try that out. Thanks for the info.

I just keep the drive in my work laptop bag. I don't 'Install' it on the primary drive of any computer.
 
Windows is very picky and not moveable, but Linux works the perfectly smoothly on a USB Drive. I suppose there could be some tiny difference in boot time, but I don't care about that.
 
Also, on Ubuntu Studio, there is something equivalent to the App Store. You open it and type in the apps you want and it installs them. You have to give your password (like for the app store) but that's it. Then you're good to go. All the software is open source I think, but super easy.
 
There are a few times I've used the console on Ubuntu Studio for entering commands (like when doing tricky R-Studio work) but nothing to do with recording audio.
 
Oh Oh! I just remembered that I did download and install the driver for my touch screen (which works fine from Linux, but not as 10 point touch... only 2, I think). That involved going to the monitor vender (Dell) downloading the driver and following their instructions to install it. The trickiest part of that was that you couldn't install it unless the monitor was connected and you couldn't see if you booted to a computer with the monitor connected. Ha ha. There was a work around. You basically boot to a Linux safe mode and then install the driver.

bapu
 I gave them a one time $10 contribution to help with development.
 
 

And it looks like they spent nearly all of it !
 
 
 
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, but I can't really see the point of it.

For me it's a convenience. I can use any laptop in the house to make a mobile recording. I can even use an ipad to make a mobile recording ~ this has to do with the RME being class compliant, nothing to do with Linux.
 
So, for me, I have to buy one less computer because I have a little portable hard drive.

paulo
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, but I can't really see the point of it.

As a DAW, Ardour has no real draw for me. It's the underpinnings of Harrison MixBus. When MB 3 comes out it will be 64bit. I plan to occasionally use it as Mixing Console as I kind of prefer the Harrison sound just slightly over SONAR in some cases. Placebo? Maybe. 

paulo

bapu
 I gave them a one time $10 contribution to help with development.
 
 

And it looks like they spent nearly all of it !
 
 
 
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, but I can't really see the point of it.

Yep, as I said before...It's to learn the ins and outs of what Harrison Mixbus 3 will be.

bapu

paulo
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, but I can't really see the point of it.

As a DAW, Ardour has no real draw for me. It's the underpinnings of Harrison MixBus. When MB 3 comes out it will be 64bit. I plan to occasionally use it as Mixing Console as I kind of prefer the Harrison sound just slightly over SONAR in some cases. Placebo? Maybe. 

I do think the whole harrison thing may be part placebo and have voiced it previously. It definitely sounds different, but It sounds different in a way that a coloring plugin would rather than a fundamentally different sound engine would. I bought it when it was on sale and it remains somewhat of a novelty that i keep telling myself i will dive deeper into. 
 
 

It takes the place of console and tape sims. The work flow is also nice. Having all tracks and busses on one screen while mixing is nice. I also enjoy changing things up a bit sometimes...It's just fun.
 Most of the time I prefer Sonar without console emulation or tape sims. For me most of the time less is more.