I’ve been searching around for the right linux raft I need to jump off of the sinking microsoft ship, and I am currently considering giving Ubuntu Studio a go. My primary activities are music production and gaming, so the massive number of creative tools that are available seem like it would really level up my music production game, and possibly inspire me to try out some other creative avenues as well. It’s kind of amazing to see the possibilities with all the free software out there these days.
So, does anyone use Ubuntu Studio, and do you have any tips or any things to watch out for as far as quirks? Would this be a good option as a first install, or should I go with something else?
Basically irrelevant what you choose as first distro. Do backups early and often, hopefully automated, and make sure to document your experience a bit so you know what you like and dislike. Afterwards you can check if other distributions might do the things you like better and do the things you dislike less.
The quirks are half the fun and part of your journey.
The biggest advantage of ubuntu studio is their special pipewire setup, included in a package called ubuntustudio-pipewire-something. This can be installed by any distro that uses Ubuntu’s repositories, e.g. Mint, Zorin etc. As for the apps included, they’re easily installed manually. So you can go with Mint for a first distro.
What apps does Mint have installed by default? Because I’m trying to minimize the things I need to tinker with up front to have a good experience. I am somewhat technically savvy, but this is my first linux install, so I’d like it to go smoothly and hit the ground running. What is the benefit of mint over this OS?
You can install anything you want via their flatpak app, which is pre-setup (unlike ubuntustudio that does come with media apps, but doesn’t have an easy way to get flatpaks going – it only has snaps).
I am not familiar with flat packs vs snaps, I will have to look into that. I’m not opposed to learning different file systems if need be, it’s all new to me anyway, but if one is easier than the other I would probably go with that.
What DAW are you planning to use?
Reaper was the plan, but open to something different.
I would try it, but focus on those included applications. If you don’t like anything else about Ubuntu, those production programs will work just fine on any other distribution.
yeah thats exactly what i loved about ubuntu studio. it has basically every creative app you can find for linux.
in the same vein, i was looking at the commodore vison os, and that too is packed to the gills with included apps, more of a focus on the gaming aspect. the interface is god awful tho lol.
as a long time linux user, im happily on manjaro, but flirting with nixos.
I use Pop!_OS with Bitwig, Renoise, and Reaper as Linux native DAWs and Guitar Rig 7 through Wine emulation. I haven’t given the Guitar Rig 7 install a proper run through, but Bitwig, Renoise and Reaper work great.
I really love Ubuntu Studio but Plasma/KDE doesn’t seem to run well on my machine. Its the result of having old hardware and not having the expertise to figure out why it doesn’t run properly. If it weren’t for that I would use it.
What hardware do you have? Mine is somewhat on the older side (ryzen 3600 and rx 6600), but new enough to run games and other software decently.
i5 4690k (I think, can verify later)
EVGA GTX 1060 6GB
32GB RAM DDR3
I run most things fine but I always have problems with distros that use the KDE/Plasma desktop enviroment. I believe this is likely an issue with my configuration where it isn’t utilizing my video card or something and a smarter person would probably not have the same problem
