Would you buy a machine pre-installed with Gentoo Studio?

[audiodef]

If you were looking for a multimedia computer pre-installed with an OS and all kinds of audio and video software, would you buy a computer that came with Gentoo Linux, optimized with a real-time kernel, and loaded with all the audio and video editing goodies the open-source world provides? In other words, would you buy a machine pre-installed with Gentoo Studio? If so, would you be expecting such a machine to be cheaper than a comparable Windows or Mac machine (fully-loaded for A/V), or would you pay just as much?

(I'm actually thinking that if "fully-loaded" means it comes with complete versions of things like Pro Tools or Digital Performer, the open-source fully-loaded machine would be considerably cheaper!)
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decibel Linux: https://decibellinux.org
Github: https://github.com/Gentoo-Music-and-Audio-Technology
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/decibellinux
Discord: https://discord.gg/73XV24dNPN

[jasn]

I not only would definitely consider it, I would love for this to exist so that I could recommend the system to friends and acquaintances who don't care what OS their computer runs. And I would expect to pay something less than the traditional Win/Mac platforms, based on software license costs but cost wouldn't be the big consideration. HW price/performance would be more important to me. The only tricky bit would be updates. If the system could have pre-rolled updates applied easily, I think it would be a winner.

BTW, I think this idea has some legs. There's probably other "pre-installed" scenarios we could come up that would server similar usefulness. My first thought would be a "protected" office configuration. Something with solid encryption already configured, then loaded with traditional office productivity software. as well as internet tools, etc. I think there is an untapped reservoir of demand for Linux based systems that come pre-configured, particularly for the tricky configurations, such as A/V real time kernel, encryption, etc.

Jason

[666threesixes666]

i was really bugging my old music teacher by showing her musescore solfege & qsynth > rakarrack death metal piano.... she'd order one 4 sure for the school.

[audiodef]

Cool! For updates, I'm thinking this would be a good way to handle it. I've already incorporated that into Gentoo Studio.

I would love to be able to build a small initial set of pre-configured Gentoo Studio machines, but if I do this, I might start by advertising that I would assemble custom, paid-up-front orders at cost to see how well it works for both me and customers, and if everything works out on both ends, start adding a small markup (maybe a couple hundred per machine?).

My own Gentoo Studio DAW's hardware configuration seems rock-solid, so I might use that as a base design and maybe offer a choice of cases and discrete video cards. I'll have to think about what else would be good customization options. Some things might not be - for example, hard drives would be 7200 RPM (or higher) only, and the minimum RAM would be 8 GB. Probably best that a discrete video card of some kind be a minimum requirement, to keep RAM and CPU out of the display end, but it could be a cheap-o discrete card if serious video work isn't a requirement.

Thanks for the replies! This might be a fun side business.
_________________
decibel Linux: https://decibellinux.org
Github: https://github.com/Gentoo-Music-and-Audio-Technology
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/decibellinux
Discord: https://discord.gg/73XV24dNPN

[audiodef]

[666threesixes666]

does your overlay have linthesia / synthesia?

https://sourceforge.net/projects/linthesia/

synthesia looks REALLY polished now compared to when i last saw it as an open source project.

[steveL]

Yes I would, but I would want to be able to specify the hardware, down to motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM amount (and you can try to sell me something sweet to top it off;)

I'd expect it to cost the same as buying a pre-manufactured machine from Dell: it actually costs more to buy without Winbloze thanks to what any reasonable person would call illegal anti-competitive behaviour, IMO.

WRT "fully-laden" I'd like to think we'd have fun developing much better technologies than eg VST, using jack: that's why I'd really be into it, for audio-programming (meaning coding, not studio-programming, which is fun too ofc or we wouldn't be interested. ;)

Your main competitor software-wise is dyne:bolic: I'd like to think given that this is FLOSS we could all just collaborate instead; perhaps you already do?

I'd be much more interested if I knew you had Dominique on-board as one of the lead devs, distro-wise.

But in essence, yes: I'd see the software package, and appropriate customisation, along with a great community, as what entices me to buy pre-made hardware, instead of building it myself from known-good components. That last bit is where I think you can stand out, if you keep your sense of community (which I'm sure you will, based on the last x years) along with the excellent software base. Support, maintenance, and peripheral hardware is where you can both add value and make more money.

It sounds like you're thinking along those lines already. I'd really like to be able to specify at a component level, in terms of specification as you said, such as 7200rpm drives etc, and be able to have a discussion with you in terms of actual brand, to cope with fluctuations in the market. Oh and to be sure we have things like PCI-X available, even if we don't need a souped-up video-card to begin with.

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