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Revitalizing the Reviews - Everyone Read in Please
Edvard:
Nice find!!
It's freeware until 1.0, then who knows.
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(from the website)
REAPER versions 0.4-0.99 are freeware, but starting with version 1.0 the license will change to very reasonably priced, uncrippled nag-free shareware (supporting unexpiring full functionality in unregistered form).
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So, like, um... DonationWare, eh?
superboyac:
You know, since the LateLate 90's to EarlyEarly 2000's I haven't really heard much about lately is Music Software. No, not mp3 encoders or the latest "yet another mp3/ogg/flac player with playlists, skins and cddb" but real, hands-on music creations software. I'm talking the likes of Acid, ReBirth, Cubase, Fruityloops, ProTools, and the scads of free-and-shareware projects that sprang up around them. For that 4 years or so, a few well known names came up and are now almost forgotten due to being snatched up by bigger fish (e.g. Sonic Foundry = Sony orca-bait) or disappearing altogether. Superboyac mentioned a few and it made me wonder... where are they now? Who are the big players? The up-and-comers? The Open Source renegades (Okay, okay... I know the answer to THAT one... Audacity) Is the desktop DAW a dead subject? It's been a long time since I've been in "the scene" but curiosity kills me sometimes... If I had more time I'd do a Mini-Review of "DAW-Tools of Yester, er, uh... 6 Years Ago!! but, you know, if I had the time... I'd still be interested, though. Maybe even help out a tad...
-Edvard (February 20, 2006, 07:31 PM)
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I think the open source market tends to be less accessible for these specialized, professional applications. Most of the freeware and software that we talk about here are more like general "utilities" that help us do things (notetaking programs, little "snacks" to make life easier). Once you get into the truly professional realm, the market becomes much smaller, and begin we're talking about software that costs hundreds of dollars and are used by professionals to accomplish professional results. I think the major DAW tools fall in this category, along with software like MS Access, AutoCAD, etc. So, while it would be nice for this kind of software to also join in on the whole open-source thing, I wouldn't expect too much. I mean, it's not like a guy like you or mouser is going to spend his free time coming up with a Cubase replacement...that's pretty major. Second of all, my expectations would be very low that even if someone ventured to make these programs open-source, that it would be as robust as Cubase or the other industry standards. Sure, things like OpenOffice.org and the Gimp come around once in a while, but:
a) Can you really say they are as good as the "industry standard" in all the subtle aspects?
b) You just can't depend on these softwares to eventually go open source, so you're stuck with what's established anyway
It's an entirely different can of worms than shareware/freeware little applications. For example, I just came back from training for a specific Electrical Engineering software called SKM (which I was really impressed with from a software standpoint, I'd write a review, but no one would care here!) and this software costs thousands of dollars. Just imagine, if an open source program came out that was truly as good as this program, this entire company would be out of business...and quickly at that! You have to remember that there are only a handful of users of these kinds of software and the word would quickly get around if something was out there free and just as good.
So what am I saying? I don't know, really. I guess when you get to a certain level of software (and you can tell what level that is) you know if you can expect a good open source program on that level or even several reasonable competitors, but for the most part, there are the industry standards, and that's that.
mouser:
For example, I just came back from training for a specific Electrical Engineering software called SKM (which I was really impressed with from a software standpoint, I'd write a review, but no one would care here!) and this software costs thousands of dollars. Just imagine, if an open source program came out that was truly as good as this program, this entire company would be out of business...and quickly at that!
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this is definitely getting off topic, but i'd just like to add that i disagree with this.
i'm learning more and more over time about the price that has to be put on TIME and SUPPORT.
it seems that companies who buy these thousand dollar software products are buying the support system associated with a company as much as they are buying the software itself. maybe someone like sentinel who does enterprise level purchasing can jump in here, but it seems to me that a company would rather pay $5000 for some software and be confident that if they have a problem they will be able to pick up the phone and get some tech support, than pay $0 and then end up with no one to contact for help.
this is why youll see a lot of the open source business models that are basically all about suppot. the software is free, but you can buy a support contract for major money..
superboyac:
this is definitely getting off topic, but i'd just like to add that i disagree with this.
i'm learning more and more over time about the price that has to be put on TIME and SUPPORT.
it seems that companies who buy these thousand dollar software products are buying the support system associated with a company as much as they are buying the software itself. maybe someone like sentinel who does enterprise level purchasing can jump in here, but it seems to me that a company would rather pay $5000 for some software and be confident that if they have a problem they will be able to pick up the phone and get some tech support, than pay $0 and then end up with no one to contact for help.
this is why youll see a lot of the open source business models that are basically all about suppot. the software is free, but you can buy a support contract for major money..
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OK, this will be my last thread here to keep it on-topic, but just to finish the thought...
True, mouser, I wasn't even thinking about that at the time. Yes, the companies definitely do buy the support that comes with this software. I think your exactly right. For example, if SKM didn't give the support they do, I can see their software being pretty worthless, given some of its specific complexities. Thanks for that last bit about open source business models...I always wondered (was amazed) by how companies can just write some of these complex programs for free and just give it away. But if they get money for their support, I can see the value in it, so that makes sense to me. I like that, because it gives the opportunity to an individual to play with the program on a personal basis, but also provides serious companies with the reliability and support they need to use the software on a professional level.
Ok, end of discussion (at least in this thread!).
Edvard:
Quick Reply...
@superboyac:
I didn't mean to imply such a scope. I was just wondering how the Music Creation Software 'scene' is nowadays. Many websites of (especially) the share/free-ware tools are either gone or not updated at all. Some are hanging in there with a huge community that was built from the ground up but probably not a whole lot of new members. Perhaps I'm just waxing nostalgic for the days when everybody and his brother was writing trackers and VST plugins instead of Winamp skins and mp3 rippers. Anyways, I agree this has gotten off-topic and maybe we oughta take it to another thread...
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