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> KXStudio Monthly Report (December 2019)
On 2019-12-16 by falkTX

Hello all, another monthly report about the KXStudio project is here.

There is not a whole lot of new exciting stuff this time around, as most of the time was spent on Carla new features and bug-fixing.
I am doing a push towards CV support in Carla (a "MIDI to CV" internal plugin was added, for example),
with only 1 new feature to be implemented - allowing to automate any regular parameter with CV.
The idea is to make it easier to automate things in Carla, by exposing individual parameters in the patchbay as CV ports.
There is only 1 month left for the planned release, so going to be tight on time, but still seems doable, specially with holidays coming.
(so more free time to work on this)

There were a few minor package updates in the repositories. Those are:

  • x42-plugins updated to 20191215
  • zam-plugins updated to 3.12
  • sequencer64 added (Qt5 build from git master)

A new small extra repository has been created, one I have been using for some time now.
This came out of the necessity to update JACK2, but JACK not being something we can distribute in generic packages like KXStudio does for applications and plugins.
A few pieces of software, like JACK2 and other libraries, cannot be made into generic deb packages.
So, I want to create a few small but nice repositories for basic utilities and nice-to-have things.
For now, I have created a first, small one for Ubuntu 18.04 users (which includes me, obviously :P) which contains an updated JACK2, Wine-RT, among other small things.
You can find more details about this repository and all future ones coming soon at https://kx.studio/Repositories:Extras.

In some news regarding the JACK2 project, it has its own news page now, so I won't be posting JACK2 related stuff here anymore.
The latest about it, which is worth mentioning, is that its mailing list is back online once again! \o/

Cadence v0.9.1 was released, just tagging it in its git repo so distributions can pick it up.
It was mostly needed due to an incompatibility with Python 3.8.

And finally, donations for the KXStudio project (basically myself) are open once again, now even with a Patreon page.
In the past I mentioned that, due to legal costs, it was not worth having them while in Germany and I would open them again once I moved.
That happened a few months ago, but I dislike dealing with these things, so it took some time...
They are open once again now, though I removed the PayPal subscription option and counter for now.
(I am intentionally not posting the link here, I trust that if you care enough, you know where to find it)

Next month hopefully a new Carla release will be here.
Catia will be made into a standalone project, leaving Cadence behind. But that is news for another time... :)

> KXStudio Monthly Report (November 2019)
On 2019-11-16 by falkTX

Hello everyone, it is time for another monthly report in regards to the KXStudio project.

First, the most important I think, some small repository changes have been made.
I added a "KXStudio" suffix to the repository names, so you get stuff like "KXStudio Plugins" in your package manager now.
This was requested by a user, and makes a lot of sense.
The bad news is that your package manager is likely to complain about the changes, as it thinks it is a sign of trouble.
That is not the case though, as I am here just informing you of that. :)
A quick "solution" to this is to simply delete the cached apt list information, so the package manager will not have the previous repository title, like so:
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

There were a few new packages added to the repositories.
First, for the basic infrastructure, we got meson 0.51.2 and premake5. A few projects need this in order to build, so we got to have them first.
The more exciting ones are added and updated application and plugins, the changes on that are:

  • drumgizmo updated to 0.8.1
  • fluajho updated to 1.4.1
  • moony updated to 0.30.0, enabled inline display
  • patroneo updated to 1.4.1
  • vico updated to 1.0.1
  • surge added
  • dragonfly-reverb added
  • hybridreverb2 added
  • wolf-shaper added
  • wolf-spectrum added

Lastly, preparations for the next Carla release are well under way.
I was able to update and build generic Windows and Linux binaries (with Qt 5.9), and macOS is mostly working but still needs some fixing.
In the past I used to do a bunch of beta releases until the final one was declared stable.
I am going against this now, and will directly do a "Release Candidate" where no more new stuff can be added, only bug-fixing.
The next "Linux Audio release day" is January 15, so that will be the target date.

PS: Many of the new packages were imported from the LibraZik project, for which I am extremely grateful for.
The surge armhf build fails at this point, to be fixed soon.

> KXStudio Monthly Report (October 2019)
On 2019-10-15 by falkTX

Hello all, today is October 15th, a Linux/Libre-Audio release day.
I do not have anything to actually release (that is ready anyway), so I thought to instead start something new.

Every month, starting with this one, we will have a monthly report regarding the latest stuff in KXStudio.
This will involve new releases, package updates to its repositories, important bug-fixes and short-term plans.
So let's begin...

First of all, in case you somehow missed it, a new JACK2 release is here!
This finally brings meta-data support into JACK2. More information about meta-data in JACK can be found here.

On the repositories, "helm" package had an issue where the plugin could not find its own presets.
(This was caused due to KXStudio repositories going ahead on renaming "helm" to "Helm" as the former already exists)

ZynAddSubFX got (re-)added, using its nice and fancy Zyn-Fusion UI.
In the old repositories there was "zynaddsubfx" for old UI, and "zynaddsubfx-git" for the new one.
The "git" package is gone, only "zynaddsubfx" is there now and it has the new UI. +1 for progress!

x42-plugins got updated to 20191013 release.

Fluajho, Patroneo and Vico were added. (nice simple tools from Nils Hilbricht)
These last ones were tricky since they use python libraries.
In order to make it a generic package I resorted to cxfreeze which makes it run independent of the system python.

Coming soon is Carla 2.1-beta1.
The actual software is ready for the beta1 release, but setting up the infrastructure for an updated Qt5 build is taking longer than expected.
The current 2.0 builds use quite an old Qt version: Qt5.5 on macOS, Qt4(!) on Linux, which I do not accept for new releases going forward.
Windows builds are ready to go though, you can find test binaries on Carla's github.
Once I finish setting up the builds for Linux and macOS, I will make the announcement. Very likely in mid-November.

Finally, Sonoj is coming!
Sonoj is an annual event/convention in Cologne, Germany, about music production with free and open source software.
It features demonstrations, talks and hands-on workshops.
You can meet like-minded people, learn insider knowledge and tricks, participate in their one-hour production challenge!
It is only a few days from now, so please get ready! :)
I will be doing a talk in Sonoj about the past, present and future of JACK.
So please come and say hi, registration is free!

> JACK2 v1.9.13 release
On 2019-10-06 by falkTX

A new version of JACK2 has just been released.
You can grab the latest release source code at https://github.com/jackaudio/jack2/releases.
The official changelog is:

  • Meta-data API implementation. (and a few tools updated with support for it)
  • Correct GPL licence to LGPL for files needed to build libjack.
  • Remove FreeBoB backend (superseded by FFADO).
  • define JACK_LIB_EXPORT, useful for internal clients.
  • Mark jack_midi_reset_buffer as deprecated.
  • Add example systemd unit file
  • Signal to systemd when jackd is ready.
  • Set "seq" alsa midi driver to maximum resolution possible.
  • Fix loading internal clients from another internal client.
  • Code cleanup and various fixes. (too many to mention here, see git log for details)

This release is focused on meta-data support, and this is why it took so long.
There might be odd cases here and there and a few bugs, as it is often the case for all software...
So please make sure to report back any issues!

Special thanks goes to Rui Nuno Capela for the initial pull-request regarding meta-data.
There was some work needed afterwards, but that was the biggest hurdle and motivation needed for a new release. :)

There are still no updated macOS or Windows builds, those will be handled at a later date.
Current plan is to have JACK1 feature-parity first (only a2jmidid and zita internal clients missing now),
and afterwards merging examples/tools and header files to be shared between JACK1 and JACK2.

The situation regarding development of JACK and JACK1 considered legacy has not changed since last release 2 years ago.
See https://kx.studio/News/?action=view&url=jack2-1912-release-and-future-plans for more information.

PS: I will be in Cologne for Sonoj, giving a talk about "Past, Present and Future of JACK".
There is no registration fee, so please feel free to come by and say hello! :)

> The KXStudio repositories are (slowly) coming back
On 2019-09-24 by falkTX

Greetings from Portugal.
After some time setting up in a new country, thinking and planning, I (falkTX) decided a few things in regards to the KXStudio project.

First of all, if you have not noticed, the KXStudio ISO images were taken down.
They were using Ubuntu 14.04 as base, that while still works in many cases, starts to show its age.
The fact that I can no longer run it myself (due to a new GPU that is unsupported in its older OS stack) forced me to finally move to something new.

Wherever new ISOs will come back again is undecided at this point.
They are not a priority at all right now, so if I get to make them again it is not going to be this year or the beginning of the next.
I still like KDE/Plasma the best in terms of desktop experience, so that would remain.
Plasma and KDE ecosystem is changing too fast, it does not make it easy for what I want in KXStudio.
Perhaps when Qt6 is out, KDE/Plasma5 will slow down a bit, we'll see...

Anyway, the bigger news is that the KXStudio repositories are coming back!
(for those that do not know, KXStudio has repositories that sit on top of any Debian or Ubuntu system and provides updates and new packages related to audio/music production)

To be honest, they are already back right now :), but not in a state that matches what they used to be before.
I am in the process of bringing over all the relevant packages slowly. A few packages per day so in a few weeks we should be good again. :)

Anyway, a new repository setup was really needed.
Previously, the repositories were mixing packages built in 3 different Ubuntu versions and there was a separate gcc5 variant of the repos with a few packages that use the new libstdc++ ABI introduced in gcc5.1.
This was a pain to manage, so better to rethink it.
I kept things somewhat updated over the years, and did not change/break the repositories in a meaningful way because 14.04 was still supported and what I used daily anyway.
Now that enough time has passed and 14.04 is officially EOL, perfect chance to rework the repositories for the future!

Here is the current situation:

  • The new repositories require at least Ubuntu 18.04 or Debian 10 (or equivalent)
  • There is a single deb file to be installed in order to activate the repositories.

    (hopefully no more libstdc++ ABI breakages again, please...?)
  • The old repositories are considered legacy and will no longer be updated.

    Packages included on them will still remain available for some time.
  • You will not be automatically updated to the new repositories, it has to be done manually

    This is to prevent breakage of existing systems, mostly for keeping "old" packages installable.
    Once you update to the new repositories, you will not be able to "apt-get install" packages that were present in the old repositories but are not yet in the new ones.
    This is intentional. There are quite a few packages that I will not be supporting anymore, and thus won't end up in the repos.
    When you move to the new repos, you will be able to remove the KXStudio specific version of packages and then install whatever version someone else provides.
    I will not be uploading packages to the new repositories that I do not intend to keep updated.
  • armhf and arm64 are now supported targets, taking Raspberry Pi 3 as the minimum specs

    With this, the repos will support 32 and 64bit Intel-based architecture, plus 32 and 64bit ARM.
  • Audio plugins (including standalone synths and FX) are the focus of the repos.

    General applications and tools will not be supported anymore.
    This is mainly to reduce the burden of maintaining the repos, as applications often have very complex dependencies compared to plugins (some are actually quite difficult to build).
    I will be packaging a few that I personally use, or that have stalled in feature development.
  • All available application and plugin packages are listed here and here respectively.

    There are direct deb files to download from those pages, for those that want something specific in the repos but do not want to enable the full thing.
    These 2 pages are automatically generated, and fetch their contents directly from the repositories.
  • There is a page dedicated to questions about the repositories here.

    I will be updating this page as more questions appear.

Speaking of updates, the website needs some touches here and there...
Already started with a few, like removing the home carousel and all use of JavaScript, plus updating the pages related to the repositories obviously. :)
It is a moving target as pretty much all websites, so don't be surprised to see changes, though they won't be that substantial..

That is all for now, thank you.

PS: You might be wondering why I am writing this text in first person, contrary to other past posts.
This is mainly because, well, KXStudio was and still is a one-person project (with the occasional help here and there for small things).
I am making an effort to not write "marketing speech"-like anymore, just that.

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