Petition for Linux

With Microsoft announcing an end-date for Windows 10 support there may be a willingness for more people to move to Linux. Windows 11 is still incomplete and requires pc hardware most people don't have. The one thing stopping from going back to Linux is the lack of native VSTs, especially when I've invested so much on Komplete.

Might there not be an opportunity for NI to stop saying "there is no market" and actually create a market? If you build it they might come.

For me, silicon is the final reason to quit with Apple and macOS. I want to use a modular computer built with the parts of my choice with the freedom to customize it like I want. The apple products from today are the extreme opposite of this. Not with me.

Laurence, do you have a guide as to how to get Kontakt stuff working in Ubuntu please? It looks so complicated I haven't even thought about trying - just using plugins that work in Linux natively for now

Native Access isn't working with just Stock wine. At first it complains about not being able to install dependencies and afterwards it immediately crashes with a javascript error.

I'd love to use Maschine on my Ubuntu 22.04. Have a great day :)

Hi,

I just discovered this thread, so allow me a bit of background:

Although I think Windows is generally a good OS, Microsofts business practices annoyed me more and more.

So I made the switch to Linux (endeavourOS) last week. My DAW (Reaper) comes in a native Linux version, my audio interface (MOTU M4) works perfectly OOTB. Spitfire Audio, Waves, u-he, Bogren, Modartt and a lot of other plugins also work fine either natively or by using Wine and yabridge. (Some research and fiddling were needed to get all of this running.)

Also Native Access 1.14 runs under Wine and it's possible to authorize and download NI plugins. Installation however needs to be done manually from the .iso file that Native Access downloads. That's a bit annoying, but doable and so far all plugins I installed work really well.

Only exception I found is Komplete Kontrol (it's a pity but I can live with that) and recently the freebie iZotope EQ. It shows up in my Native Access but I can't install it. FAQ says I need the newer version of Native Access. Unfortunately, Native Access 2 does not run in Wine, so this is the first Plugin I really can't use in Linux. That makes me fear what will happen with future releases...

Coming back to the main topic of this thread:

Honestly, I can understand NI is not working on bringing their entire product range or even parts of it to Linux. The possible reasons have already been mentioned here and elsewhere.

But that leaves us with a Hen-Egg problem. Linux' userbase is too small to create a market interest, but how should it grow without the availability of good and established software?

If I could wish for something from NI, it would just be to make the latest Native Access version runable in Wine. I don't mind using Wine and going some extra steps to get the plugins working. Also I don't expect NI to provide any additional service or support, as we all know this is expensive. Just open up the possibility for the community to download and authorize their purchased plugins under Linux and let the community do the rest.

This brings a chance to slowly gain a reputation for the brand of being "Linux friendly", without an unsure return-on-invest. Maybe in the future the Linux audio community will be big and "worthy" enough to get native NI stuff... In the meantime, please just don't block us from buying and using your software.

PS: Maybe Spotify can serve as a role model, although they even go one step further: They provide a Linux native version of their client, as "[...] a labor of love from our engineers that wanted to listen to Spotify on their Linux development machines.". They clearly state that there's no support, so really no money needed for testing and service. But it's of great marketing value!

(As I cannot post links, you'll have to google "Spotify linux for yourself to find their page 😉 )

+1 for Komplete Kontrol (higer than v. 1) under Linux