[PD] PD 4 EM

jfm3 jfm3 at ouroboros-complex.org
Fri Feb 21 21:22:17 CET 2003


Hi Jim,

I'm the owner of pure-data.org. If you mention the pure-data.org web
site in your article, please make note of the fact that Miller doesn't
have anything to do with it; that it is a completely independent web
site. Also, you might mention that the mailing list is really a better
way to be in touch with the PD user community, and the
pure-data.sourceforge.net CVS repository is the best way to stay up to
date with 3rd party externals. That as opposed to the pure-data.org
"downloads" section, which is frequently out of date.

A lot of users see pure-data.org and have some kind of problem with it,
and then they go yell at miller or some other developer, and it's all
due to this misguided notion that somehow pure-data.org is the
developers promoting their own work, while in actuality it is just
another user community resource. Pure-data.org could use a lot of work,
as well, and my inability to devote serious time to it should not be
interpreted as laziness on the part of the real pd developers.

I use Pd and a laptop running linux for performances. I also could
probably write a simple C compiler and UNIX kernel from scratch, given
enough time. If you're not comfortable with CVS, C/C++ compilers,
bleeding edge device drivers, serious system performance tuning,
advanced DSP theory, and a bunch of other technical gunk, Pd is not for
you. Perhaps, start with Reaktor or some other commercial product for
which you can get professional support when you run into problems.

If you do have the computer chops to run Pd, it will never ever
disappoint you, and you will find its user community *just right*.

The only other piece of software people seem to use other than Pd is a
sequencer, just because Pd's graphics for sequencers are clunky and slow
to mouse around with.

I have mixed feelings about an EM article on PD. On the one hand, the
more people who use it successfully, the better. On the other hand, I
don't like the idea of the mailing list clogging up with people who can
barely run cakewalk complaining that their free software doesn't work.
Food for thought for you, perhaps.

On Thu, 2003-02-20 at 16:20, Jim Aikin wrote:
> I've been assigned to write a feature on Pd for an upcoming issue of 
> Electronic Musician. [...]

-- 
(jfm3  2838 BCBA 93BA 3058 ED95  A42C 37DB 66D1 B43C 9FD0)





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