Comments on: A Conditional Surrender http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/ Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:40:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Madsen http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-546 Madsen Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:21:55 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-546 Huh? It seems that my comment just before the one on August 14, 2007 9:33 am has disappeared... Anyways, what I was saying in it was merely that a many of your problems with Linux seems to have something to do with the programs you've chosen - and in my experience, Praat runs fine on Linux - at least as well as on OS X. Besides, Praat is developed on Linux using the TCL/TK toolkit, which is why it looks so horrible. For recording, Audacity has come along fine - at least for simple one track recordings, and for multi-tracking there are ecasound (if you're not afraid of a little command line work) and Ardour, which is really a full-fledged digital audio workstation. For IPA input there's: http://lingoland.kopula.dk/index.php/2007/07/14/ipa-input-in-linux-ubuntu-feisty-fawn/ It's way better than anything I've ever found for OS X (can't say anything about Windows, since I haven't really used it for 7 years). But as I said, I'm not trying to convince you to change OS and I totally get the greatness of OS X (I'm a big fan myself), I just wanted to assure the readers of this post that using Linux as a linguist is definitely not impossible or impractical. For me it's the first choice with OS X in a close, close second place. Huh? It seems that my comment just before the one on August 14, 2007 9:33 am has disappeared…

Anyways, what I was saying in it was merely that a many of your problems with Linux seems to have something to do with the programs you’ve chosen – and in my experience, Praat runs fine on Linux – at least as well as on OS X. Besides, Praat is developed on Linux using the TCL/TK toolkit, which is why it looks so horrible.

For recording, Audacity has come along fine – at least for simple one track recordings, and for multi-tracking there are ecasound (if you’re not afraid of a little command line work) and Ardour, which is really a full-fledged digital audio workstation.

For IPA input there’s: http://lingoland.kopula.dk/index.php/2007/07/14/ipa-input-in-linux-ubuntu-feisty-fawn/
It’s way better than anything I’ve ever found for OS X (can’t say anything about Windows, since I haven’t really used it for 7 years).

But as I said, I’m not trying to convince you to change OS and I totally get the greatness of OS X (I’m a big fan myself), I just wanted to assure the readers of this post that using Linux as a linguist is definitely not impossible or impractical. For me it’s the first choice with OS X in a close, close second place.

]]> By: Madsen http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-540 Madsen Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:33:45 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-540 Btw, I'm not trying to convince you to switch back or anything - and I do see that the iPhone is a pretty good reason to keep running OS X. :) Btw, I’m not trying to convince you to switch back or anything – and I do see that the iPhone is a pretty good reason to keep running OS X. :)

]]> By: Madsen http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-539 Madsen Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:32:05 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-539 I know Ubuntu runs really well on the MacBook Pro (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MacBookPro). For IPA you could try http://lingoland.kopula.dk/index.php/2007/07/14/ipa-input-in-linux-ubuntu-feisty-fawn/ I'm not too sure about what other problems you have, but for simple audio recording, Audacity does quite a decent job - ecasound too, if you're not afraid of a little command line work. And, in my experience, Praat runs just as well in the latest Ubuntu as it does on OS X - the looks aren't something to write home about though. Browsing a little around in Synaptic (or whatever way you prefer to access the .deb repositories) is always a good place to start when looking for a piece of software to do a specific task. Personally, I'm constantly switching between OS X and Linux - OS X is great for everyday stuff like checking mail, running Firefox and a few games, but when it comes to doing LaTeX and making music - all the more specific stuff, Linux is my personal favourite. I know Ubuntu runs really well on the MacBook Pro (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MacBookPro). For IPA you could try http://lingoland.kopula.dk/index.php/2007/07/14/ipa-input-in-linux-ubuntu-feisty-fawn/

I’m not too sure about what other problems you have, but for simple audio recording, Audacity does quite a decent job – ecasound too, if you’re not afraid of a little command line work. And, in my experience, Praat runs just as well in the latest Ubuntu as it does on OS X – the looks aren’t something to write home about though. Browsing a little around in Synaptic (or whatever way you prefer to access the .deb repositories) is always a good place to start when looking for a piece of software to do a specific task.

Personally, I’m constantly switching between OS X and Linux – OS X is great for everyday stuff like checking mail, running Firefox and a few games, but when it comes to doing LaTeX and making music – all the more specific stuff, Linux is my personal favourite.

]]> By: will http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-538 will Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:57:45 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-538 Madsen, I'm still very much OS X only. As far as I know, none of my major issues have been resolved in Linux, and although the stability is being polished, it's just not there yet. Also, my recent iPhone purchase (still no DRM'ed music on it) has kinda tied me to Mac OS X for a bit longer. However, there are open-source victories. NeoOffice for OS X is improving daily, and other Open Source software is finding its way increasingly into my workflow. Also, Dual-Booting Linux on my MacBookPro just hasn't been a good option for me yet. Maybe at some point, but not yet. Still, good job fighting the good Open Source fight. Will Madsen,

I’m still very much OS X only. As far as I know, none of my major issues have been resolved in Linux, and although the stability is being polished, it’s just not there yet. Also, my recent iPhone purchase (still no DRM’ed music on it) has kinda tied me to Mac OS X for a bit longer. However, there are open-source victories. NeoOffice for OS X is improving daily, and other Open Source software is finding its way increasingly into my workflow.

Also, Dual-Booting Linux on my MacBookPro just hasn’t been a good option for me yet. Maybe at some point, but not yet. Still, good job fighting the good Open Source fight.

Will

]]> By: Madsen http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-537 Madsen Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:30:08 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-537 As a fellow linguist running both OS X and Linux and prefering to do everything that has to do with linguistics (be it Praat, IPA-transcriptions, papers (LaTeX) etc.), as well as multi-track music recordings, sequencing, mixing, graphics (eg. with my Wacom tablet), in Linux, I'm curious if you're still going Mac-only. Also, have you tried Linux for your purpose(s) recently? And if so, what's your current verdict? As a long-time Linux-user (since 2000, when Windows 98 crashed one too many times on me) having only recently acquired a MacBook and being unable to settle with just OS X, this is a very interesting topic to me. In advance, thank you. As a fellow linguist running both OS X and Linux and prefering to do everything that has to do with linguistics (be it Praat, IPA-transcriptions, papers (LaTeX) etc.), as well as multi-track music recordings, sequencing, mixing, graphics (eg. with my Wacom tablet), in Linux, I’m curious if you’re still going Mac-only.
Also, have you tried Linux for your purpose(s) recently? And if so, what’s your current verdict?

As a long-time Linux-user (since 2000, when Windows 98 crashed one too many times on me) having only recently acquired a MacBook and being unable to settle with just OS X, this is a very interesting topic to me.

In advance, thank you.

]]> By: Eating crow: An English idiom and an example of its use in my personal life » Notes from a Linguistic Mystic http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-95 Eating crow: An English idiom and an example of its use in my personal life » Notes from a Linguistic Mystic Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:51:24 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-95 [...] So, today’s post finds me in an awkward situation.  I’m obliged to admit an opinion I’ve expressed earlier wasn’t, in fact, a smart one.  So, in typical linguistic mystic style, I’ll couch it in a brief discussion of a delightful English idiom (an idiom is a set phrase with a certain meaning which might not be obvious from the words themselves).  Today’s utterly applicable idiom is “To Eat Crow” For those unfamiliar with the expression, “To Eat Crow” (or “eating crow”) is an American English expression which refers to humbling yourself by admitting that a previously (and often strongly) stated opinion was wrong or incorrect.  It’s roughly equivalent to the British expression “to eat humble pie” (colorfully discussed here).  Now, here’s an example from this very blog to better show you the meaning. A Brilliant Example of Crow Consumption A few weeks ago, in my post “A Conditional Surrender”, I said the following: I still don’t care for the Intel Chips, and would still love nothing more than a new line of PPC Macs, produced by Apple Computers, which would ideally be split off from Apple Music Whoring™. [...] [...] So, today’s post finds me in an awkward situation.  I’m obliged to admit an opinion I’ve expressed earlier wasn’t, in fact, a smart one.  So, in typical linguistic mystic style, I’ll couch it in a brief discussion of a delightful English idiom (an idiom is a set phrase with a certain meaning which might not be obvious from the words themselves).  Today’s utterly applicable idiom is “To Eat Crow” For those unfamiliar with the expression, “To Eat Crow” (or “eating crow”) is an American English expression which refers to humbling yourself by admitting that a previously (and often strongly) stated opinion was wrong or incorrect.  It’s roughly equivalent to the British expression “to eat humble pie” (colorfully discussed here).  Now, here’s an example from this very blog to better show you the meaning. A Brilliant Example of Crow Consumption A few weeks ago, in my post “A Conditional Surrender”, I said the following: I still don’t care for the Intel Chips, and would still love nothing more than a new line of PPC Macs, produced by Apple Computers, which would ideally be split off from Apple Music Whoring™. [...]

]]> By: will http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-54 will Mon, 04 Dec 2006 18:36:12 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-54 I suppose the iPhoto/Photoshop comparison is unjustified. I think my biggest gripe with iPhoto is that you're locked into it once your photos are in. There's no efficient way to find iPhoto photos when connected via network to a computer, and leaving iPhoto is downright painful. I'm bitter about any software that locks you out of using other software. Once you're in iPhoto, you're in iPhoto, and that kinda sucks. As a single, home user, iPhoto is good, but as a printer and graphic arts person, iPhoto is evil. :p iMovie and iDVD have eaten several of my projects. They're great if/when they work, but I'm not planning on shelling out for another iLife upgrade for a long, long time (or, until they finally make it so I can burn DVD's on my company's Dual G5 Powermac without a fatal error 3/4 through). Amarok (for KDE/Linux) is better than iTunes, in my mind. It's got last.fm support, better codec variety, no AAC encoding. Unfortunately, it's not OSX compatible, and SongBird is still very young, so I'm stuck with iTunes at the moment, barring replacements. Finally, with the Intel switch, this isn't logic, this is the principle of the thing. I may be 21, but damnit, I get to be a bitter old coot here. So there. :p Thanks for the commentary, and after a few days, it's kinda nice to be back to OS X. w00t. I suppose the iPhoto/Photoshop comparison is unjustified. I think my biggest gripe with iPhoto is that you’re locked into it once your photos are in. There’s no efficient way to find iPhoto photos when connected via network to a computer, and leaving iPhoto is downright painful. I’m bitter about any software that locks you out of using other software. Once you’re in iPhoto, you’re in iPhoto, and that kinda sucks. As a single, home user, iPhoto is good, but as a printer and graphic arts person, iPhoto is evil. :p

iMovie and iDVD have eaten several of my projects. They’re great if/when they work, but I’m not planning on shelling out for another iLife upgrade for a long, long time (or, until they finally make it so I can burn DVD’s on my company’s Dual G5 Powermac without a fatal error 3/4 through).

Amarok (for KDE/Linux) is better than iTunes, in my mind. It’s got last.fm support, better codec variety, no AAC encoding. Unfortunately, it’s not OSX compatible, and SongBird is still very young, so I’m stuck with iTunes at the moment, barring replacements.

Finally, with the Intel switch, this isn’t logic, this is the principle of the thing. I may be 21, but damnit, I get to be a bitter old coot here. So there. :p

Thanks for the commentary, and after a few days, it’s kinda nice to be back to OS X. w00t.

]]> By: Matt Fitzsimmons http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-53 Matt Fitzsimmons Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:45:54 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-53 What I find interesting is that you compare iPhoto to Photoshop. What the heck? What I find interesting is that you compare iPhoto to Photoshop.

What the heck?

]]> By: Kyle http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Kyle Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:16:20 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-52 Nice to see you back. Spotlight needs work but it does the job I need it to do. iTunes is still the best music playing application out there. Thirdly, the Intel switch rocks. PPC processors have been slow as hell and expensive for far too long. Intel puts OS X on path of being great for everything and keeps us up to date speedwise without depending on companies like IBM or Motorola who rarely if ever update their processors. This is obviously coming from someone with a new Mac Pro who absolutely loves it. But still, more power than I'll need for quite some time. Did I mention Joyrider compiles in less than 10 seconds now instead of like 45-60 seconds? Impressive. Nice to see you back. Spotlight needs work but it does the job I need it to do. iTunes is still the best music playing application out there. Thirdly, the Intel switch rocks. PPC processors have been slow as hell and expensive for far too long. Intel puts OS X on path of being great for everything and keeps us up to date speedwise without depending on companies like IBM or Motorola who rarely if ever update their processors. This is obviously coming from someone with a new Mac Pro who absolutely loves it. But still, more power than I’ll need for quite some time. Did I mention Joyrider compiles in less than 10 seconds now instead of like 45-60 seconds? Impressive.

]]> By: blindapeinc. http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/comment-page-1/#comment-51 blindapeinc. Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:58:52 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2006/11/27/a-conditional-surrender/#comment-51 Welcome back on the mac side of town ;-) I don't know what you problem with iPhoto, iDVD and iMovie is, it's a free gift you don't pay for, so take it or leave it, it works fine for me and my family members to sort through our holiday fotos in iPhoto, to edit small (and sometimes) not so small videos and burn them to a small dvd. Yes, we use Photoshop, yes, iPhoto isn't a Photoshop, but also doesn't need to be. It 's what a "normal" family guy wants and needs. Not the choice for a Photoshop freak. But anyway, leave your iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, and whatever Software you don't like closed, keep away from Microsoft Office, and be heartly welcome back. Welcome back on the mac side of town ;-)

I don’t know what you problem with iPhoto, iDVD and iMovie is, it’s a free gift you don’t pay for, so take it or leave it, it works fine for me and my family members to sort through our holiday fotos in iPhoto, to edit small (and sometimes) not so small videos and burn them to a small dvd.

Yes, we use Photoshop, yes, iPhoto isn’t a Photoshop, but also doesn’t need to be. It ‘s what a “normal” family guy wants and needs. Not the choice for a Photoshop freak.

But anyway, leave your iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, and whatever Software you don’t like closed, keep away from Microsoft Office, and be heartly welcome back.

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