[Joeboy]

This is a Free Software antipattern. Yes, there are things that exist that claim to do the same thing as commercial software. No, that doesn't necessarily mean they're actually functional replacements for that software.

I mean some of them are, but there's no sampler that will painlessly play modern sample packs, no usable pitch correction, nothing a tenth as good at noise reduction / audio restoration as Izotope RX.

Also, maybe a violin is as good as a guitar, but you can't hand a guitarist a violin and expect them to be fine with that. Or vice versa, if you prefer.

I like, use and pay for Ardour, but I also like realism.

[dawhead]

That's all fair and correct.

But why is there no Izotope on Linux? People gripe at free software developers for "not providing Izotope", when in reality that software represents years of dedicated R&D, something that most people are not willing to pay for (even on platforms other than Linux). The simple reason why Izotope and Kontakt and Melodyne are not available on Linux is not that free software developers haven't written them, it is that the companies that do write them have chosen not to make them available.

I was very fortunate to start Ardour at a time when I did not need the income. Expecting to see world-class plugins like these show up without the involvement of the companies that did the R&D (and/or defined the proprietary file formats in use) is naive.

FWIW, I have talked to Melodyne in the past about adding support for their non-linear data access API, but they have been "unable to come to a consensus about how we could permit this in an open source project".

So for sure, these kinds of plugins are not available on Linux: because their developers have chosen that.

[Joeboy]

I don't gripe at free software developers for not providing Izotope, I gripe at people who pretend Audacity is the same thing. I think the usual result of this mis-selling is that people quickly go back to proprietary software with renewed hostility towards Free Software and its advocates.

Edit: To be clear that isn't intended as a gripe at Audacity, just at the misrepresentation of Audacity.

[fit2rule]

On the other hand, there are audio tools in the Free Software world that wouldn't be possible in a commercial context.

The point is this: its up to the user to gain maximum value from their investment. Nobody is going to do that for you.