Music creation enthusiasts are hoping that a faster, sleeker version of Linux Multimedia Studio (LMMS) will be made available in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.
Reasoning that, with five years of support on the cards, Ubuntu’s LTS users should have access to the upcoming version 1.0 release, a bug report requesting a Feature Freeze exception has been opened against LMMS on Launchpad.
LMMS – The Linux ‘Fruity Loops’
LMMS is modelled after the popular, proprietary Windows-only Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) FL Studio (formerly known as FruityLoops, and whose notable users include Avicii and BassHunter).
A free, open-source alternative, LMMS features a similar modular workspace to FL Studio, provides a variety of built-in virtual software instruments and loops, and supports select third-party VST plugins. It aims to give users with all the tools they need for straightforward ‘…creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples’.
In requesting the feature freeze LMMS user Israel Dahl argues:
“I think it is necessary to get this version of LMMS into the repos, as it has many bug fixes, and HUGE overall improvements, and performance improvements. Since Trusty is an LTS, I think the newest available version should get in.”
The list of changes, fixes and improvements in the proposed builds, version 1.0.0, over the ‘current’ build available to Ubuntu 14.04 users, version 4.9.x, is exhaustive, spanning everything from a refined interface with better system icon handling to superior performance and memory leak fixes.
Feature Freeze fell into effect on February 20, which is a long time ago amid the rigid development milestones of a typical Ubuntu release cycle. With this release being an LTS there is an argument to be made to including the best software, but it cannot be at the expense of stability.
Would you like to find LMMS 1.0 in the Ubuntu Software Centre this April?