Ardour 8.0 (ardour.org)

Article summary

Ardour 8.0 has been released, introducing features such as keys and scales, quality-of-life improvements, and fixes. The new version allows users to visualize out-of-scale notes and choose to avoid creating them when composing and improvising in a specific musical key. Session recovery improvements and clip recording improvements are also included. Additionally, the release addresses various issues and adds support for new hardware and software features.

Main themes

• Ardour 8.0 features
• Open-source software funding
• Apple notarization fee
• Commercialization of open-source software
• Platform-specific pricing
• Developer ethics
• User responsibility to pay for software

What commenters say

• Some argue that macOS users should be willing to pay for software, given their ability to afford Apple products.
• Others believe that charging for open-source software is not inherently wrong and can be a viable way to support development.
• There is disagreement over whether Ardour should be considered a commercial product, despite being open-source and available for free.
• The $100 fee paid to Apple for notarization is seen as a necessary evil by some, while others view it as an unfair burden on developers.
• Some commenters think that the fee is a small price to pay for the convenience of using Ardour on macOS, while others believe it is a symptom of a larger issue with Apple's restrictions.
• There is a discussion about the ethics of charging for open-source software and whether it is fair to ask users to pay for something that is available for free.
• Some argue that the fact that Ardour is available for free on Linux distributions undermines the argument that macOS users should be expected to pay.
• Others believe that the cost of developing and maintaining software should be borne by users who can afford to pay, regardless of the platform they use.