You just made a different argument and I didn’t counter that argument.
When you post a claim you really ought to support it. In this case by posting links to the sources. Otherwise everybody can just claim anything (as more than enough people in this world already do).
What? No. I did not make any different argument here. What i said about voting with your wallet is basically the whole essence of what you so fondly summarized earlier as:
So, sorry, but I really can’t follow you right now. Not really sure what to say to this, so let’s leave it at that.
I feel like we all want the same thing - Cubase on Linux. For some the waiting game or different machines might be a solution. For many who are working on a bigger shift in tech, personal and professional computing and data privacy, it’s just not. Not anymore. And in this thread there’s quite a lot of the latter voices. Those were the ones I was addressing.
I generally agree. Like I said, i wasn’t sure how links that are sooo off-topic would be treated here so i figured anyone who wants to find the headlines won’t really have a problem finding them. But if mods are cool with that, i’ll keep that in mind for next time.
What I took from your block of text was that the reason for moving away from Windows was “If you really care about data privacy” (…“and about making a point, you will have to leave them behind.”)
That means that you can either a) keep your data private on your Cubendo computer by “leaving” for Linux, and since Cubendo doesn’t run on Linux you have to leave Cubendo behind as well, or b) you can keep Cubendo on your Windows machine and move the data you want private to a Linux computer.
Those are two valid options to solve the problem you have “if you really care about data privacy” and therefore need to get your private data off of Windows.
So when you write:
That wasn’t my counter. My counter was IF you need data security AND want to run Cubase you can do that by using two computers. That’s all I said.
Obviously many customers boycotting a company until it changes course helps with a company changing course. I don’t disagree with that. But that’s a different thing. The question I addressed was why would you need to do that in the first place (?).
I don’t know who “we” are, but I “feel” like the majority of Cubase users don’t even know what Linux is. And if they do, they don’t know why they should care. I’m not against Linux support, but the reality is … real. It’s nice to dream, though.
I have no problem with the prospect of supporting alternate OSes, but dropping Steinberg, or anybody else still doing software for Windows simply isn’t an option for me.
I’ve checked out some of the options that work with Linux, and they simply don’t do it for me. Workflow, hardware, existing projects and platforms get toasted along the way to ‘changing’.
For all its ‘faults’, the Windows platform has consistently offered the most ‘options’ with a broader spectrum of ‘pricing and budget ranges’ while maintaining the best overall ‘legacy support’ on the planet.
Aside from serving files on the internet at massive scales, or maintaining huge multi-user relational databases, I can’t think of a thing I’d want a computer to do that I cannot do better/faster/cheaper with a Wintel rig.
If I ‘join the revolution’ and boycott everybody that supports Windows on Intel/AMD, I can’t use quite a lot of my gear anymore. Lots of nice gear that is ‘paid for’, has been working for decades and still keeps pace with newer stuff, through many Windows upgrades and generations of hardware.
No proper drivers for Linux. Not for the new Apple Silicon Macs or ARM based stuff either. In addition loads of nice things that don’t need special drivers, but do use protocols and features now considered ‘legacy’ that few existing DAW options (for ANY OS) on the table have ever supported, and they never will. 99.95% of it still chugging along with Cubendo 15 on Windows, and for the few legacy things broken in the most modern versions, I’m just two clicks away from rolling back to an older version where it still works.
I won’t keep an enterprise mission critical studio PC with sensitive data online to the internet anyway. I’m not even plugging in the ethernet cable or enabling wifi/blue tooth if the setup has a doorway to the outside world. If a suite of software MUST call home all the time and doesn’t provide a way to set it up without connecting the machine to the internet on a regular basis, I’ll avoid it.
I’m aware that a growing number of tools (Various AI engines, Remote Session tools, etc) that make life easier require internet access, but personally I’d be inclined to keep that stuff isolated from the main DAW, and access it with hardware and an OS that is better suited to those tasks. I’d also be wary of giving any AI that I don’t fully control sensitive information, regardless of the OS/platform I’m working with. At that, I’d still be more worried about people who are close to me, that actually think I can ‘trust’ stealing or inadvertently leaking sensitive information. Heck, having your best employees ‘poached’ by another employer and them taking everything they know with them happens way more often than somebody’s ‘hit record’ getting stolen by strangers on the internet.
Something I find mildly ironic, are growing numbers of people who will insist Microsoft is going to ‘steal their data/ideas/personal information/etc’ are all walking around with half a dozen camera and mic loaded ‘smart devices’ that are constantly listening. They’re also among the first to dump their music off on some service that ‘renders performance data into the perfect track’. I.E. Plugins that can turn a MIDI track and some lyrics into a vocal track. Folks that refuse to work with actual human musicians.
Security is important, and it sucks in a lot of ways that computing is moving towards a ‘lease to use’ cloud based philosophy, but if we stop to think about it, picking on Microsoft doesn’t even scratch the surface. Some even find the ‘openness’ of it all way more liberating than being trapped in claustrophobic ecosystems, where most of the ‘alternative devices’ are ‘listening and spying too’.
As for being able to ‘track’ users on the internet at the hardware level. Perhaps it’ll help catch ‘cyber criminals’? What are folks uber opposed to hardware fingerprinting trying to hide? Some days I wish somebody would use those finger prints to ban a lot of SCAMMER HARDWARE from ever being connected to public networks again.
I am not asking Steinberg to switch to Linux solely because of Microsoft’s growing tendency to turn Windows into a telemetry tool and the Internet into a river of garbage, but also because of the clearly different objectives Microsoft has adopted.
To make their business model pay off, they need to push us all onto their cloud, effectively turning Windows into a mere terminal. This situation is set to intensify further due to the billions recently invested in data centers for Artificial Intelligence—investments that have depleted their financial reserves, thereby increasing the pressure to get us into their clouds.
And all their usual partners, compelled to prevent the castle that is the source of their income from collapsing, are backing them.
This pressure is glaringly obvious in recent Windows 11 developments, where priorities have been shifted.
For me, however, engaging in computer-based music production is simply about using a personal computer as a specialized instrument—much like a saxophone, a guitar, or a piano.
I have always rejected subscription offers to preserve my independence. I refuse to hang by a thread tethering me to a virtual mountain—a construct of machines and financiers.
For these reasons, it would be wise for Steinberg to distance itself somewhat from the cloud as well.
There is no doubt that Linux expertise exists among developers who have been in the digital market for so long; their founders—and their brilliant development teams—know exactly what I am talking about.
I was wondering about Linux when I saw this long-running thread. In particular, I was watching a review of the (expensive) Valve Steam Machine which runs on Linux, and the reviewer said that it was a very good desktop computer - enough so to make him think of moving away from Windows.
But looking at what other top-line DAWs are doing, most don’t appear to have any Linux plans. And I think there is a logic to this. In the last couple of years, Apple has made huge inroads into certain aspects of the PC market with the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, and ending the Mac Pro desktop (which was well out of the reach of many). The Mac Mini (chip supply allowing!) is an incredible little unit, enough so that I think I might have erred going the PC route yet again last time.
With the Mini being affordable and robust, and the Studio being a power player, those of us on Windows who might want to move, would find it a lot easier and cheaper to do now than before.
Really, the only reason to go Linux is if you have built your own Desktop and want to run Linux instead. (I am in that possition with a big, powerful machine).
But that is probably not a large enough customer base for a company to start supporting a third platform. Especially when it would mean a lot of reverse engineering to get there.
Even if Linux makes big inroads into the Windows market (and at the moment, it is still only “might” and not guaranteed), a lot of people will stay on Windows anyway. They like it.
I am very happy on Windows, and even if I move Cubase and Resolve onto Mac at some point, I will keep a Windows machine going for other reasons, like playing games. (I want to justify my RTX 5080!)
So, yes, a Linux Cubendo would be interesting, but I can see plenty of reasons why Steinberg should concentrate on the platforms they are already on. Cubendo is the mightiest of the DAWs, with the broadest capability, especially with Nuendo. But that also makes it a massive task to support already, without adding platforms!
There are a million reasons for why those in power want various information. With the invention of AI and AI agents we’re no longer looking at some clear criminal getting caught after having committed a crime that agencies are trying to solve, we are way beyond that. We’re looking at ordinary people being affected by all of this indirectly, at first without even knowing it.
Given that this is a private forum for a business, and given the country it’s hosted in, it’s probably best to leave it at this. But trust me, things are going to get much worse before they have a chance of getting better.
I support porting to Linux. For various reasons. Personal privacy isn’t necessarily one of them.
Yes, I understand what you mean, but the damage is already done. Our governments opened the doors decades ago. Global movements are even in motion to get rid of ‘cash’. More and more banks in the USA won’t even let you make small deposits in ‘cash’ unless you have special ‘merchant accounts’.
I’ve fought online banking for decades. My broker wants me to set up accounts for all that mess so they don’t have to send me paper reports and do the manipulations for me, and the fine print says once I open that door they are no longer liable for anything that happens to those accounts. It’s harder to find full service brokers, and the cost more, but I HONESTLY don’t want any of those accounts getting a door like that opened. I refuse to link some stupid online website or app to those accounts.
Some days it feels like an Episode of Battle Star Galactica. Get rid of the ‘smart/networked’ tech to avoid the Cylons! Go back to small audiences in live settings that get better and better the less ‘tech’ is involved. Square Dance anyone?
Still, when it comes to DAW software and the OS it runs with…I’d be far more afraid of my hand held gadgets, and the possibility of ‘trusted’ traitors in house who have the keys to the kingdom than I am of random hackers and governments. At least ‘for now’.
A good portion of RME devices already work under Linux with kernel drivers and such. You just don’t have the TotalMix software.
Yes, this is true due to RME’s support for class compliant mode, and I do use my RME devices on Linux, but TotalMix, as you mentioned, is the big thing, so my RME devices are comparatively limited right now without my good friend TotalMix. (Also, their class compliant mode low latency performance is not quite as good as the native driver latency, but it’s still very usable.) In any case, I am using RME on Linux and I’m fine.
More importantly, I am 100% on Linux now, and that makes me happyyyyyyyy. I am blown away by how well the transition has gone. I still miss Cubase and Nuendo, of course, but otherwise I’ve been working just fine on 100% Linux now. I haven’t had to touch Windows in a while. Life goes on… I’m still hoping Steinberg will consider supporting Linux of course, and there are more developers starting to support Linux each month, so I’m still holding out hope for Steinberg one of these years! Cheers!
@csurieux well said. For all that and much more, I’ve already abandoned Windows (and Mac) and I’ve been very surprised how well my transition to Linux for music production has gone. I won’t repeat the story, I think this or some other Linux thread here has enough of my posts! 
I know that it seems like Linux is an extremely niche platform at the moment, and that it would be mad for a company to invest significant resources into supporting it, but hear me out.
Change in the world of computing can happen fast. Look at Yahoo as an example. Yahoo was the biggest search engine in the world, for years. They seemed to big to fail. Then suddenly over the course of about a year, they became irrelevant and “google it” became the verbiage for searching online.
Sure, Linux has a small market share, but it’s been growing significantly over the last few years. The quality of Linux distros have increased a lot as well. Today, it’s easier to install any of the major Linux distros than it is to install Windows 11. And once the install is done, basically everything “simply works”, unlike on Windows.
Gaming performance on Linux has improved leaps and bounds, and that’s with running Windows games through Proton. Native games quite often run faster on Linux than the Windows native version runs on Windows. And I know that games might not seem important from a DAW point of view, but if a significant portion of gamers move to Linux, it will have an influence on the market. Gamers have always had huge influence on computing trends.
Microsoft do not see Windows as important anymore. It’s a tiny part of their revenue, and their income from advertising through selling our personal data is likely way more than any income they have from selling Windows licences. Making Windows performant again, is not a priority for them. And Windows has gotten WAY slower the last few years, especially when it comes to system latency, which is a big deal for DAW usage.
People are becoming aware of the Microsoft/Windows issues. More and more people are leaving Windows behind. And while it might only be a steady trickle at the moment, Linux adoption only requires so many users before things hit critical mass and the “fear of change” that keeps the masses from swapping disappears. And at that point, a major shift can happen much quicker than most people anticipate.
I don’t know if 2026 will be “the year of the Linux desktop”. I’d say, most likely not.
But 2027? If things progress like it have been with Microsoft, I wouldn’t be surprised if Windows drops below 60% next year… It currently sits at just over 70%. The lowest it’s been in a long time.
Porting Cubase to Linux isn’t just the “nice” thing to do, it’s the sensible thing to do. It’s difficult to find accurate data on DAW market shares, but looking at the statistics from Production-expert.com, Cubase is behind both Studio One and Reaper, both of which either have Linux version or are working in it.
Personally, I am inclined to believe that Steinberg are already working on a Linux version, but that they won’t reveal that until they are close to release.
Not adapting to a changing market is basically repeating the Yahoo or Kodak strategy, which isn’t a great choice.
A big YES to a Linux port of Cubase!
Windows has lost its way in the last decade. I could get the same or better round-trip latency out of Windows XP x64 on an Intel Core 2 Duo 20 years ago, than I can get on relatively recent hardware running recent Windows builds. That is just plain wrong.
Chiming in to say I would highly appreciate a Linux port of Cubase, as it is a dealbreaker for me switching to Linux - I want everything I work with available on one OS.
I am seriously considering moving to Ableton since even that runs on Linux now! It would be sad to kind of abandon all of the Cubase-specific knowledge from the past 10 years.
Steinberg can totally improve things and ship features, I’ve seen them do it. Linux as an OS has been gaining more and more marketshare (especially among tech-savvy people, many of which are using Linux nowadays, which also tend to be musicians, at least from my personal experience).
It’s the most voted for topic and also one of the most discussed ones, so clearly there is demand for it and it would certainly earn a lot of good will.
I would love an alternative to Windows and Apple. I’ve spent the last few days loading Ubuntu Studio onto an old macbook Pro 13.3 and MacBook Pro 15.1, both intel based, with little success. The OS loads perfectly on both but I can’t get wifi or sound (ironically) on either. I’ve spent a few days following Ubuntu Discourse threads and loading and updating all sorts but no joy. I’m interested to know, from people who’ve made the Linux jump, whether MacBooks are just difficult to get working under Linux smoothly and that PCs are a better hardware option, or whether I’ve just got to grit my teeth and keep searching and trying to follow the various threads that offer different solutions.
Steve.
EDIT/Update:
Thanks to the help of another forum member - Wavefunktion (thanks so much) - I have now loaded audio drivers and a wifi driver for my macbook pro 13.3 under Ubuntu Studio. Looking forward to exploring a Linux setup for audio recording.
Steve.
I am going to add a hearty “NOOOOOO” to the thread. There is no upside to spreading the Steinberg resources any thinner by messing with a OS that has a 3-5% desktop market share. The Linux nerds will have all their standard reasons why it’s so much better, but the bottom line is Windows and Mac won the war. Linux is nearly irrelevant in the desktop world.
Most of us just want a feature rich and stable platform to create music, and Steinberg is better served concentrating their efforts on the platforms that matter.
All it’s going to do it slow down the development and add support nightmares.
Au contraire. In Europe, Linux gains more momentum by the day. For example, the French government switched everything to Linux and so did many international courts and other countries.
Linux has long turned away from a nerdy niche OS for tech-savy people to a serious competitor in the market.
Yes indeed, and that’s no more windows with its mille-feuille which necessitates 400% more dev efforts to maintain the aged old thing.