Cubase for Linux

I’d rather work with the Linux community than Apple, too. Can you imagine the hoops that Apple will be forcing developers like Steinberg to jump through?!

Firstly they will do their best to force an app store requirement for third party developers, secondly will be an attempt to phase out VST vs AU architecture so that apps are universal. I really hope developers don’t get dragged down this hole, but of course, there’s a large percentage of paying customers there.

Something that the Linux community doesn’t really offer right now. I’d love nothing more than a true mainstream linux audio platform, but the pot of gold just ain’t there to make it logical. :frowning:

Meh. Linux isn’t even a single thing. Unlike windows, where you can compile one binary and run on any Windows 10 PC on the planet, there are a thousand or more Linux distributions, and month by month, year by year, there is no such thing as a stable binary application interface (ABI) that can be relied upon. Making and distributing binary (not open source) software on Linux is not an exercise worth attempting.

Linux is crap for DAW work. End of rant. I am a huge Linux fan, but it’s trash for Audio. Look at all the driver issues people already have on Windows and that’s actually a pretty stable binary environment for audio and driver work. On Linux, you don’t even have the ability to ship binary audio drivers for the platform, you will need to alter the kernel and rebuild it and add modules to it, and different ones for each major brand of audio interface.

Create a flatpack, install, run. Works everywhere. Done.

Trouble with flatpak is that it’s isolated from the rest of the system isn’t it? I’ve not used it, but doesn’t that mean that all your plugins would have to somehow only exist in that same ‘cubase’ environment?

Most people using audio will use their machine for something else, having to run apps in bottles as a solution is pretty archaic imo.

Ooooh my Precious! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
(just found this topic again – apparently it got left behind during the initial forum migration!)

So where was I … ? :thinking:

Hi Developers of Cubase etc. Been a long time user and fan of Cubase since 2005. I have a suggestion that may/ may not have been already suggested / in the works.

What i think will make Steinberg products a power house ( more than it already is ) Is to have Steinberg DAW programs such as Cubase have their own OS as opposed to relying on microsoft or apple tech.

In my experience microsoft have been for years, hampering my Cubase experience , causing crashes and using up valuable processing power now the new win 10 is so pervasive in background usage of cpu and it cant be shut off. This is a dead end for PC users with Cubase and possibly other Steinberg product usage.

Therefore id like to suggest that Steinberg develop their own Linux based Operating System designed to replace microsoft / apple OS. IE you can install Cubase ( for eg ) on a clean PC without an OS and the linux system imbed in Cubase will do the background work to facilitate Steinberg dedicated processes. that an OS would traditionally do.

No more Microsoft , no more un necessary "updates " that in reality degrade the stability of Steinberg products , re arrange the users settings and untimately make Cubase look bad as a choice for studios and neaveu users alike. Ive been having to re arrange background processes in microsoft for years in order to make Cubase stable,

And imo over 70% of crashes that happen , the ones that people think is the fault of Cubase development is actually the fault of microsoft and their one minded view that no matter what you do with their OS their needs will always be first in line regardless.

Its time that this ethos has to go … Linux is the future , its more stable , more secure , more interactive and is open source so it has infinitely more functionality and ability to customise an OS for the specific use of Music Production.

if its not already in the works will Steinberg be yet again the first to lead the charge ? like they have been for decades ? I hope so ! because i really enjoy the Steinberg experience.

regards ,

Mark de Berard & MAXX VADA

You may want to join the extensive discussion here

As a Linux fan, I agree that this would be awesome and if done properly, much more secure, stable and independent of the strategies from Microsoft and Apple. But it’s absolutely unlikely to happen, as companies like Steinberg are profit oriented and it does cost a lot of resources and time to maintain an operating system. Even just maintaining a Linux distribution where you don’t have to develop a lot of underlying code or applications is a considerable amount of effort. And to be honest, Steinberg doesn’t even do a good job at maintaining Cubase itself in recent years.

I think if Steinberg went to the trouble to develop a stand alone DAW , with the OS based on linux , it would be a lucrative move. And one that would bring new fresh users to the brand. Its not just about making Cubase linux compatible. Its about making Cubase its own entity.

Yes development costs are there sure … but think of how much time on forums/customer support would be saved with a one size fits all Daw with its own OS that is not bloated , but rather compatible , fast and reliable.

and nobody is doing it …

To get an SDK tailored by some open source linux fans i dont think would be to hard to do.
Mind you im speaking from a non programming back ground, while i know my way around a PC im not aufait with OS creation.

Ive created plug ins but not an OS so forgive me if i sound ignorant.

Anyway im glad this discussion is still alive.

it might take someone with the initiative to go and do it and present it as a bolt on product for Steinberg.

hmmm wish i could program

There may be yet another reason for Cubase to reconsider its stance on ‘Windows Only’. To-date, the Windows 11 requirements (wherein Win10 support will fade to black) of TPM 2.0, much less the CPU/chipset restrictions where MS is simply shrugging at customers like ‘tough break, huh?’, could eventually force users to either purchase a new WIn 11 compatible PC, or switch to another OS entirely. Although Win 11 isn’t in its full-release yet, there have been some somewhat klugey means of disabling the TPM requirement on the host system. But as always, YMMV - folks on perfectly compatible PCs are going nuts over failed installs and troubleshooting. it.

Bottom line, this doesn’t exactly ring ‘stable’ in my ears (nor has it ever, truth be told).

This in my mind, and given many of the strides made in main-stream Linux distros to expand their universe of compatible components and software, makes entry to Linux from even the most wary a much more appealing option not only for the average consumer, but also creators. In turn it also has the potential to force creators to churn from Win-only software apps to others. And I wonder how many other manufacturers have taken notice. Maybe none … but I’m quite curious about what direction this could take. I expect all manufacturers will merely wait and knee-jerk react should MS completely bork the WIn 11 changeover in the end.

While Bitwig isn’t a Cubase, their devs took what was conceivably Ableton and ported it to Linux quite well. Reaper also isn’t a Cubase, but it took a similar turn. Who else might emerge in this market segment given what MS is doing with their OS? Again, the magic 8-ball says ‘Reply hazy, try again.’ at this point.

At any rate, business decisions to dev complex applications for other OS’s have to be justifiable. I think that’s just another way of saying 'We just have to wait and see …;.

Cubase is not Windows only.

:rofl: jepp, Mac too - ahh, mostly usable sometimes…

OK, just fun :wink:

I just want to have a stable system in wich i can use preferred perifery i will choose.
If Cubase goes to Linux: you will maybe only can use eg. Yamaha Audio Interfaces .
Good bye to my US-122mkii (usb) - since 4/5 years no support in Linux ?

greetings, Paul

Macs are in use many EU post houses whose engineers I am acquainted with. They are certainly useable more than mostly sometimes

Cubase isn’t even “Windows Mainly” – it still has a single global menubar at the top of the screen! Where do you think this idea came from?

Anyway, Cubase on Linux – won’t happen, unless the other hosts implement some kind of drastic security/vulnerability/surveillance lockdown tech that makes it impossible to run well on those hosts. And that seems … quite unlikely to happen, despite the recent Apple-scans-your-pictures brouhaha.

As we approach the 7th anniversary of my original post, I think it would be even easier than ever now to
incorporate soundcard, eLicenser and storage with an optimized Linux, all in single device, that would eliminate a lot of the variables people encounter with general purpose computers, as well as giving a choice to those of us who would prefer not to have our computers controlled and our lives invaded by multinational marketing companies.

2 Likes

I’m fed up with microsoft then the announcement of amd’s no support in windows 11 it’s just scandalous! I will be migrating to Debian 11 and cubase I would run on a virtual machine. I think a cubase edition for linux will remain in our dreams.

. . maybe, if we create a project on patreon to collect the necessary sum for the developers to release a version for linux ???
What do you think?
How much will it take?

Over the years, it’s been argued that one of the reasons there’s no Cubase for Linux is the complexity of porting the eLicenser code. Well, I guess that argument is now put to bed … roll on Cubase 12 for Linux!

2 Likes
  • nuendo as well

VST3 is a format that can be used on linux. With some extra code people can use microsoft compiled VST3 plugins on linux too, but it wont work if they do windows specific calls. (Typically DRM stuff.) Waves are using linux on soundgrid so when VST3 is used on the big stadiums it is the Linux version they use. So VST3 is no technical problem what so ever to get a DAW to Linux.

Hi there, adding in another request to this megathread in 2022 for Cubase on Linux. Having to buy a Mac to leave the Windows infrastructure (or dual-boot Windows for a single program) so you can still use the DAW you already paid a lot of money for really, really sucks. It’s not 1996 anymore - Steinberg should really keep up with the times and see how far it’s come. Look at the Steam/Proton project! There’s a huge interest in Linux for day-to-day, and while there are linux DAWs (and to be fair, they’re great) - they aren’t Cubase.

2 Likes