I could say I've had the same experience with zombi processes in windows, though to be fair it is mostly my penchant for trying experimental software that is to be blamed, and not the system itself. I've seen talk of zombi processes over the years, but then it's never been a serious problem for me - either an app works, in which case I use it, or it doesn't, in which case I don't. It just so happens that most of the apps I want to use work, which is good for me I guess. Even if an app I am trying has issues, I've very rarely had a situation where it can't be killed with a ctrl-alt-esc under kde, or by running a process manager under root.
To the other issues - I never run Jack from the command line, just too lazy, and if I stick to my working config and don't try new bleeding edge software then Jack is very well behaved. I find jackmp especially so as it shares processing evenly over multiple processors.
I haven't had to even look at an ALSA config file in several years unless I want to do something exotic like merge multiple soundcards to appear as a single virtual device. I took the time to hardware that fit the software, and find software that meets my needs, so I have a system that works for me.
Again for wine, there is some configuration to have it setup for windows apps. But I think it is a myth to state that there is some operating system out there that is configured for audio performance out of the box, (except maybe OSX). I know when I used windows I spent a long time tweaking this and that to get the system to run efficiently - but once it is setup and you have a working system, and so long as you resist temptation to tinker further, then it just keeps working.
All that being said, I am forward biased, and I spend most of my time learning about and trying new things in linux audio. I will say that with linux, as with anything else, you get what you pay for. If you see free software and think great its free, then you have to expect a catch. The move from any platform to another costs time, and the setup of a stable and reliable system likewise.
So for some, something like Transmission, which Raul pointed out, will be a good solution as it provides the configuration and support necessary to make the jump a little easier.
Anyway, all this has only tangental relation to looping, so I'll leave it there for now.
-Michael
Interesting news.
With 14+ years on Linux, I tried using it for audio long ago, and have since occationally tried a few things, only to quickly retract again.
I fairly often dive into the soundonsound.com Linux forum to see what's happening, and get the impression people are still having the well-known issue that some audio application dies, sometime ending up as a zombi process which can't easily be cleared (wait it out or reboot).
This app death often takes jack, the audio routing protocol, down, after which jack doesn't restart as intended, but has to restarted from the command line.
It's true that some VST things can be run through the wine or crossover windows app emulators, but it's my impression it can be a hit and miss, and require some time for editing profiles to make the integration work.
Alsa, the basic audio stuff is often said to require some setup, and is reputed to have a slowish development. Other audio subsystems exists.
To be fair to Linux as an audio platform, I'm reverse biased and don't follow it close enough, so take my comments with a grain of salt..
Some useful ressources:
http://www.linuxaudio.org/
http://www.linuxaudio.org/resources
For supported (semi)pro audio hardware, I used to check something akin to linuxaudiodevices.something, but can't find or remember it anylonger.
--
rgds,
van Sinn
