76 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
# Frequently Asked Questions
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This document contains a few frequently asked questions (known as "FAQ") regarding the Cardinal project.
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## Why does Cardinal exist?
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Many reasons, most of them described on the [README](../README.md#why).
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But basically we want an open-source plugin version of "Rack Pro",
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where we are free to change things as we see fit, work on new features and fix bugs.
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This is simply not possible with proprietary software, which is the case of "Rack Pro".
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## Can I install extra modules?
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No, Cardinal is intentionally a fully self-contained plugin.
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Whatever is contained in the current build is what you can use.
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The exceptions to this are loading files from within a module (like samples)
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and regular plugin hosting (using Carla or Ildaeil modules to LV2, VST2, etc).
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Adding new modules to Cardinal is only possible by making them be part of build.
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As such it is only possible to include open-source modules.
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## So how do I actually add new modules to Cardinal?
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By setting up the build to include them.
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This means forking the project, adding git submodules and changing Makefiles.
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Details on this are available [here](https://github.com/DISTRHO/Cardinal/discussions/28).
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Due to the highly technical details to sort out for it, such task might not be possible for you at this point.
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Consider just requesting the inclusion of a specific module instead.
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Worth noting that, just because a plugin/module is open-source, it does not mean that it can be included in Cardinal.
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Many modules have very strict license terms on the use of its artwork,
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or the code can have a license not compatible with Cardinal.
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As a rule of thumb, you can follow these simple rules:
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- If module/plugin project license is `GPL-3.0-only` it is not allowed in Cardinal (we want `GPL-3.0-or-later` compatible licenses)
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- If the artwork license states "used and distributed with permission", we need to ask for explicit permission to use it
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- If the artwork license prohibits derivatives and panels have white or very-bright backgrounds, we need explicit permission for a runtime dark mode
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If none of the above apply, it is likely the module is usable as part of Cardinal.
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Also check [this wiki page](https://github.com/DISTRHO/Cardinal/wiki/Possible-modules-to-include)
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where we discuss possible modules to include.
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## Changes are lost on restart
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This is intentional.
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Cardinal is meant to be a self-contained plugin, and as such it does not save any files whatsoever.
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This includes user preferences (like list of favourites) or last used project.
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As a plugin, the state will be saved together with the host/DAW project.
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## On BSD/Linux/X11 the menu item "Save As/Export..." does nothing
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The save-file dialogs in Cardinal requires a working [xdg-desktop-portal](https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal) DBus implementation from your desktop environment.
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Typically your desktop already provides this, if not consider looking for a package to install with "desktop-portal" in the name.
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If you are running a window manager without a "real" desktop environment (like custom X11 or i3 setups),
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you will need to manually activate the systemd unit that provides these DBus services, like so:
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```
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systemctl enable xdg-desktop-portal --user --now
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```
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Note: The open-file dialogs in Cardinal do not have this restriction, with a fallback in case the desktop portal is not available.
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## Why IRC and not Discord?
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Discord terms of service are absolute garbage and have no place on a free open-source project.
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Don't take it from us, here are a few articles and discussions about it:
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- https://drewdevault.com/2021/12/28/Dont-use-Discord-for-FOSS.html
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- https://stallman.org/discord.html
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- https://discourse.ardour.org/t/ardour-discord-server/88399/
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- https://discuss.haiku-os.org/t/discord-server/6519/
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Maybe some Matrix channel could be setup, but it would need to bridge to IRC.
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For now IRC works perfectly for Cardinal's authors, so there is no real reason to change.
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