Ubuntu Studio is an officially recognized flavour of Ubuntu aimed at dedicated multimedia production workstations. Based on the solid standard edition of Ubuntu, it comes with a suite of the best open source applications aimed at both multimedia enthusiasts as well as trained professionals.
Ubuntu Studio is completely free to use, modify and redistribute. Your only limitation is your imagination.
To better understand how Ubuntu Studio differs from the basic edition of Ubuntu, we will compare the two.
Ubuntu Studio vs. Ubuntu
Some differences are immediately more evident between Ubuntu Studio and plain, vanilla Ubuntu. These would include a different theme and background, as well as a different battery of installed applications. But Ubuntu Studio is more than just Ubuntu with a slicker theme and extra packages installed. There are several subtle and pervasive differences.
Obvious Differences
Theme and Artwork - Gone is the familiar brown and orange! Remember, we're creative human beings. Probably the most obvious difference is the new creative theme.
Multi-Media Applications - Ubuntu Studio is chock-full of pre-installed audio, video and graphical applications including JACK, Ardour, GIMP and Kino.
Subtle, Powerful Differences
Real Time Kernel - Ubuntu Studio uses the Ingo Molnar PREEMPT patched real-time kernel (for more information about the real-time kernel, take a look at the RTWiki FAQ). This helps to reduce the amount of latency, which is extremely beneficial for audio work. The low levels of latency that can be achieved in Linux with the real-time kernel can also surpass those available under Windows and Mac.
System Configuration - The Ubuntu Studio team has already configured the Ubuntu Studio system to help maximize the real-time kernel. The user is included in the audio group and the limits.conf file is specifically configured.
JACK Sound System - Along with the ubiquitous Pulse Audio sound server, the powerful JACK sound server is also included in Ubuntu Studio. Both are already configured to work well together.