audacityrant

The speaker is frustrated with the recent upgrade of Audacity software. They are unable to find basic functions and their headphones support has disappeared. They suggest finding workarounds, such as using other programs for playback. They criticize how free software often becomes unworkable due to added features, similar to non-free software. They mention considering using Gmail or other operating systems like Raspbian or Puppy Linux. The speaker expresses frustration and a desire to move away from certain software and hardware. Hi everyone. I wonder what to do if something doesn't work. I've recently upgraded Audacity to 3.4.1, I think it is. Definitely one step up from version 3.3.3. And there's several things I can't do on this so-called updated version. And the things I can't do are the most basic things. For example, the audio setup should have the second button, or it does on the American system, which goes straight into audio.com, which has been set up by Audacity. I don't have that button. I can't find that button. I don't know where that button is. The videos I've watched on it make no sense whatsoever because it's just not there. So this is an upgrade that only works in America for some strange reason. So there must be some reason for that. The other thing that has suddenly stopped working is, on the new version, is I've been recording stuff and now I can't play back. And I haven't changed any settings whatsoever. So the system has upgraded to a new version of the software and yet the software is worse than it was before on the most basic things. Because the most basic thing I'm doing is I'm recording something and then I play it back to see how it sounds. I can't play it back because the support that was there for my headphones has suddenly disappeared. No reason that I can see, nothing that I've done has in some way affected it. So what do I do? Uninstall the version and reinstall it? Do I do what we do or we used to do? It's a long time ago, but when I used to do Windows we'd just wait for the next version. And the bugs, the basic bugs in basic programs are not fixed at the most basic level. All that happens is new features are added, new, improved, better, this, that and the other. This, that and the other is not as important as the basic functions, which for me is to be able to record, I don't add sounds or second tracks, I'm recording in mono on a very basic system. I can't do it. I can't play back on this system. So what I have to do, is what we all have to do at some point, is we have to find workarounds. So what am I going to do? I'm going to take the basic recording and play it back in something else. Then I'm going to have to upload it with another program to audio.com and that's the workaround that I can think of at the moment because I can't use the basic function. You will see the same throughout the free software, GNU free software. They do the same thing again and again. They take a basic program, they add more and more features to it until the thing is completely unworkable. If you look at something like GIMP, it is an incredibly complex program to use, incredibly, very, very difficult. And so what happens is people take parts of the code and write some new program which you then have to learn where all the various buttons, where all the pull-down menus, you have to learn something new there or you have to learn a new button structure. Exactly the same, exactly the same problems as you would find with non-free software. So where is the advantage? Where is the improvement? Can you work it out? I can't because I'm fed up with it. I've had to go back to using Gmail because I can't use a so-called free service. That was my problem. I should have used a better free service. But it means, again, I've got to change back to an older system, Gmail, which I hate using. I don't want to use it. I'm trying to get rid of all the things like Google and the Apple software and hardware that I've been using. I don't want to use them. Do I then start moving over to Raspbian, Raspberry Pi OS as it is now and the system that they're using? What do I do? Do I go back to using Puppy, Puppy Linux, which I'm familiar with? I've got a new system but it's on an old computer that isn't very stable. I have to boot up in a very strange way, believe it or not. People are using systems where they need basic functionality on those systems. Anyway, that's a rant. That's a real rant from me. OK, bye now.