https://www.audacityteam.org/download/
Where are the downloads? I go to the link provided for 2.4.2 and I only find announcements about releases and information about installation. I just get into a circle of going from one page to another. But I don’t see any downloads where it says “download!”
And does this release come with the manual installed?
The reason that it is such a long list of redirections is because each page contains important information for users looking for different things. For the majority of Audacity users on Linux, all of this is irrelevant - just install Audacity with your package manager from the distro’s repository.
TL;DR
Audacity downloads are hosted on FossHub. For Linux, we only host the source code and the manual.
For Linux, the traditional method for distributing software is that the developers produce the source code, then each Linux distro build a “package” from that source code. The package is then made available via the distribution’s software repository. So, for example, Debian provides a “deb” package that may be installed (on a Debian computer) via “Apt” (the package manager).
For applications that are not available from the distro’s repository, it is possible for users to download the source code and build the application from the source code - this is generally considered to be only suitable for users that have some expertise.
On the Audacity for Linux download page: Audacity ® | | Download for Linux
you will see:
“Alternatively you can build the latest Audacity tagged release from our source code.”
That links to this page: Redirecting to: https://www.audacityteam.org/download
and near the top of that page you will see:
Source Code
That links to the CDN (content delivery network) provider, FossHub: Audacity download latest version
The Audacity source code is available there.
I think that building from the source code might be over my head. But the most recent version in the repository is 2.3.3. Looks like I’m stuck.
I was using Audacity 2.2.1 as my “production” version for quite a long time. There are some enhancements in later versions, but I found that I could do everything that I needed with that version. Is there anything specific that you need from 2.4.2 that isn’t available in 2.3.3?
Nah. I was just browsing the thread for the newest release and thought the multiview function looked interesting. I’m starting to advance in my EQ skills, so something like that might be good. I can read the regular waveforms pretty well now and would like to learn how to read the spectogram. But multiview is not a must for that.
Which flavour of Linux are you using. I’m on Manjaro for (among other reasons) it is rolling release meaning you get more up to date packages. Currently, it is on Audacity 2.4.1.
Another option is to use a distro independent ‘all in one’ package such as appimage, flatpack or snap. The snap is here:
We’ve received multiple reports about problems with both Snap and Flatpack versions of Audacity. Can you confirm that the snap version that you linked to is fully functional? (including support for Lame, FFmpeg and third party plug-ins?)
Thanks for the heads up. I have not tested the snap installation. But I will once I have the standard Manjaro package functioning.
I’m using Mint 19.1 Cinnamon. I’m very dissatisfied with it. My Mint 12 or 13 or my Windows 7 was much faster. This thing clunks along. The repository has never been up to date on any of my versions of Linux. I like it for organizing data, though. I just might go back to an earlier version.
My question about finding downloads, I don’t even remember what i was thinking. Maybe I thought I could updated easily? But I see that I would have to build it myself. I don’t know if I can tackle something like that. I’m sure it would mean a downtime of one or two weeks because I’m too unskilled. I might regret putting effort into something like that. Of course, it’s always good to learn something new, but expensive time-wise.
Maybe I could build it while my other Audacity is still functioning?
You may end up with compatibility problems using current apps on old versions of Linux. A better route could be to try a different desktop environment that is lighter than Cinnamon - such as XFCE - although the feature set will vary. Or there could be ways to increase the speed of Cinnamon in the settings.