i think u should know by now that one mac users experience does not equal the next mac users experience
conflicts ARE a serious pain in the ass..
but most of the time the real error lies between keyboard + chair
or at least in their lack of experience with a given software package
ie: perhaps a mishappen result of combination of software.. or like u said "bad copy"
that was not packaged properly, possibly missing few required files here or there..
it sucks that your personal experience scraping together unofficial + non-registered versions of their software. (its to be expected i guess when finding 20 year old software for free on the internet! lol) but i would have to say there are alot of people that probably bought the software.. got up + running, received the tech support they needed + went about their business!
just because you personally had more luck with a diffferent patch librarian doesnt mean that unisyn sucks.. it means u personally had difficulty for some presently undetermined reason..
theres all kinds of old patch/librarian software.. i mean really these are programs that have disected some detailed midicode and made it into "system" to be able to load + save instrument patches
u can do this with all kinds of different vintage pcs.. frm DOS to the Apple II to the Atari ST
we can look back on them and go wow! thats old and ancient.. who would ever want to use that!!!
or we can.. just actually use them! because yes the midi codes are still the same..
it doesnt matter how old the software is..whether or not its usefull to you comes down to..
does it let me load some patches into my instrument?? does it let me save my current patch for recall later?
if it works, then its usefull
like u kind of eluded to in your post.. there are conflicts + issues that can arise if you try to install ALL SOFTWARE on the same machine.. as opposed to being a 100% motu user with only freemidi iinstalled (no OMS) and using all the motu software.. theres many many users out there that DID follow this practice...installing only 100% motu apps.. or they were 100% in the opcode camp using OMS + all the opocde hardware + software.. or they were 100% into the logic camp, with AMT8 + unitor2 + logic software + sound diver etc
similarly to how one would not want os9 or osx leopard on the same box... u have to pick and choose. ok am i going to use this box for a logic setup? or a SVP setup? some things can co-exist peacefully.. other things are oil + water like trying to run osx + os9 on the same box.. are just always going to be problematic so easier to just sidestep the issue to avoid conflicts completely and save yourself headaches + wasted time
but it does seem that oms tends to cause less problems than freemidi
this is most likely why it became (and remained) the standard rather than being eclipsed by freemidi
motu i dont think are evil for having made their own system.. they just wanted their full hands in their own clay to control their own environment.. thats understandable..
im not 100% freemidi/motu expert myself but just because im unaware/uneducated about the complexities of a given software package doesnt mean u should want to publicly bash it!
but it is good to give users a warning not to try to combine certain softwares on the same box.. can lead to days of pulling out your hair..
if theres anything i learned frm using computers.. its that 99.99999% of the time theres usually a REASON for things working or not working... and it seems like magic hocus pocus voodoo untill u discover the actual reason but its there!! hiding somewhere..