[lug] MIDI Keyboard for Linux

[Jed S. Baer]

Hi Folks.

Idly pondering picking up a small MIDI keyboard controller. I can't call
myself a musician, as such, so I'm not looking for something like a Nord
Clavia. But, on rare occasions, I get the urge to play around. I
discovered, yesterday, that using an on-screen keyboard (vmpk) was nuts.

Just looking around, I note products such as the Alesis V25 can be had
quite cheaply.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IWWBSD6/
It gets mixed reviews, but I'm not sure the issues raised will matter to
me.

Right now, there's a nice price on the Arturia Minilab too, and I suspect
it's a better piece of gear. But I'm reading comments about needing a
"USB License key". Ruh-roh - not Linux compatible?

Akai and M-Audio have cheap stuff too.

I will have to do some looking about for Linux compatibility issues, but
I figured I'd see what recommendations / advice anyone here might have.

Best,
jed