[linux-audio-dev] Just a question/idea

[Dominique Michel]

Le Sat, 11 Nov 2006 19:05:36 +0100,
Elthariel <ballet_j at epitech.net> a écrit :

> Hello,
> 
> Here is just a simple question about linux audio. I'm looking for some 
> software which doesn't appear to exists. But it should be quite few 
> projects which have not release any code for the moment. So I'm asking 
> the question :)
> Is there any windows manager that supports jack and lash, in order to 
> make the ''Desktop'' become a modular studio ?
> 
> Is it possible at least ?
> If it is, is there anyone here with the time and knowledges to start a 
> project of this kind ?
> 
> Regards,
> Elthariel.

The sound server is independant from the wm. Now, is it some wm that have they
own sound server as arts in kde. But those sound server use some kind of audio
drivers to work: alsa, oss, whatever. For jack support, all you need is a
working alsa driver.

I prefer myself a wm that doesn't have its own sound server as fvwm or fluxbox.
My favorite at that time is fvwm-crystal. Fvwm is an incredibly flexible wm,
and it is worth to learn it even if ti can be time consuming at the beginning.
Debian and debian based distro have a menu system (package menu) that will
incorporate all your applications in the menu of each single wm you have in the
system and save you a lot of writing with wm as fvwm or crystal to incorporate
the apps in the menu.

For lash support, the best way is to use an audio focused distribution. The
gentoo proaudio overlay:
http://proaudio.tuxfamily.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page have a very
extensive lash support.
Lash have nothing to do with the wm but only with the applications, some
support it, some not. In this overlay, all the sound programs that have lash
capability will have it after the package installation. Some ebuilds provide
patches for some applications in order to get lash with more apps.

I am not sure for the other audio distributions.
Demudi is quite old now and doesn't have lash support. The next Demudi release
must be ready with the next Debian release and must have lash support. But we
have to want a few months for that. Or you can try the devel version of Demudi.

Studio64 have both a 32 and a 64 bits distributions and is more up-to-date as
Demudi, but I don't know the state of lash in this distribution. Other
distributions that can maybe have lash support fot the applications at that time
are Musix and PlanetCCRMA. (And maybe even the jacklab (opensuse) and/or ubuntu)

I would recommend gentoo with the audiopro overlay, or Studio64. Both are
very up-to-date and are fast moving, especially gentoo, but Studio64 will be
easier to install and you can install Debian's menu system with it (The best
menu system I know). Gentoo have the best docs and forum I know, but it can
take some time to learn it because of the added complexity and flexibility that
compiling all from the sources will give you.

An advantage with gentoo and its proaudio overlay is at, if you want a software
that is not in the overlay or in portage, you can drop a mail at the proaudio
email list, and in most cases, the ebuild for this new program will be added in
the overlay within a few days. (or you can even contribute with an ebuild, they
are not so hard to write in many cases).

-- 
Dominique Michel

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