[LAD] linux audio standards base?

[Sean Corbett]

I'm not a developer, just interested in Linux audio development
because I use Linux audio software almost daily, and as such I've been
lurking on this list for awhile.  So this is just a practical
suggestion / brainstorming idea, not meant to incur flames (I wish I
could heat my studio by the flames this list generates).  One
complaint I've seen raised a number of times is that in the world of
Linux, especially the audio realm, there are too many choices and not
enough decisions made.  In the wider scope, The Linux Foundation is
trying to address this by maintaining a standards base to help promote
open standards across mainstream distros... So here's the idea:  why
not make one of the responsibilities of the Linux Audio Consortium be
establishing and maintaining a standards base?  As far as I can tell
from http://linuxaudio.org/about , it's not currently one of the
Consortium's roles.  I.e., there could be a formal document that says
in a nutshell, "If you want your Linux audio application to integrate
seamlessly on most audio-centric distros, here's what it should
support.  And, if you want your pro-audio-centric distro to be
seamlessly compatible with all these great apps, here's what it should
include and how it should work."  Of course it would be a voluntary
standards base, and every developer / distro team can still do
whatever they like, so that innovation can continue... but as
protocols/interfaces/frameworks/whatever are developed and show their
merit, they can be included in the standards base, and
old/deprecated/redundant things removed, so that people aren't wasting
their time supporting old code.  So to sum it up, *someone* needs to
make some tough decisions, or Linux audio will continue to stagnate...
why not the Consortium?  It's the only real Linux audio "authority" or
central point of contact that I know of.

I'm sure there are many reasons this is a silly idea -- lack of time,
disagreements on what should be standardized, etc. -- but as I said
it's just an idea.  I'd love some constructive criticism, even if it
just leads to a completely different idea getting implemented.  By the
way, I apologize that this is basically just another "here's my idea
about what everyone else should do" kind of e-mails.  I could maintain
a website and/or provide free hosting for the standards document(s),
if need be.

-Sean Corbett
blacktownsound.com (<- pardon the shameless spam)