[LAD] making sense of Jack MIDI; or, is this an appropriate use for Jack?

[M Donalies]

On Friday 15 February 2013 12:53:37 Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas wrote:
> Maybe you already have read the propaganda, and came here honestly
> wondering about the truth behind it:
> 
> http://wiki.linuxaudio.org/faq/start#qwhat_is_the_difference_between_jack-
> midi_and_alsa-midi

Yes, and I've been trying to hunt down everything I can find regarding alsa and 
jack that's not password protected, doesn't require "registration", and 
doesn't require javascript. The results have been rather disappointing.

[insert rant: If html email is for children, shouldn't serious documentation 
refrain from flash, javascript, and other gimmicks? Why is it that I can find 
entire books on programming the linux kernel, but so little about either Alsa 
or Jack?]


> requirements, this may change in the future). But for any other MIDI
> application with sequencing functionality, using Jack MIDI you will
> reinvent the wheel.
...
> If you look for other MIDI sequencing applications in Linux, all of them
> use ALSA sequencer: Rosegarden, Muse, Qtractor... There is one exception:
> MuseScore is a score editor, with similar goals to yours. It started

But they also use Jack for audio. This is my frustration. If I want to support 
both audio and midi, then I have to learn 2 completely different and conflicting 
api's. Perhaps this should go in the "what sucks about linux audio" thread. 
What I could do 15+ years ago under Window still mystifies me in how to do it 
under linux. (And, no, I'm not a shill for MS. I use linux for everything 
other than audio, and I really, really want it for audio as well.)

[insert rambling conspiracy or other rant of your choice here]

If Jack is used for audio, then shouldn't there be a kind-of general-purpose 
Jack midi sequencer? (... and the crowd muttered, "Idiot. You have no idea 
what you're talking about.")

And, furthermore, you young whippersnappers... what does that mean anyway... 
Nevermind, time for a nap, I suppose.

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7:8