[linux-audio-user] Making Audio on Linux Just Work: (1) defining the goals

[Reuben Martin]

It was posted to the OSDL Desktop architects mailing list. (Same list
that Linux made a statement about not liking Gnome that set off a big
hoopla) See here:
http://lists.osdl.org/pipermail/desktop_architects/2005-December/000470.html

-Reuben

On 4/5/06, M P Smoak <smoak at mis.net> wrote:
>
> Paul, did this effort result in the list of tasks that you were seeking?
> Maybe I missed it, but I've not seen any feedback on the result and
> where it went.  I hope it went somewhere and is being worked on.  Thanks
> you very much for your contributions.
>
> Marv
>
> On Monday 12 December 2005 11:47, Paul Davis wrote:
> > ( LAU folk: this is an initial outline of an email I want to dispatch
> > to the desktop-architects list in the very near future. Your comments
> > are eagerly sought. Note that this section specifically seeks to
> > avoid any discussion of implementations or specific approachs. I
> > would like to fully flesh out the list of tasks ASAP )
> >
> >                       Making Sound Just Work
> >                      ------------------------
> >
> > One of the "second tier" of requirements mentioned several times at
> > the OSDL Portland Linux Desktop Architects workshop was "making audio
> > on Linux just work". Many people find it easy to leave this
> > requirement lying around in various lists of goals and requirements,
> > but before we can make any progress on defining a plan to implement
> > the goal, we first need to define it rather more precisely.
> >
> > DEFINING THE GOAL
> > =================
> >
> > The list below is a set of tasks that a user could reasonably expect
> > to perform on a computer running Linux that has access to zero, one
> > or more audio interfaces.
> >
> > The desired task should either work, or produce a sensible and
> > comprehensible error message explaining why it failed. For example,
> > attempting to control input gain on a device that has no hardware
> > mixer should explain that the device has no controls for input gain.
> >
> >  PLAYBACK
> >
> >           - play a compressed audio file
> >               * user driven (e.g. play(1))
> >               * app driven (e.g. {kde,gnome_play}_audiofile())
> >         - play a PCM encoded audio file (specifics as above)
> >         - hear system sounds
> >         - VOIP
> >         - game audio
> >         - music composition
> >         - music editing
> >         - video post production
> >
> >  RECORDING
> >
> >           - record from hardware inputs
> >             * use default audio interface
> >             * use other audio interface
> >             * specify which h/w input to use
> >             * control input gain
> >         - record from other application(s)
> >         - record from live (network-delivered) compressed audio
> >                 streams
> >
> >
> >  MIXING
> >
> >         - control h/w mixer device (if any)
> >
> >              * allow use of a generic app for this
> >              * NOTE to non-audio-focused readers: the h/w mixer
> >                is part of the audio interface that is used
> >                to control signal levels, input selection
> >                for recording, and other h/w specific features.
> >                Some pro-audio interfaces do not have a h/w mixer,
> >                most consumer ones do. It has almost nothing
> >                to do with "hardware mixing" which describes
> >                the ability of the h/w to mix together multiple
> >                software-delivered audio data streams.
> >
> >           - multiple applications using soundcard simultaneously
> >         - control application volumes independently
> >         - provide necessary apps for controlling specialized
> >              hardware (e.g. RME HDSP, ice1712, ice1724, liveFX)
> >
> >  ROUTING
> >
> >           - route audio to specific h/w among several installed
> > devices - route audio between applications
> >         - route audio across network
> >
> >  MULTIUSER
> >
> >           - which of the above should work in a multi-user scenario?
> >
> >  MISC
> >
> >           - use multiple soundcards as a single logical device
>
>