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

[Reuben Martin]

On 4/5/06, Reuben Martin <reuben.m at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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)

That should be Linus, not Linux. :P

>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
> >
> >
>