[LAU] Gentoo, PulseAudio, and the Pro-Audio overlay

[Brent Busby]

Next week, I'm going to attempt building a DAW machine from a fresh 
install based on Gentoo.  It's not my first time with a source-based 
distribution, so I do know what to expect from operating systems that 
can involve recompiling the whole world...

I'm interested in advice about Gentoo though.  For one thing, is it best 
to install layman and use the Pro-Audio overlay right away, or should I 
try to get to a semi-done state with a regular install of Gentoo using 
regular supported Portage first?  What effect will using an overlay like 
this have on the rest of the distro?  Does it ever break anything basic? 
I'd imagine it'd probably be best to use the overlay as early in the 
installation/customization process as possible, before there are very 
many packages actually installed.

Also, I'm gathering that for pro audio work, the concensus of most here 
is that PulseAudio is about as helpful as a fork in the eye.  Currently, 
the machine I've been recording on is running Debian "etch", so the 
software is of a vintage that pre-dates the whole debacle.  However, 
more current systems seem to all be very integrated with PulseAudio.

I can certainly say that it doesn't sound like PulseAudio solves any 
problem that I've ever been having on my etch-era system.  I have two 
sound "cards", with my Alsa "hw:0" pointing to the generic sound chip on 
my motherboard (which gets used for regular desktop audio), and my Alsa 
"hw:1" being a Delta-1010 (which I'm thinking of upgrading to an RME 
Multiface-II at some point).  All my desktop sounds know where to go by 
default, and my pro audio apps are configurable enough to allow me to 
manually select the Delta from their GUI's.  I think that's the way it 
should be.

I've noticed that Gentoo has a USE flag for PulseAudio, which 35 
packages in Portage can use.  If I disable it, and rebuild, will this 
ban the scourge of PulseAudio from my system globally?  Is that what I 
want?

One final question:  How does one handle the kernel?  I know the 
Pro-Audio overlay probably comes with its own tweaked realtime kernel, 
but if I would like to have that available at the same time as a 
manually patched and configed Ingo Molnar kernel, and select from Grub 
which I would like to boot from, what is the most "Gentoo way" of 
getting that accomplished?  It'd be nice to compare the custom kernel 
I've been using to whatever comes with the overlay.

-- 
+ Brent A. Busby	 + "We've all heard that a million monkeys
+ UNIX Systems Admin	 +  banging on a million typewriters will
+ University of Chicago	 +  eventually reproduce the entire works of
+ Physical Sciences Div. +  Shakespeare.  Now, thanks to the Internet,
+ James Franck Institute +  we know this is not true." -Robert Wilensky