[LAU] So what do you think sucks about Linux audio ?

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Sun, 2013-02-10 at 09:59 +0000, Dan MacDonald wrote:
> * JACK needs to become more plug-and-play. I think its a shame it
> still offers no way to auto-detect optimal settings on any given setup
> and instead the user has to find out what options to tweak then find
> the best settings through trial and error.

How should it be done to auto-detect the best settings? IMO it's
impossible.
> 
> * JACK can still fail to start and just leave the user with some
> pretty cryptic errors as to why it failed.

I experienced this very seldom, but it's true, I at least remember one
very strange example on jack devel mailing list a while ago. The output
lead into a completely wrong direction.

> * JACK can't hot swap audio devices and so if the user wants this
> feature they have to integrate PA with JACK which sadly still isn't
> straightforward under many popular distros and then the user has to
> learn about how ALSA, PA and JACK interact.

Are there many cases when users need to switch the audio device?
 
> [snip]
> 
> In fact, I'm a bit concerned that if Bitwig leads to an explosion of
> commercial apps and plugins for Linux and LA busts out of its niche
> that LA* will suffer a kinda Ubuntu/Android effect where these lists
> will get swamped with newb questions and cause many of our valued
> members to unsubscribe.

There's already energyXT, but it didn't cause such an explosion.

Regards,
Ralf