[linux-audio-user] Common linux audio layer

[Christoph Eckert]

> How could you imagine a "Multi user" audio layer integrated
> into the OS ? audio is not like any other server tasks, you
> usually have to access the hardware directly by plug in
> your mic, your midi gear etc... and you usually have to be
> near the computer in order to listen to the music you are
> playing... etc so what is really the need to give Linux an
> audio Multiuser OS ? Imagine 2 or more users using the same
> computer to make music, listen to their video etc and using
> the ability from Linux to mix all the stuff, it would be a
> genious inaudible "cacophony" at the sound card output :)

Hehe. I also had these thoughts, but I'd like to give two 
examples:

* First one: Currently, the audio devices get ownership of the 
first user logged in via PAM or a simillar mechanism. 
Unfortunately, my girl friend wants to surf the internet. So 
I open a second X session. Now she will not get sound because 
the user of the first session uses the audio device.
Furthermore, I formyself use a second user to make the videos 
(to have a clean desktop and to set everything to english). 
So it can happen that I have three X sessions open, and I'd 
really like to see that all three users can have sound.

* Second one: This case is somehow theoretic, but we have also 
users on our machines which are not neccessaryly physical 
users. In the future may be a shell script running as a 
system user wants to inform me via audio that someone tries 
to log in from an unknown host, maybe rendering a text 
through embrola or playing a prepared audio file.


So, wouldn't something as a jackd running in root mode and 
accepting audio from any user who is in the jack group be a 
really desireable thing?


> Hope I'm wrong and I don't understand the mean of this
> thread :)

No, you did understand it and thanks for your thouhts :) .


 Best regards


    ce