[LAU] EMail To Tascam - HARDCORE COLD HARD FACTS

[David Baron]

This is indeed a huge problem. USB devices should work across the board but 
many do not or there is no mixer window available, etc. I have a Lambda which 
works fine for audio and midi but no particular software support beyond ports 
showing up on alsa and jack.

I have a dman2044, not the highest end but more than passable "pro" audio card 
with a nice chunky breakbout box which uses real connectors, to 1/8 inch toys. 
This is an obselete piece of hardware with no drivers beyond Windows 98! One 
would think that the manufacturer would lose nothing by releasing interface 
data to the community so an alsa driver could be developed. I guess they would 
be happier if I buy a newer one, i.e. a Delta (which works with alsa). I'll 
take a second hand one if someone wants to part with it but I have little 
money for more and more hardware,just to have the same excuses a couple of 
years down the road.

I beseech developers and manufacturers: Even if you are not interested in 
opensource, creative-commons, and such, once a product is at the end of its 
life cycle, please release code and specs to the community. Products that are 
still actively sold and supported, at least yield information to the community 
so we can develop drivers and software to continue using them. There is 
nothing to lose and all to gain. We will love you for it and be more willing 
to buy your products in the future