D
Doctor Smith
http://linsux.org/index.php?topic=948.0
http://www.linsux.org/uploads/linsuxformat-issue1.pdf
Linux has been notorious for supporting more than one sound system. ALSA
(Advanced Linux Sound System) and OSS (Open Sound System) . Other systems
build upon it, such as PortAudio and JACK. In an attempt to unify them,
Linux devs forever ****ed up a setup that only needed a bit of extra
configuration to properly work.
" PulseAudio was the retarded inbred child that came out of the wreckage.
With only support for unifying OSS and ALSA, many multimedia applications
get left out in the cold. Take Audacity, for example. The popular recording
app is usually measured against prosumer applications such as Goldwave.
Audacity itself is based upon the WxWidget toolset, and the multimedia
framework it uses is PortAudio. Currently, no complete backend for
PortAudio exists."
" Users have to disable PulseAudio and experience the joys of choppy audio
playback. Did the recording **** up, or is it the playback?"
" Who knows, the fact remains that editing in that app suddenly becomes a
major pain to use. Are you on the professional grade of recording, and not
give a shit about ¡§average¡¨ apps like Audacity? Well, shit, Ardour and JACK
are pretty well-respected, right?"
"Obviously, it isn¡¦t respected enough to get proper bugfixes from the
PulseAudio devs. The JACK framework becomes horribly incompatible with
PulseAudio and, say, an OSS driver for a Logitech microphone."
" It becomes even worse on mics that were deemed by Microsoft and Apple to
¡§Just Work¡¨. Even if you get Ardour to record, you won¡¦t be able to edit
for very long. "
"Indeed, multimedia apps on Linux seem to collapse under their own weight.
Ardour crashes within the span of five minutes. Renowned video apps such as
KDEnlive, LiVES, or Cinelerra all segfault from PulseAudio-based problems.
"
"What do the devs do about it? NOTHING. Look at their mailing lists and
forum discussions. Between their pompous cries of ¡§READ THE FAQ¡¨ and ¡§CHECK
THE WIKI¡¨, newcomers to PulseAudio struggle to understand the overly
complex and bloated sound system."
" What¡¦s worse, some apps choose to ONLY choose one framework or another.
On Gnome, this is less of an issue. On KDE, XFCE, Blackbox, E17, GNUStep,
and other desktop environments, it¡¦s KIND OF A BIG ****ING DEAL. Not being
able to listen to songs =FAIL Not being able to listen to your own
recordings = DOUBLE FAIL. And don¡¦t get me started on games. If OpenArena
plays sound, and Tremulous doesn¡¦t, and PulseAudio is set as your main
audio framework, and you configured everything¡Kwell¡K You¡¦re on your own."
And that ladies and gentlemen is a perfect example of why Linux sucks.
And it does.
http://www.linsux.org/uploads/linsuxformat-issue1.pdf
Linux has been notorious for supporting more than one sound system. ALSA
(Advanced Linux Sound System) and OSS (Open Sound System) . Other systems
build upon it, such as PortAudio and JACK. In an attempt to unify them,
Linux devs forever ****ed up a setup that only needed a bit of extra
configuration to properly work.
" PulseAudio was the retarded inbred child that came out of the wreckage.
With only support for unifying OSS and ALSA, many multimedia applications
get left out in the cold. Take Audacity, for example. The popular recording
app is usually measured against prosumer applications such as Goldwave.
Audacity itself is based upon the WxWidget toolset, and the multimedia
framework it uses is PortAudio. Currently, no complete backend for
PortAudio exists."
" Users have to disable PulseAudio and experience the joys of choppy audio
playback. Did the recording **** up, or is it the playback?"
" Who knows, the fact remains that editing in that app suddenly becomes a
major pain to use. Are you on the professional grade of recording, and not
give a shit about ¡§average¡¨ apps like Audacity? Well, shit, Ardour and JACK
are pretty well-respected, right?"
"Obviously, it isn¡¦t respected enough to get proper bugfixes from the
PulseAudio devs. The JACK framework becomes horribly incompatible with
PulseAudio and, say, an OSS driver for a Logitech microphone."
" It becomes even worse on mics that were deemed by Microsoft and Apple to
¡§Just Work¡¨. Even if you get Ardour to record, you won¡¦t be able to edit
for very long. "
"Indeed, multimedia apps on Linux seem to collapse under their own weight.
Ardour crashes within the span of five minutes. Renowned video apps such as
KDEnlive, LiVES, or Cinelerra all segfault from PulseAudio-based problems.
"
"What do the devs do about it? NOTHING. Look at their mailing lists and
forum discussions. Between their pompous cries of ¡§READ THE FAQ¡¨ and ¡§CHECK
THE WIKI¡¨, newcomers to PulseAudio struggle to understand the overly
complex and bloated sound system."
" What¡¦s worse, some apps choose to ONLY choose one framework or another.
On Gnome, this is less of an issue. On KDE, XFCE, Blackbox, E17, GNUStep,
and other desktop environments, it¡¦s KIND OF A BIG ****ING DEAL. Not being
able to listen to songs =FAIL Not being able to listen to your own
recordings = DOUBLE FAIL. And don¡¦t get me started on games. If OpenArena
plays sound, and Tremulous doesn¡¦t, and PulseAudio is set as your main
audio framework, and you configured everything¡Kwell¡K You¡¦re on your own."
And that ladies and gentlemen is a perfect example of why Linux sucks.
And it does.