How long has ALSA been in existence now? The documentation for ALSA is still incomplete and excessively complex for the average user trying to adapt it to his needs. Here's a rather common scenario. A user just purchases a new computer. For the sake of argument, the driver for the audio chipset on his computer is immature so the user sticks an older audio card into his computer. ALSA sees the on-board chipset as card0 and the PCI card as card1. Now, how does this chap configure ALSA to FULLY utilize the myriad number of applications using either ALSA or OSS? Common scenarios have some users searching for YEARS to find the proper solution to their problems of configuring ALSA. Say, this chap downloads the speech recognition program, Julius/Julian (OSS only), and wants to input audio from a microphone attached to card0. How does he do it? Next, say this chap has VMware and needs to ouput audio (OSS again) on card1 instead of the default card, 0. How does he do it? Moving alone, now this chap wants to play a DVD in 5.1 surround sound on card1 due to the immaturity of ALSA's driver for card0. How does he do it? Now, the chap is listening to CD audio and wants to route the playback to all 5 speakers instead of the two in front? How does he do it? Generally, this chap wants to playback audio on card1 and record on card0, and do it all in this lifetime. If the sarcasm is showing a bit strongly, maybe ALSA's developers at SUSE should strongly consider that this chap isn't an engineer. The aforementioned scenario is COMMON, and I see nothing to address this scenario on the WIKI pages or ALSA's website. Serious consideration of these issues need to addressed at SUSE immediately as this time consuming process of configuring ALSA has gone on far too long already. Yes, let the flames begin, but buckets of water have already been thrown by myself and numerous other users to more than quench the fire of emotion. Personally, I like ALSA, but hiding its complexity for the average user should be a priority. The time for talk is over and has been so for a long time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. Still grepping through log files to find problems? Stop. Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser. Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/ _______________________________________________ Alsa-user mailing list Alsa-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/alsa-user
