--- Dean Rantala <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > My point is: I would like one person to show me a > link to some easily > locatable documantation that will show me right now > how to enable 5.1 audio > on a SB Live 5.1 - rather than just get an annoying > buzzing sound from the > center. Can you even find one?
I'm a former Linux sysadmin, as well as a kernel programmer, and I have to admit that I find ALSA one of the most confusing aspects of the kernel/userland system on Linux. I think that everyone on the list can probably agree that the documentation is "suboptimal" to say the least. However, it's a free system. AFAICT, there are exactly two people (Takashi & Jaroslav) PAID to do all of the kernel stuff, all of the userland stuff etc. Everything else is based on volunteer effort, and as is always the case in OSS, most volunteers probably want to focus on getting their card/app working. That's why the wiki is such a valuable resource; it gives people an *easy* way to quickly add whatever knowledge/advice they've gained so that everyone can take advantage of it. Yes, it's a pain to search the wiki rather than have one official "Everything You Could Ever Need to Know About ALSA" document. But until someone steps up and creates such a document -- and I am thinking about doing something along those lines once I understand ALSA a little better -- it's the best we've got. > > For now, I am happy with just My G5 - Apple has a > revolutionary concept - > you control the surround sound settings with a bunch > of simple and easy to > use buttons and sliders Apple has about 5 hardware configurations they have to support, and that probably entails only 2 sound chipsets. Linux/ALSA supports scores of souncards on multiple hardware PLATFORMS. There is no comparison of the level of effort required to do what Apple does w/ the incredible amount of effort put in by the ALSA team. Also, notice how much more expensive your G5's are than a standard PC setup? You PAY for that ease of configuration/use. What did you pay for ALSA? Nothing. Certainly, ALSA could use a nice GUI tool which would handle common configuration of a few common cards/chipsets. But ALSA is complex partly because it is so flexible. ALSA supports simple stereo cards for MP3 playing, and expensive oodles-of-channel cards at cutting-edge low latencies for professional-level sound recording. I would not trade it for a 12-foot-pile of G5's. I don't mean to minimize anyone's frustration (believe me; I've been frustrated w/ ALSA for months myself -- look at some of my past posts if you doubt it). But rather than bitch at two hard-working guys and an army of volunteers whose compensation for their ALSA work is certainly not commensurate w/ the volume and quality of the work which has been produced, try a) helping; b) providing constructive criticism or reasonable suggestions; c) PAYING someone to develop the features you need, or d) choosing to use something else, quietly, and LEAVE US ALONE. Oh, and a "thank you" would probably be appreciated, too. Dave's 2 cents ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ _______________________________________________ Alsa-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/alsa-user
