On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 12:23 PM, pk <pete...@coolmail.se> wrote: > On 2011-09-18 21:52, Michael Mol wrote: > >> The kernel configuration process is actually very nice and very easy. >> You an remove any features you don't want or need. (I'm referring to, >> e.g. menuconfig. I haven't really used genkernel) > > I've never used genkernel and always compile my own kernels... > >> FWIW, PulseAudio predates Windows Vista, Windows 7, even MacOS X. I >> ran it on a 200MHz machine back when it was called Enlightenment Sound >> Daemon. > > Hm... I've used ESD (years and years ago :-) ) in OSS times. Not sure > where the connection between ESD and Pulseaudio is though[1]... Well, > anywho, Gentoo stopped supporting both the ESD and arts server years ago > for security reasons IIRC. > [1] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Enlightened_Sound_Daemon
My recollection at the time PA started showing up was that PA was the descendant of ESD. I assumed it was a fork. I may be wrong. >> With as much as I've poked at PulseAudio, I'd have to say I like it >> better than I like the Vista/Win7 implementation of sound daemons. > > I've no experience with Vista/Win7 (I've got an XP machine for gaming). Windows coding is my day job. Workstation is Win7 Ultimate x64. > >> There's probably not much one can do with PA that one couldn't do with >> jackd, which is probably better in terms of latency, but I never got >> around to learning jackd. > > Yes, tried jack a few years ago but couldn't get it working right. Not > that I got "burnt" by it (as dbus etc.) and if the need arise, I'll look > into it again... Thing is, ALSA already have a (simple) sound server > "built" in called dmix so why one would bother with Pulseaudio is beyond > me (but as long as it's not "forced" onto users I don't care much about it). I recall reading about dmix in LinuxJournal years ago, but I don't think I ever got around to setting it up; ALSA was just going through a major API change around 0.9, and I didn't have the resources to stay up-to-date. (Dial-up was a pain. I imagine it's worse today) I did have fantasies about using it to set up a fake sound device to get spatial audio over headphones. I couldn't find the data set I'd needed for calculating delays, though. > >> While I was using PA (I'm not, currently), it was nice for being able >> to monitor and tune the volume levels of individual programs. That can >> be important when trying to manage two different VOIP apps, video >> games and Pandora at the same time. > > If you wish to use it then do so... :-) > > The thing (idea) I was trying to convey but seems to escape most people > is this: > "Cut out the fat!" - "Less is more/do more with less [resources]" etc... > in a general sense. That's what Contiki is doing and what I think > software in general should be doing (yes, in Utopia)... When adding > layer upon layer, we are going in the wrong direction (unless the sum is > less, which it, in my "eyes", seems not to be). Oh, certainly. That's one of the reasons I love Linux's (and especially Gentoo's) modularity so much; there's often a nearly-ideal tool for any given use case. That's part of why I don't like to see things which break that modularity become mandatory. -- :wq
