Re: The state of Linux audio

[Colin Guthrie <gmane@colin.guthr.ie>]

Fred . wrote:
> What is the state of audio in Linux?
> How does it compare against other operating systems?
> 
> Is the Linux audio functionality good or bad?
> What could be better?
> What is planned for the future?

Rather open ended questions! Is there a reason why you are asking or 
just curious?

It depends what you are looking for really (desktop, pro etc.) but Linux 
audio is arguably a bit of a mess with lots of APIs and abstractions 
layers/libraries and a lack of a single common, agreed structure.

On the desktop, most distributions and people are pinning their hopes on 
PulseAudio.

I'd advise you look at the following presentation:
http://foss.in/2007/register/speakers/talkdetailspub.php?talkid=353

This is by the PulseAudio author Lennart Pottering and has a small 
section on the state of linux audio and what PulseAudio is trying to do 
to consolidate this work and provide a common platform to move forward 
in the desktop space.

HTHs

Col

-- 

Colin Guthrie
gmane(at)colin.guthr.ie
http://colin.guthr.ie/

Day Job:
   Tribalogic Limited [http://www.tribalogic.net/]
Open Source:
   Mandriva Linux Contributor [http://www.mandriva.com/]
   PulseAudio Hacker [http://www.pulseaudio.org/]
   Trac Hacker [http://trac.edgewall.org/]