Subject: RE: [linux-audio-dev] Still I cannot understand why...
From: Ivica Bukvic (ico_AT_fuse.net)
Date: Fri Dec 21 2001 - 04:26:57 EET
> care: picking up portable language, writing portable code, choosing
> libraries etc. that are available for different platform etc. (not
that
> portability should be the only reason to choose tools, all I say is
that
> it
> should be taken into account)
The problem I originally had with your statement is due to fact that
this consideration had already taken place, at least in this discussion.
Do you really believe that OSS originally simultaneously came out on all
platforms it currently supports? Of course not! The cross-platform
portability of OSS is a result of a long-term evolution, which has now
gotten to a point where architecture has reached its limits and it is
time for us to move on to a better audio API, which currently is not
available on all platforms, but as you have already seen on this board,
there are already people who have successfully compiled it on mac's, and
I believe it would probably not be so hard to port it to other platforms
(except for building the low-level end of the audio hw drivers).
Sometimes you have to make a leap sacrificing some features that came
about through prolonged usage of the previous API (such as
cross-platform portability), and in return get a much better foundation
for the future development. So, in that sense Alsa would be a "caring"
decision because it would allow everybody to [eventually] switch to an
API that will provide them with better performance and more flexibility.
Besides, try to name any other OS that is "caring" by your definition
(and that we should, in return, care about): Mac and Win definitely
aren't. Solaris, SGI, neither of these have until very recently provided
anything monumental to the Linux community, other than had source code
available (mostly from the non-profit endeavors of individuals i.e. Mxv)
which then allowed Linux users (or the original makers) to port their
code and/or use their solutions in the Linux OS, which has nothing to do
with cross-compatibility, other than using C/C++.
Will the switch-over be cross-platform portable initially? Of course
not! But if you look retrospectively at the beginnings of OSS, you'd
realize that they do not differ that much from Alsa's. Thus, your
concern about portability is completely unnecessary.
So please stop beating the dead issue into the ground.
Apologies to all other list's members for cluttering your inbox...
Ico
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