Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] icky low level linux stuff
From: Patrick Shirkey (pshirkey_AT_boosthardware.com)
Date: Sat Jul 27 2002 - 08:25:46 EEST
Joseph Zitt wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Jul 2002 12:08:14 +0900
> Patrick Shirkey <pshirkey_AT_boosthardware.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Should we be making a more conscious effort to dumb down our advice?
>>It's hard work giving advice to someone when you know little or
>>nothing of their experience and needs.
>
>
> It is hard. But that has nothing to do with "dumbing down".
What else can you call it then?
> It is
> possible to explain things clearly without condescension. I've seen you
> do it.
>
Gee thanks.
I know I can but should I and others be expected to for people on this list?
I also think it's about time this list had a FAQ. (see below)
Jorn do you want to add it to the home page?
>>Perhaps there should be another list for advice to less advanced users
>>where we make the effort to get onto their level. This could help new
>>users to feel more comfortable asking simple questions.
>>
>>This list was setup to give a forum to discussion for Linux audio
>>users without cluttering the up the discusson on the devel list. I
>>don't ever recall us making a decision to lower the level to LCD.
>
>
> With these matters, the critical and difficult issue is where the
> dividing line is between "advanced" and "less advanced". It's sort of
> like the question of who should pay more taxes: almost everyone thinks
> that it should start with people just a bit richer than himself. I would
> consider people who are at the point of building their own kernels to be
> "more advanced", but we see that that is far from a unanimous opinion.
>
Huh? Are you saying that people who learn the fine art of package
management with .deb or rpm are potentially more advanced users because
they are saving themselves hassles of learning how to compile?
I went there and became bored with the outdated versions and having so
many dependency problems. Everyone I know who uses windows complains
about DLL hell and relying on rpms or debs to run a system creates
exactly the same problem.
---- FAQ entries for the LAU mailing ListWhat is the level of discussion on this list?
You can currently say/ask pretty much anything to do with audio here. However don't be offended if the level of the answers you recieve is too advanced for you. We will try to help you as best as we can.
How do I get the advice I need?
In order to get the level of support/advice from us that you understand it helps if you tell us a little about your experience first. Things like "unable to compile anything on my own" or "have used UNIX since I was two and coded parts of the kernel" are good ways to let us know how we should word our advice.
Saying something like "I have used Linux and computers on and off for xxx years" isn't enough, you need to give us a concept of what you have actually achieved.
What is the best way to get lowlatency?
You have a few options. It really depends on how comfortable you are with doing systems admin. One way is to compile a new patched lowlatency kernel. You can find out how to do that here http://www.boosthardware.com/LAU/guide/lowlat/ another way is to get the correct kernel .rpm or .deb package for the Operating Systaem package you are running. Eg Redhat, Mandrake and SUSE use .rpm Debian use .deb. Make sure you install the -dev or -devel parts for this to work
It's a mute point which of these ways is the easiest. YMMV
The other way to do it is to install an Operating System packaged by SUSE. They have very good support for audio in Linux. They employ two of the main programmers for <a href="http://www.alsa-project.org">ALSA</a> Jaroslav Kysela - Kernel sound Maintainer and Takashi Iwai. They also employ Dr Matthias Nagorni who contributes a lot to Linux audio. However you will probably have to buy a SUSE distribution.
There is another project called <a href="http://www.agnula.org/">AGNULA</a> which is the future of Linux Audio Distributions. It is worth paying a visit to the website.
What are the best applications to use for audio?
The most recommended editors/recorders are <a href="http://ardour.sourceforge.net">Ardour</a> (for advanced users), <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a>, <a href="http://www.wakkanet.fi/~kaiv/ecasound/">Ecasound</a>, <a href="http://glame.sourceforge.net">GLAME</a>, <a href="http://www.speech.kth.se/wavesurfer/">Wavesurfer</a>.
The most recommended midi apps are <a href="http://muse.seh.de/">MusE</a>, <a href="http://www.jazzware.com/cgi-bin/Zope.cgi/jazzware/">Jazz++</a>, ....
The most recommended synthesizers are <a href="http://www.pawful.org/">SpiralSynth</a>, <a href="http://www.pure-data.org/">PD</a>, <a href="http://www.suse.de/~mana/kalsatools.html">AlsaModularSynth</a>, <a href="http://www.slabexchange.org/">BristolSynth</a>....
You should also check out the definitive page for Linux audio apps <a href="http://sound.condorow.net/">Sound & MIDI Software For Linux</a> from Dave Phillips.
----
-- Patrick Shirkey - Boost Hardware Ltd. For the discerning hardware connoisseur http://www.boosthardware.com http://www.boosthardware.com/LAU/guide/ ========================================
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