Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] So confused, need some good documents aboutsound in linux!
From: Dave Phillips (dlphilp_AT_bright.net)
Date: Thu Dec 05 2002 - 02:38:41 EET
linuxmedia4_AT_netscape.net wrote:
[re: Linux Music and Sound - http://www.nostarch.com/lms.htm
> I saw this book in the library. It's circa was kind of old. Is this
> the only version. Or is there a more updated one out there?
Version 2 is in progress, but don't count on seeing it until after next
summer. The next edition will be almost a complete rewrite.
> If it is the only version written, is the information still relevent?
Happily, for some stuff the answer is yes. For other things, glaringly
not. If you think things in the Linux audio world aren't very clearly
defined now, you should have been here in 1999. ;) Some of today's most
interesting projects (Ardour, LADSPA, JACK, low-latency kernel, etc.)
were either non-existent or had only just got started. My most painful
omissions were ecasound, Lilypond, and Pd, but rest assured, they'll be
covered in the next book.
I'd say the software synthesis chapter is still useful, ditto for the
introductory material for terminatorX, Mix, Ceres, Cecilia, and some
others. The book is very weak with regard to technical aspects of ALSA,
nor does it offer much to the would-be developer. I hope to change that
aspect in v. 2.0.
I suppose a lot of the material is most useful as starting points,
bearing in mind that the situation has changed significantly since I
wrote that book. YMMV, of course, but feel free to write to me directly
if you have questions about anything you find there.
Btw, it might interest some of you to note that the book had an initial
pressing of 5000 copies (IIRC). A few months ago my publicist at No
Starch notified me that the first edition was almost sold out. So the
book took almost two years to sell out its first run: those figures
might give some notion of what sort of base numbers we're looking at
when we start discussing the possible extent of the Linux audio
community. I should also mention that it is available in Italian and
Hungarian translations. The next edition will likely be available in
French and German too.
Best regards,
== Dave Phillips
The Book Of Linux Music & Sound at http://www.nostarch.com/lms.htm
The Linux Soundapps Site at http://linux-sound.org
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