Linux Audio - A History

Linux audio is one of those things that has gone from horrible to tolerable to not half bad, depending on what you are doing. JACK for audio pros, Pulseaudio server for the everyday desktop. Yet despite this, there is still ongoing heated debate between the value of OSS vs ALSA.

I think that this article did a nice job in highlighting most of the big issues surrounding Linux audio, both now and in the past. But there still seems to be a bit of a disconnect for many users. Either the PulseAudio (PA) server is being pushed on them or they are unable to get it running by installing it themselves. ALSA vs OSS arguments aside, I think the biggest debate these days is over the PA server and whether it is ready for prime time.

Based on my own experiences, I feel that if you are using sane hardware (sorry Creative) for your sound card, PulseAudio works pretty darn well for managing your audio streams. Bundled with ALSA, I have found today’s Linux experience to be a satisfying one.