Re: Hurd queries
On Tue, 03 Apr 2001 11:47:41 Marcus Brinkmann wrote:
> The problem with sound is that those little sound devices are character
> rather than block, and we have nicer a glue layer in GNU Mach nor the
> libchannel abstraction yet. However, adding a simple glue layer for
> character devices (read: not terminals) is not so hard, and there are
> patches by Okuji and me floating around at alpha.gnu.org, so I think it is
> possible to add OSS/lite and hack some simple translators (based on the
> stream translator we use for klog) to access them.
Something for me to aim toward doing :)
> ALSA is based on linux modules technology, so it is harder to port that.
Surely Linux modules are just about code organisation? ALSA does make
extensive use of them, but am I not be correct in assuming the core
functionality would not be problematic in being ported? I'd like to see
ALSA in the Hurd for a couple of reasons: a few people (such as SuSE)
are waiting for the API to stablise before jumping on ALSA big-time
(hopefully replacing OSS/Lite in Linux.) If ALSA is in Hurd, they'll be
jumping on the Hurd sound system big-time, which I should think would be
a good thing. Also, the ALSA sound system is *very* good, particularly
the amazingly flexible (but admittedly very unfinished) MIDI sequencing.
OSS just doesn't compare.
> In the Hurd, there are probably very smart things possible to get sound
> right
Indeed. While I've just spouted about ALSA, I can also see that a sound
system developed specifically for the Hurd could be excessively cool and
make real good use of what the Hurd has to offer. I'm hoping that the
ALSA system (and, again, particularly the MIDI system) could be massaged
into the Hurd way of doing things, as opposed to fitting another Linux
shaped block into a Hurd shaped hole.
As for the need for RTMach, I'm not sure how exactly it differs from the
usual Mach but I wouldn't expect it to have that much of an impact on a
sound system. The biggest factors, afaict, are throughput when it comes
to hard-disk recording and latency for MIDI. I can't see that having
spot-on timing in the sound system (which is what I'm assuming RTMach
would provide) would reduce the latency between music devices and music
software significantly, or am I being obtuse?
Bob
--
Bob Ham: bob@ham.org http://pkl.net/~node/
IRC: 'node' on irc.openprojects.net: #slashdot ICQ: 4396425 'node'
"The GNU philosophy is about freedom. To be free one must have
personal power. Personal power is an individual thing, difficult to
obtain and quick to perish." --Krisno Pryosusilo
Reply to: