Re: Debian policy on multimedia ?
Hi,
> > > This kind of thing will surely need some kind of policy document
> > > specific to multimedia stuff, at least.
> > >
> > > I'm not sure if MIDI related stuff are mature enough for this, but I
> > > think there needs to be some kind of usable sane default for
> > > MIDI/virtual keyboards setup, or I seem to be setting it up for every
> > > app.
>
> I don't quite understand what you mean by MIDI related stuff not being mature
> enough, but I assume you speak from a position of better understanding of the
> issues than I do. Certainly many musicians would consider a functioning MIDI
> keyboard and connections to be as basic as having a functioning text
> keyboard. One of the most FAQs that I encounter is "I can't get my MIDI to
> work". I don't really understand why this can't be made to work out of the
> box in most cases.
Considering MIDI, a pre-requirement of MIDI keyboard with ALSA
configured is more than what most casual users would want. Most people
would probably have a requirement of a playback of MIDI instrument,
and probably a leap to a virtual MIDI keyboard before jumping into
buying a full MIDI I/O setup.
A default MIDI input/output configuration is probably lacking.
Multiple applications will require individual configuration, and I
don't know if there is a common framework for routing MIDI
input-output as much as JACK is doing for audio data.
For example, I don't know of a way to route a MIDI file to operate
zynaddsubfx and hydrogen. Maybe a good start (for me) would be
starting with a how-to, and distilling it into policy. The policy
would be the list of requirements for (new) applications to
interoperate between Debian, such as where to look for the MIDI
routing setup, and what are the standard expected behaviors for
virtual keyboards.
> > It would be great if everything had a good default. Do you think this
> > can be achieved easily ? If it has to be done by patching every application
> > it might be too error-prone and would take long for implementation. I don't
> > know if LASH would be a better solution, but then LASH needs the
> > applications to be LASH aware too - sounds like quite a bit of work.
>
> Persuading all the multimedia upstream and maintainers to implement LASH would
> be a lot of work and would take time. Like a year or two, even Jackd support
> is still not universally implemented. However, I think it is a good idea to
> work towards it. If we're talking about making Debian policy we're in for a
> long haul anyway. ;)
LASH sounds like a good thing to implement, but my opinion is that
Debian is an integrator that integrates all those different apps; and
I consider it important Debian takes care of documenting how to
interoperate classic applications with the newer ones, and removing
those which just simply no longer function.
I'm not quite up-to-speed with LASH and other new developments, a
pointer to a quick howto might be appropriate. :P
regards,
junichi
--
dancer@{debian.org,netfort.gr.jp} Debian Project
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