RE: Sound configuration not in initial install
I very much agree with Robbie. We are in a very modern age of multimedia
computers (something Bill and the Boys do deserve credit for) and it's very
likely that the majority of end-users have sound cards they would like to
use. Have this hacker mentality of "well if I Can do it you can too" does
help anyone when there is nothing beyond volunteer support and sparse and
often confusing documentation to help you out.
I consider my self a fairly savvy computer use and I do secondly level
troubleshooting for a living. I have never been able to successfully
recompile my kernel for sound even with the assistance of some very very
helpful people on the list. The only reason I even attempted this was to
gain sound. I had several reasons for wanting to learn Linux but as a
musician my stance quickly becomes, "No sound, why bother?"
After several months of frustration on this very issue, I tried RedHat. I
imagine my surprise to find a distribution that had X, sound and a networked
printer setup in less than an hour on the first try!!! I realize my months
of practice with Debian made some of the process much easier but some very
thoughtful developers deserve a lot of credit for their forward thinking on
EU usability.
I dropped RedHat because I simply believe Debian is a much better
distribution overall. RedHat doesn't have anything close to APT yet and the
Debian team gets kudos for manageability.
I haven't really used Linux since October out of the hope that Slink would
have the updated kernel with it's added multimedia features or that a sound
utility would be added to the setup. Now with Slink pushed back for the
fifth time and frozen before the new kernels release, I'm thinking that
Debian will probably have to wait until next Winter when hopefully we'll
have Potato.
Cristov Russell
-----Original Message-----
From: robbie@scot-mur.demon.co.uk [mailto:robbie@scot-mur.demon.co.uk]
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 1999 7:07 PM
To: Debian Userslist
Subject: Re: Sound configuration not in initial install
On Sat, Feb 13, 1999 at 07:05:36PM +0100, Martin Bialasinski wrote:
>
> >> "r" == robbie <robbie@scot-mur.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
> r> Why does debian not include sound modules in the default kernel
package?
>
> Because sound in 2.0 kernels is not modular enough. IO, IRQ etc. have
> to be hardcoded into the kernel. Some option must not be set for some
> soundcard, whereas others have to be etc.
ok
>
> If you want to use the OSS Soundsystem in 2.0 a kernel, you have to
> recompile the kernel. Don't know about ALSA.
alsa is fully modular. no need to compile the kernel.
>
> For 2.2 kernels, The OSS can be modularised.
>
> The installdisks don't have room for this anyway.
Yes, I know.
>
> r> Or maybe a sepperate package with sound modules which depends on
> r> the kernel.
>
> Why bother with this. You should recompile your kernel anyway (to get
> a slim version that only has the things you use). With kernel-package,
> this is a breeze.
I strongly disaggree with that. Thats like saying I should recompile X to
have support for my video card. The idea of a distribution with binary
packages is that you don't have to compile things to get them to work.
This should apply to the kernel aswell.
Btw, Redhat have had modular sound drivers for a while afaik (but I have
heard they don't work too well).
>
> Ciao,
> Martin
>
>
> --
> Unsubscribe? mail -s unsubscribe debian-user-request@lists.debian.org <
/dev/null
>
>
--
Robbie Murray
Reply to: