[NCLUG] Re: Ubuntu sound problems--Installfest question

[Chad Perrin]

On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 12:57:52PM -0600, Bob Proulx wrote:
> Chad Perrin wrote:
> > > Bob Proulx wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > My usual solution to this type of problem is to disable onboard audio
> > > > and install a SoundBlaster Live! PCI card.  It often just isn't worth
> > > > the frustration of trying to make an unyielding onboard device work.
> > > 
> > > My usual solution, when I don't have extra sound cards lying around, is
> > > to try something a bit more tractable when it comes to sound
> > > configuration.
> > 
> > Err . . . that wasn't clear.  I meant "try an OS that's a bit more
> > tractable when it comes to sound configuration".  Like . . . a different
> > distro, for instance.
> 
> GNU/Linux distros all use the Linux kernel.  (By definition!)  This
> makes the choice of distros based upon hardware a level playing field.
> They are all basically using the same kernel.

Default configuration affects things like available drivers and
autodetection, and that default configuration can vary from one distro to
the next.  Sure, if one distro can do it another can (generally
speaking), but that doesn't mean it's going to be as easy in one case as
in another.

. . . and that ignores the matter of kernel modification, which you
mention below.


> 
> Of course there are some differences in kernel due to the politics of
> licensing.  At different rates the non-free drivers are getting
> stripped out of the Linux kernel.  Some distros are at different
> versions and may have a nonfree driver while another may have it
> stripped out while another may have done something special to add it.
> Linus Torvalds and other kernel hackers have come down pretty hard on
> non-free drivers lately.  But in general everyone who is running
> GNU/Linux is running a very similar Linux kernel and I wouldn't
> consider it a good reason to choose one distro over another.  Within
> the set of free drivers for supported hardware.  And I advocate not
> using the non-free drivers and I am willing to buy hardware
> specifically with free driver support in mind.

I wouldn't consider it a good reason to switch if you have specific
reasons to stick with the one you already have -- but if you don't,
there's no particular reason to *not* switch in search of easier hardware
management.

I'd generally tend to advocate against using non-free drivers, too -- but
sometimes that's just not practical.  Try playing World of Warcraft on
Linux without a proprietary graphics driver for hardware acceleration,
for instance.


> 
> In summary, it is all the same if you are using free drivers and if
> you are not then you should.

. . . unless there's something you need to do that can't be done with
free drivers.  Sad truth.


> 
> I am being very specific about saying Linux here since I know Chad is
> very much a BSD advocate and my interpretation of what he is saying is
> to move to BSD.  My interpretation in mine alone and might be wrong.

I wasn't saying "move to BSD" at all.  If I was, I would not have
mentioned "distro" above when I said "Like . . . a different distro, for
instance."  BSD Unix systems are not Linux distributions.

I'm capable of giving Linux advice without suggesting you give it up in
favor of BSD Unix, y'know.

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
awj @reddit: "The terms never and always are never always true."
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