Comment 40 for bug 579300

> 1. XawTV and V4L doesn't work with OSS4 (I don't know why, I think
> something is broken somewhere or an API change I don't know ...)

In this case, bugs need to be filed against the relevant source
packages, and we need to assist upstream developers in fixing them.
Wouldn't you want the bugs fixed regardless where they lie? Honestly,
it sounds like XawTV and V4L are making poor assumptions about the
older OSS API (much like ALSA makes poor assumptions about the
underlying hardware - assumptions only exposed through the
introduction of PulseAudio).

> 2. All Alsa Apps works like Crap with OSS4

What compatibility layer, if any, are you using? Are you routing
everything ALSA through PulseAudio configured to use OSS? Are you
routing everything ALSA through OSS4's alsa-lib emulation? Are you
routing everything ALSA through PulseAudio configured to use ALSA
through OSS4's alsa-lib emulation?

> 3. Audacity don't work at all (OSS or ALSA mode)

See above (question 2)

> There is no other solution ! Turn ON this ALSA OSS emulation ! It's not
> like it will hurt someone or something !

There is at least one solution, which is to provide the affected
programs with native PulseAudio backends. Sooner than later OSS is
going to be dropped from upstream Linux utterly, and then Ubuntu won't
be carrying it at all. Many distributions, e.g., Fedora, have already
disabled OSS emulation support from ALSA (being it loading or entirely
like Ubuntu has). Ubuntu needs to help consolidate, not help
fragment, the audio landscape. As long as this emulation support
remains enabled, we will remain in a quagmire of applications
experiencing contention for the audio device, which increases the
friction for adoption of Free Software.

Yes, this is all easier said than done. But this is the way forward.

> ALSA OSS is a compatibility layer, not a full set of driver like OSS4 or
> OSS3 (built in linux kernel and depreciated). It produce no conflict at
> all !

...except that it *does* produce conflicts. If a program uses OSS
emulation, it *prevents* all other programs from accessing the sound
device concurrently. How can we expect a smooth user experience if
this is allowed to occur? (Yes, the same exists for ALSA plughw: and
plug:{everything else}.)

> Is it not obvious that it is just stupid to remove OSS compatibility ?
> In the case that we don't use it, activating or deactivating OSS
> compatibility serve no purpose. In the case that you actually use it and
> no other solution exist to make what you want, you make Ubuntu painful
> to use to a lot of peoples around the world !

Progress is always painful; some people's use cases will always be
underserved with the new configuration. This is unfortunate, but the
solution is to fix the programs to use the new configuration. See the
bit above about native PulseAudio backends.

> I speak for french community here, In our forum, we have a significant
> amount of people who are also horribly worried about the future of
> Ubuntu !

I don't think you speak for anyone but yourself (despite there being a
lot of angry users). I certainly don't speak for anyone but myself,
though I've been willing to assist in cleaning up the Linux audio
mess. Your passion for having things Just Work would really be better
served in helping fix the use cases for PulseAudio and ALSA (natively,
*not* through OSS emulation!). It takes little to complain but just a
little more to see that helping fix things benefits many, many more
people.

Ubuntu has always been - and will remain - about choice. If it's
unsuitable for you, then that's fine. It isn't meant to be everything
to everyone.

> I will be totally honest with you ... If this issue is not closed with
> Ubuntu 11.04, I will consider to use another linux distribution ... And
> it hurts me inside. I have contributed a lot to many ways for many years
> to spread the word about Ubuntu, I have contributed on the translation,
> contributing to the Ubuntu-fr Wiki. I feel like raped ... Or like
> everything have no sense in this world ...

I'm sorry you feel that way. I've contributed over ten years to
helping clean up this audio mess, and certainly it doesn't feel good
to read that people's applications are "broken"; certainly it doesn't
feel good to read your (and others') rant(s). The larger goal is to
improve the audio landscape in Linux, and because there remains work
to be done, I'll help do it. Will you?