Advanced Linux Sound Architecture: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Alsa.png|thumb|right|200px|A [[screenshot]] of [[alsamixer]].]] |
[[Image:Alsa v1.0.14 ubuntu7.1 en.png|thumb|right|200px|A [[screenshot]] of [[alsamixer]] under [[Ubuntu (Linux distribution)|Ubuntu 7.10]].]] |
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'''Advanced Linux Sound Architecture''' (known by the [[acronym]] '''ALSA''') is a [[Linux kernel]] component intended to replace the original [[Open Sound System]] (OSS) for providing [[device driver]]s for [[sound card]]s. Some of the goals of the ALSA project at its inception were automatic configuration of sound-card hardware, and graceful handling of multiple sound devices in a system, goals which it has largely met. A couple of different frameworks, such as [[JACK Audio Connection Kit|JACK]], use ALSA to allow performing low-latency professional-grade audio editing and mixing. |
'''Advanced Linux Sound Architecture''' (known by the [[acronym]] '''ALSA''') is a [[Linux kernel]] component intended to replace the original [[Open Sound System]] (OSS) for providing [[device driver]]s for [[sound card]]s. Some of the goals of the ALSA project at its inception were automatic configuration of sound-card hardware, and graceful handling of multiple sound devices in a system, goals which it has largely met. A couple of different frameworks, such as [[JACK Audio Connection Kit|JACK]], use ALSA to allow performing low-latency professional-grade audio editing and mixing. |
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Revision as of 00:09, 10 November 2007
| Original author(s) | Jaroslav Kysela |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1998 |
| Stable release | 1.0.15
/ October 16, 2007 |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Type | Audio |
| License | GPL and LGPL |
| Website | www.alsa-project.org |
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (known by the acronym ALSA) is a Linux kernel component intended to replace the original Open Sound System (OSS) for providing device drivers for sound cards. Some of the goals of the ALSA project at its inception were automatic configuration of sound-card hardware, and graceful handling of multiple sound devices in a system, goals which it has largely met. A couple of different frameworks, such as JACK, use ALSA to allow performing low-latency professional-grade audio editing and mixing.
Led by Jaroslav Kysela, the project started from a Linux device driver for the Gravis Ultrasound sound card in 1998, and was developed separately from the Linux kernel until it was introduced in the 2.5 development series in 2002 (2.5.4-2.5.5)[1]. In the 2.6 version it replaces OSS by default, although a backwards-compatibility layer exists.
ALSA features
ALSA was designed to use some features which were not, at the time of its conception, supported by OSS:
- Hardware based MIDI synthesis.
- Hardware mixing of multiple channels.
- Full-duplex operation.
- Multiprocessor-friendly, thread-safe device drivers.
To provide these features cleanly, ALSA has a bigger and more complex API than OSS, so it can be harder to develop applications that use ALSA as their sound technology. However, ALSA also provides an optional OSS emulation layer, so the simpler and more portable OSS API can be used.
Besides the sound device drivers, ALSA bundles a user space library for application developers who want to use driver features with a higher level API than direct interaction with the kernel drivers.
See also
References
External links
- Official website
- http://alsa.opensrc.org/ (a big ALSA Wiki)