Experiment with Gnome Volume Control on Ubuntu 9.10

[igorzwx]

The 3rd version of Petrov's daemon is here:
http://forum.ubuntu.ru/index.php?topic= ... #msg569841

mixosd_0.3.tar.gz ( 17.69 Кб )
http://forum.ubuntu.ru/index.php?action ... tach=15949

[igorzwx]

I finally did get libcanberra reconfigured to use gstreamer only and packaged into my ppa: https://launchpad.net/~dtl131/+archive/ppa
I tested it on my Karmic install, and it appears to work. I would like more confirmation (from you or someone else) that it works properly before linking to it in the Ubuntu guide and/or OSS wiki.

EDIT: I need to update my PPA, I left a dependency on libcanberra-pulse. :\

Hi Temüjin!

I have already installed your libcanberra. All sounds worked, except for logout sound.
I could hear logout sound when I run "gnome-sound-properties" and test "sound events", but I did not hear it at logout. Everything else worked.

That made me busy studying bug reports and workarounds. Eventually, I managed to fix logout sound (see below).

But "shutdown" and "restart" are still silent. There are applets which do the work. It looks like they execute "halt" and "reboot", and this happens very fast.

------------------------------
CONCLUSION: Everything is O.K.
------------------------------

Thank you very much!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I am not mistaken it should also work with ALSA (and/or ESound), if GStreamer is correctly configured
(though the help of "gnome-sound-properties", for ESound one may select Autodetect option).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tested i386 packages. The test was performed on the ancient box (of 2001), Pentium 4, 1.6 GHz, 500MB RAM, Ubuntu 9.10 + OSS4

I documented the experiment in the form of "howto".

---------------------------------------------------------------
How to install libcanberra from "audiohacks PPA" on Ubuntu 9.10
---------------------------------------------------------------

audiohacks PPA
https://launchpad.net/~dtl131/+archive/ppa
The libcanberra packages are built with only the gstreamer backend.
This is ideal for OSS4 users who want event sounds in GNOME.


Step 1: Make a copy of /etc/apt/sources.list

cp /etc/apt/sources.list ~/


Step 2: To enable the "audiohacks PPA" repository, execute these three commands:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/dtl131/ppa/ubuntu karmic main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/dtl131/ppa/ubuntu karmic main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 4D140B0620B0474CDA69B8A0AD70EA6AF76FFEBE


-----------------------------------------------------------
You can install the libcanberra packages in different ways:

Method 1: Upgrade all applications

Method 2: Re-install the libcanberra packages.

You have a choice, do it how you want.
-----------------------------------------------------------


Method 1: Upgrade all applications

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

Listing from Terminal:

$ sudo apt-get upgrade
The following packages will be upgraded:
gnome-session-canberra
libcanberra-gtk-module
libcanberra-gtk0
libcanberra0
libcanberra-dev
libcanberra-gtk-dev

The dev-packaged were upgraded because they were installed on my box.


Method 2: Re-install the libcanberra packages

sudo apt-get --reinstall install gnome-session-canberra libcanberra-gtk-module libcanberra-gtk0 libcanberra0

If you have dev-packages (libcanberra-dev libcanberra-gtk-dev) installed, you may add them to the list for re-installation.


-----------------------------------------------
Now you can test the results.

Run on Terminal:

gnome-sound-properties

This will open a window with sound properties and you can test "Sound Events".

Everything should work after the installation. Sounds should play for all events, except for logout, shutdown and reboot. You can reboot the system to hear login sounds.

Check if you have "Gnome Login Sound" enabled in Startup Applications:

System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications -> Gnome Login Sound

Some useful info is here:
Changing startup sound in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic
http://titotheman.wordpress.com/2009/11 ... 10-karmic/
Disable system beep and login/logout sound effects in ubuntu
http://ubuntuguide.net/disable-system-b ... -in-ubuntu


----------------------------
How to fix logout sound
----------------------------

To have logout sound, you have to edit /etc/gdm/PostSession/Default
Simply insert this command:

/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --file=/usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/desktop-logout.ogg

before last line "exit 0"

More exactly, run on Terminal:

gksu gedit /etc/gdm/PostSession/Default

See below how that file should look before and after editing:

Original file - /etc/gdm/PostSession/Default
---------------------------
#!/bin/sh

exit 0
---------------------------

New file - /etc/gdm/PostSession/Default
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --file=/usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/desktop-logout.ogg
exit 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now you can make log-out and here the sound.
I do not know yet how to get sound for shutdown and reboot, and, to be fair, I am not really missing it.

Bugs reports and workarounds (logout sound) are here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/libcanberra/+bug/391117
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/214370
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=789858
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=858299

[Temüjin]

igor, thanks for confirming. I edited the OSS wiki accordingly. I will work on putting gnome-media in the PPA next.

I don't if I already mentioned this, but I realized that there is already a pre-made shortcut for the gstreamer-properties command. Right-click on 'System' menu and select 'Edit Menus'. Under the System -> Preferences category, check 'Multimedia Systems Selector'. That is probably the easiest way for n00b's who are afraid of the command line.

[igorzwx]

Hi Temüjin!

Many thanks for your excellent work!
Tell us when other packages are ready for testing, and we will test them too.
I have already asked my Russian friends to test your libcanberra with ALSA.

There are also shortcuts for gconf-editor Applications -> System Tools -> Configuration Editor
and for Control Center.
It is difficult to write comprehensible howtos for such things, and it is time-consuming.
You may try Byzanz
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/desktop-recor ... yzanz.html

Byzanz produces screencasts in gif format. You can play them with any web browser.
Just open a gif-file with Firefox or Opera, or else.
Very convenient and easy to use.

In a word, the research of PetrovSE is becoming more and more interesting. Now he is digging "gnome-settings-daemon".

Best regards,
Igor

----------------------------------------------------------
EDIT: Just got a confirmation from a friend that your libcanberra works with ALSA too.

[Temüjin]

igor, you might want to show this patch to petrovse if he's working on gnome-settings-daemon: http://src.opensolaris.org/source/xref/ ... pport.diff

EDIT: Patch for Debian (that's not being used in Ubuntu) https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=571145

[igorzwx]

igor, you might want to show this patch to petrovse if he's working on gnome-settings-daemon: http://src.opensolaris.org/source/xref/ ... pport.diff

EDIT: Patch for Debian (that's not being used in Ubuntu) https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=571145

Hi Temüjin!

Many thanks for very useful info.
Sergei is already studying it.

In a word, he published the 4th version of the daemon.

http://forum.ubuntu.ru/index.php?topic= ... #msg571295
mixosd_0.4.tar.gz (19.26 Кб )
http://forum.ubuntu.ru/index.php?action ... tach=15975

It can be compiled and installed in the same way as previous versions.
See:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3375&start=30#p13918

I just tested it, it works well. It produces "pop-up notifications" when you press the keys. You see a small window with "volume control", etc.

[igorzwx]

Hi Temüjin!

I have already installed all packages from your "audiohacks PPA"

CONCLUSION: Everything is O.K., but my Mini-commander applet vanished.

*********************************************************
I am really missing my Mini-commander applet!!!
*********************************************************

What is more, after re-installation of the packages from your PPA, I found such evil in my home folder:

~/.pulse-cookie
~/.pulse

I removed the evil files, and rebooted the system.
The evil files have not emerged yet.


*************************************
This is my REPORT and Howto

To make it clear, if you have not compiled the packages yourself (and have not installed my deb-packages), you can install the "audiohacks PPA" packages in a simple way:

1. Enable the "audiohacks PPA" repository

2. Upgrade your packages:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

sudo reboot


3. Right click on the Gnome Panel and add "Volume Control" applet to the panel

4. Remove these evil files:

~/.pulse-cookie
~/.pulse

These evil files are hidden files in your home folder. You can remove them manually.


*******************************************************************************************
Since I re-compiled the packages myself, I have to do the task in another way.

To re-install "gnome-media" and "gnome-applets" applets, I executed these four commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo dpkg -r gnome-applets-nopulse gnome-applets-nopulse-data gnome-media-nopulse gnome-media-nopulse-common libgnome-media0-nopulse

sudo apt-get --reinstall install gnome-applets gnome-applets-data gnome-media gnome-media-common libgnome-media0

sudo reboot


As a result, my Mini-commander applet vanished.

Everything else works as before.

*********************************************************
I am really missing my Mini-commander applet!!!
*********************************************************

It seems that Mini-commander applet was not enabled in the config of "gnome-applets".
It looks like Temüjin forgot about it.
When I re-compiled the packages myself, I enabled the Mini-commander applet in this way (gnome-applets):

gedit ./debian/rules

DEB_CONFIGURE_EXTRA_FLAGS += --disable-gtk-doc --disable-scrollkeeper --enable-ipv6 --disable-battstat --enable-mixer-applet --enable-networkmanager --enable-mini-commander


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RE-INSTALLATION of "gnome-settings-daemon"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had already installed "gnome-settings-daemon_2.35.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb"

To get the "audiohacks PPA" version, I had to edit /var/lib/dpkg/status, and change the version number for "gnome-settings-daemon" package: 2.35.1 -> 2.28.1

cp /var/lib/dpkg/status ~/status-copy.txt

gksu gedit /var/lib/dpkg/status


OLD:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Package: gnome-settings-daemon
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: gnome
Installed-Size: 3600
Maintainer: Ubuntu Desktop Team <ubuntu-desktop@lists.ubuntu.com>
Architecture: i386
Version: 2.35.1-0ubuntu1
-----------------------------------------------------------------

NEW:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Package: gnome-settings-daemon
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: gnome
Installed-Size: 3600
Maintainer: Ubuntu Desktop Team <ubuntu-desktop@lists.ubuntu.com>
Architecture: i386
Version: 2.28.1-0ubuntu1
-----------------------------------------------------------------


Reinstallation:

sudo apt-get --reinstall install gnome-settings-daemon

sudo reboot


Then, I removed these files:

~/.pulse-cookie
~/.pulse

I do not know where they came from.
They have not emerged after the next reboot of the system.


END of Re-installation



*****************************************************************
APPENDIX: How I made configuration for recompilation:
*****************************************************************

gnome-applets

gedit ./debian/rules

DEB_CONFIGURE_EXTRA_FLAGS += --disable-gtk-doc --disable-scrollkeeper --enable-ipv6 --disable-battstat --enable-mixer-applet --enable-networkmanager --enable-mini-commander


----------------------------------------------------------------------
gnome-media

gedit ./debian/rules

DEB_CONFIGURE_EXTRA_FLAGS += --disable-scrollkeeper --disable-pulseaudio --enable-gstmix --enable-gstprops --enable-profiles --enable-grecord

----------------------------------------------------------------------

gnome-settings-daemon

gedit ./debian/rules

DEB_CONFIGURE_EXTRA_FLAGS += --disable-pulse

[Temüjin]

Ok, I FINALLY got gnome media-keys working in my local copy of gnome-settings-daemon. The problem was that I needed to run autoreconf -f to update the configure script (now I need to figure out how to do this in the rules file of the PPA package) .
Screenshot of mute in action: http://yfrog.com/5zscreenshotyzj

I am really missing my Mini-commander applet!!!

I'll enable it after I get the g-s-d package finished (I don't see harm in having it enabled by default, Ubuntu just turned it off because they use deskbar-applet).

[igorzwx]

Ok, I FINALLY got gnome media-keys working in my local copy of gnome-settings-daemon. The problem was that I needed to run autoreconf -f to update the configure script (now I need to figure out how to do this in the rules file of the PPA package) .
Screenshot of mute in action: http://yfrog.com/5zscreenshotyzj

I am really missing my Mini-commander applet!!!

I'll enable it after I get the g-s-d package finished (I don't see harm in having it enabled by default, Ubuntu just turned it off because they use deskbar-applet).

Hi Temüjin!

I am very intrigued by your research. We all hope that you will reveal the secret technique sooner or later. Very interesting!!!

2.1 Overview of the Autotools
http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/~norman/star ... -a2b1.html
http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/~norman/star ... 2b1c4.html
http://www.cadforte.com/wiki/index.php/Autoreconf

GNU build system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_build_system
http://wiki.wxwidgets.org/Autoconf

This book is a tutorial for Autoconf, Automake and Libtool, hereafter referred to as the GNU Autotools.
http://sourceware.org/autobook/autobook ... k_toc.html
http://www.seul.org/docs/autotut/

How to get autoreconf working? - Ubuntu Forums - Absolute Beginner Talk.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=593029
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=au ... -sx1g-msx1

Mini-commander is a nice applet. Many Russians have already recompiled the gnome-applets and tried Mini-commander; and now they want to have it. In Russia, all the cool hackers have already removed PulseAudio and recompiled gnome-applets, and those, who are not cool enough, are learning the art. They like very much the idea of PPA repository, and many of them have already installed packages from your PPA. Sergei Petrov has not installed yet, because of Mini-commander. He told that the absence of Mini-commander would make his life uncomfortable.

In any case, we can wait. Those, who need Mini-commander, can simply install "gnome-applets-nopulse" and "gnome-applets-nopulse-data". Later, these packages can be removed to be replaced with PPA's packages.

Many thanks for your great PPA!

I am now elaborating a precise method to measure the quality of sound systems. The method is very simple and very exact.

Step 1: Create a special sound file with Audacity Nyquist (see: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3388&sid=22b7af80aa08d1c4503560a54cb7ac92#p13561 )
Step 2: Play it with ossplay and record the playback from the virtual mixer.
Step 3: Open the recording with Audacity, remove "DC offset", normalize and study the spectrogram.

The sound system on my ancient computer (of 2001) proved to be about ideal, although I noticed some insignificant artefacts below -62dB.
It is easy to record from vmix on ancient computers, you have to record from "vol" as described here:
http://www.opensound.com/wiki/index.php ... _a_program

$ ossmix
Selected mixer 0/VIA823x AC97 Mixer (ALC200P)
Known controls are:
vol [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 29:29)
vol.rec ON|OFF (currently ON)
pcm [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 38:38)
igain [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 3:3)
vmix0-enable ON|OFF (currently ON)
vmix0-rate <decimal value> (currently 48000) (Read-only)
vmix0-channels <Stereo|Multich> (currently Stereo)
vmix0-src <Fast|High|OFF> (currently High)

Check "vol" in ossxmix GUI and run these commands:

ossrecord -vl test-recording.wav

ossplay special_10Hz+20kHz.wav

You have to avoid clipping, because clipping produces artefacts, e.g. odd overtones.
The method of recording may depend on a particular soundcard. There are also esoteric techniques with which one can record virtually everything with OSS4 commands. I do not know these secret techniques, although, of course, I would like to learn them.

Many thanks once more for your great PPA.

Best regards,
Igor

--------------------------------
EDIT:
Those artefacts (below -62dB) seem to be produced by the virtual mixer (a kind of resampling, perhaps). On the spectrogram, they look like overtones (odd and even) of 33Hz.
Odd and even overtones together are a very strange phenomenon, this might be an indicator of resampling. For example, PulseAudio produces odd and even overtones of 50Hz and of relatively high amplitude on dual cores and old computers. This results in very unpleasant (and irremovable) noise in the recordings.

[Temüjin]

Ok, media-keys now work with the gnome-settings-daemon in my PPA. Also, I just updated gnome-applets to include mini-commander.

I believe that is all for now. At some point, I will recreate these packages for Ubuntu 10.0x/Lucid, but the packages there are probably changing rapidly at the moment.

[igorzwx]

Ok, media-keys now work with the gnome-settings-daemon in my PPA. Also, I just updated gnome-applets to include mini-commander.

I believe that is all for now. At some point, I will recreate these packages for Ubuntu 10.0x/Lucid, but the packages there are probably changing rapidly at the moment.

Everything is working!!!

Thank you very much!!!

I made already an announcement on the Russian forum.

[igorzwx]

Hi Temüjin!

You may rename your PPA packages how you want and upload them to Ubuntu Universe repositories.
In this case, you may have to define "replaces" and "conflicts" for quasi-automatic removal of corresponding PulseAudio packages.
A script for purging PulseAudio (anti-virus) might be included in some way.

If the OSS4 packages are already in Universe, why not automatize the procedure of installation?
http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywo ... ection=all

----------------------------------------------
EDIT: An anti-virus for PulseAudio and libpulse might be designed as a plugin for rkhunter

http://forums.techguy.org/linux-unix/880654-solved-suspicious-file-types-found.html
Solved: Suspicious file types found
Here is some of the log file output with rkhunter, should i be concerned? I am kind of new to Linux.

[12:23:15] Warning: Suspicious file types found in /dev:
[12:23:15] /dev/shm/pulse-shm-1525712785: data
[12:23:15] /dev/shm/pulse-shm-50679959: data
[12:23:15] /dev/shm/pulse-shm-2803988956: data
[12:23:15] /dev/shm/pulse-shm-1183878939: data
[12:23:15] /dev/shm/ecryptfs-darthrevan-Private: ASCII text
[12:23:15] Checking for hidden files and directories [ Warning ]
[12:23:15] Warning: Hidden directory found: /etc/.java
[12:23:15] Warning: Hidden directory found: /dev/.udev
[12:23:15] Warning: Hidden directory found: /dev/.initramfs

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=110398
Bus error for programs that require libpulse

With GDB I tracked the problem down to libpulse. When I -Rd it all the games mentioned above will work again. Unfortunately mumble won't run but I can live with that. By the way mumble exits with an bus error too when libpulse is installed.

Yeah, /dev/shm was full or rather way too small. It just had "4" as available on df. I gave an explicit size in /etc/fstab and it's fine now. The problem occured in "pa_shm_cleanup () from /usr/lib/libpulsecore-0.9.22".

[igorzwx]

Has anybody tried to remove "libpulse" and "libpulse-mainloop-glib0" from Ubuntu?

Even Ubuntu does not force Pulseaudio. You can always deinstall it completely and use pure ALSA or OSS.

Ever heard of Ubuntu Studio? It uses "jackd" as audio daemon.

The only PA-related packages you can't deinstall are "libpulse" and "libpulse-mainloop-glib0". When not using GNOME, you can even deinstall them.

Because Pulseaudio is installed in a basic installation, it does not mean you can't get rid of it.
http://phoronix.com/forums/showthread.p ... post129443

It is not difficult to remove "libpulse" from Arch Linux, and it should be not be very difficult to remove "libpulse" and "libpulse-mainloop-glib0" from Ubuntu. You may need to recompile a few packages. They might be added to "audiohacks PPA" https://launchpad.net/~dtl131/+archive/ppa

It makes sense to try, taking into account the arrival of Gnome 3 (with new PulseAudio problems) in the near future.

The manual for recompilation of Ubuntu packages is here:
http://www.4front-tech.com/forum/viewto ... =15#p13781

The release of GNOME 3 has been delayed once again, this time proposed for release in April 2011.

Version 3.0 of the desktop environment is scheduled for release in April 2011. It was announced at the July 2008 GUADEC conference in Istanbul...

Though many of the planned changes are incremental, the desktop will receive a major overhaul with the GNOME Shell.

The release date had been set for September 2010, but in July the development team postponed the release to March 2011 and decided to release version 2.32 instead. In September the date was again postponed to April 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME#Upcoming_release

It might be obvious that it will be much more difficult to remove PulseAudio from a new Ubuntu with Gnome 3. Imagine that some 50 packages (including all multimedia things: VLC, MPlayer, Firefox, etc.) depend on PulseAudio. You have to recompile them, if you want to get rid of PulseAudio.

You may also need to recompile GNOME to fix security problems. It turned out that Ubuntu is vulnerable to Windows-style exploits
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/09 ... _problems/
see also: http://www.google.com/search?q=linux%20 ... 8&oe=UTF-8
The convergence of Ubuntu and Windows seems to be a natural outcome of collaboration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Icaza

There is also a kind of collaboration between Microsoft and SUSE Linux:

Microsoft and Novell Collaborate - FAQ
http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/faq.html
Microsoft and Novell will undertake work to make it easier for customers to manage mixed Windows and SUSE Linux Enterprise environments and to make it easier for customers to federate Microsoft Active Directory with Novell eDirectory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUSE_Linux_distributions
Novell bought the SuSE brands and trademarks in 2003. Novell, one of the founding members of the Open Invention Network, decided to make the community an important part of their development process by opening widely the distribution development to outside contributors in 2005, creating the openSUSE distribution and the openSUSE Project. Novell employed over 500 developers working on SUSE in 2004.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novell#Agreement_with_Microsoft
The deal involves upfront payment of $348 million from Microsoft to Novell for patent cooperation and SLES subscription. Additionally, Microsoft will spend around $46 million yearly, over the next 5 years, for marketing and selling a combined SLES/Windows Server offering and related virtualization solutions, while Novell will pay at least $40 million yearly to Microsoft, in the same period.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Icaza#GNOME.2C_Ximian.2C_and_Mono
In 1999, de Icaza, along with Nat Friedman, co-founded Helix Code, a GNOME-oriented free software company that employed a large number of other GNOME hackers. In 2001, Helix Code, later renamed Ximian, announced the Mono Project, to be led by de Icaza, with the goal to implement Microsoft's new .NET development platform on Linux and Unix-like platforms. In August 2003, Ximian was acquired by Novell, Inc. There, de Icaza is currently the Vice President of Developer Platform.

Miguel de Icaza, the creator of the GNOME, is a prominent advocate of Microsoft technologies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_ ... chnologies
PulseAudio seems to a very advanced technology of the sort.
GNOME + Novell + Microsoft → PulseAudio
GNOME is upstream. If PulseAudio is implemented in GNOME, it is automatically implemented in major Linux distros.
Do not ask questions like this: "Cui bono?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cui_bono
The answer is obvious.

The convergence of Linux and Windows might be the reason why Google forked the Linux kernel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)#Linux_compatibility
see also:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/10 ... ion_egypt/
http://www.whispersys.com/

If you need more facts, you may ask Richard Stallman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman

09.10.09 Miguel de Icaza Joins Microsoft
Posted in Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, Mono, Novell at 12:17 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Novell’s Miguel de Icaza becomes board member in a new Microsoft group
http://techrights.org/2009/09/10/miguel ... -codeplex/

RMS: De Icaza Traitor to Free Software Community
posted by Thom Holwerda on Thu 24th Sep 2009 13:35 UTC, submitted by Hiev
The conversation shifted towards Microsoft's new Open Source labs, and in response to a question by Owens, Stallman noted that Miguel de Icaza "is basically a traitor to the Free Software community". He also added that De Icaza is a Microsoft apologist, hence his involvement in the new Open Source labs does not inspire confidence.
http://www.osnews.com/story/22225/RMS_D ... Community/

Miguel de Icaza “is Basically a Traitor to the Free Software Community,” Says Richard Stallman
http://techrights.org/2009/09/21/rms-on ... -de-icaza/
Summary: Strong words from the revered founder of the Free Software Foundation and more Microsoft/Mono news

The convergence of Linux and Windows seems to mean assimilation (absorption, anabolism, digestion, etc.):

Assimilation is a rather scary strategy because not only is it Microsoft’s favourite technique for embracing and extending (or dividing and devouring) but it also makes peers seem like foes, and vice versa.
http://techrights.org/2009/09/28/micros ... r-hug-oss/

Presumably, PulseAudio was created in Microsoft's Open Source labs. http://www.osnews.com/story/22225/RMS_D ... Community/
Perhaps, Microsoft's Open Source labs also contributed into the development of ALSA, Xorg, Linux video drivers, etc., as well as into the hardening of Linux security
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/09 ... _problems/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/17 ... l_exploit/
http://www.google.com/search?q=linux%20 ... 8&oe=UTF-8

The problems with PulseAudio, GNOME, ALSA drivers, video drivers, and buggy Xorg forced many Ubuntu users to switch to Arch Linux. Therefore, a special plan was designed for enforcing PulseAudio upon Arch Linux users
http://old.nabble.com/PulseAudio-in--ex ... 14159.html
http://www.mail-archive.com/pulseaudio- ... 03718.html
If you are going to switch to Arch Linux, you should be prepared to combat the same problems. If you have already learned the art of hacking Ubuntu, you may feel very comfortable with Arch Linux. If you do not believe this, you may ask Russian kids.

The knowledge of how to recompile Ubuntu/Debian packages is a kind of secret esoteric knowledge, largely because, perhaps, it may liberate Ubuntu users from the tyranny of Ubuntu developers. This knowledge does ensure the freedom of choice. It makes sense to learn the art, see: http://www.4front-tech.com/forum/viewto ... =15#p13781

Knowledge and only knowledge liberates, and absolute knowledge liberates absolutely.
Sir Isaiah Berlin

"Open source" is a kind of Communism, that is why the freedom of choice tends to be abolished. "Open source" is PulseAudio, that is why it is enforced in major Linux distros. You are always busy with PulseAudio. Linux is, in fact, a forced labor camp system. "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY" (Orwell, 1984), and Linux is a kind of GULAG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag

As Leon Trotsky put it so well: "Let the priests of all religious confessions tell of a paradise in the world beyond - we say we will create a true paradise for men on this earth". This was the promise of the Russian Communist Cargo Cult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky Instead of the promised paradise, the Russian got GULAG and the Great Terror http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Terror The "open source" Cargo Cult ideology is also promising a kind of "true paradise for men on this earth". The result is likely to be the opposite of what is promised. The story of PulseAudio is the evident proof that "open source" is evil. This does not mean, however, that "closed source" is always good. What is really good is the freedom of choice.

It is in the nature of Cargo cults to deny the freedom of choice, because the ends justify the means. Forced labor camps are just a means to an end. The Russian GULAG was simply a rapid technique with which to "create a true paradise for men on this earth". Our brothers in Vanuatu also tried such magic techniques:

A new leader in the north of the island, Neloaig (Nelawihang), proclaimed himself John Frum, King of America and of Tanna. He organized an armed force which conscripted labour for the construction of an aerodrome which the Americans had told him to build for American Liberator planes bringing goods from John Frum's father. Those who refused to work would be bombed by planes. This pressed labour was resisted by a few natives who were wounded... The police reinforcements, with two U.S. officers, were quickly despatched to the John Frum airstrip. There they found 200 men at work, surrounded by others with guns.
Peter Worsley, The Trumpet Shall Sound: A Study of Cargo Cults in Melanesia, 1968.

These events took place in 1943 during the World War II. That is why Cargo aerodromes were prohibited by the colonial administration. Our brothers in Vanuatu are still waiting for the arrival of John Frum and his planes with the promised Cargo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmlYe2KS0-Y

“John promised you much cargo more than 60 years ago, and none has come,” I point out. “So why do you keep faith with him? Why do you still believe in him?”
Chief Isaac shoots me an amused look. “You Christians have been waiting 2,000 years for Jesus to return to earth,” he says, “and you haven’t given up hope.” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/john.html

For a similar reason, the "open source" developers keep improving PulseALSA. "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" (1984).

The John Frum Cargo Cult continues to persist, because its ideology cannot be disproved.
According to Anthropology, Cargo cult usually occurs in three phases. In short, Cargo cult is a process of social change, it is a phenomenon of self-organization, which can be studied through the help of computer simulation and non-linear modeling (see an example in the Attachment). Such non-linear models may allow to predict a new cycle of the cult.

The first phase of Cargo cult is enthusiasm, the second phase is disillusionment. Enthusiasm is followed by disillusionment simply because a certain sort of negative experience tends to accumulate, and also because the promised Cargo constantly fails to arrive. Since "the dramatic fervour of a cult cannot long be sustained", the cult activities are abandoned. During the second phase, that is, the phase of disillusionment, the number of true believers is likely to fall to zero, and, for an outside observer, the cult may seem to be going to disappear.

The number of Linux users is already so small that it is comparable with the number of the deaf:
http://blogs.adobe.com/open/2011/06/foc ... lient.html
http://research.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/deaf-US.php
This fact allows to assume that ALSA "musicians" are deaf to a certain extent. This assumption has already been proved with mathematical exactitude: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4423#p17789
Since the deaf might be perfectly content with PulseALSA, the "open source" Cargo cult may continue to persist.

The third phase of Cargo cult is a "hidden phase", since obvious ritual activities seem to be completely abandoned, and an outside observer may come to believe that the cult might have disappeared forever. This phase mostly involves intellectual activities. It is a long process of the creation of a new ideology, the so-called "myth-dream", which is capable of provoking a massive enthusiasm.

[JDarwein]

I've been using Ubuntu 9.10 for a couple of weeks now and I noticed I had two Gnome-Volume-Control-Applets, so I right-clicked on one and closed it and it ended up closing both of them! Now I can't get the applet to start back up!

[igorzwx]

I've been using Ubuntu 9.10 for a couple of weeks now and I noticed I had two Gnome-Volume-Control-Applets, so I right-clicked on one and closed it and it ended up closing both of them! Now I can't get the applet to start back up!

There is a special forum for such questions:

Absolute Beginner Talk
The perfect starting place to find out more about computers, Linux and Ubuntu.
http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.ph ... a9cd&f=326

If you want to learn Open Sound System (OSS4), you may try it on Arch Linux LiveCD. The manual is here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3933#p17359

Please, do not bump old threads!

Old Threads/'Necro-Bumping'
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo ... Bumping.27