Linux.FR has an interview with Lennart Poettering of PulseAudio and systemd fame (among others). Regarding PulseAudio: "I can understand why people were upset, but quite frankly we didn't really have another option than to push it into the distributions when we did. While PulseAudio certainly wasn't bug-free when the distributions picked it up the majority of issues were actually not in PulseAudio itself but simply in the audio drivers. PulseAudio's timer-based scheduling requires correct timing information supplied by the audio driver, and back then the drivers weren't really providing that. And that not because the drivers were really broken, but more because the hardware was, and the drivers just lacked the right set of work-arounds, quirks and fixes to compensate for it."
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Member since:2005-07-06
Personally I am obviously still a devoted Linux user, but these things should not happen with a professional OS. Even if the changes were ultimately beneficial, the chaotic process through which pulse audio was released is unfortunately a set back to the credibility of a reliable OS. It is exactly this sort of mismanagement that fuels the cry that linux is not ready for the desktop.
< elitist ass > It separates the men from the boys. < /elitist ass >
For me the part in bold is what counts. Progress is painful. I've been using Linux since 1998 and there have been bumpy rides, but the system always got better, even after a temporary regression.
It is in the nature of people to bitch and moan about temporary setbacks. Look at the abuse we all gave MS over Vista. Now that Vista has been thoroughly polished and re-released as Windows 7, where are the cries now? Not to be heard. Yet vista was necessary to get to Windows 7. (Yes, a Linux user can praise MS...)
If you can't be on the bleeding edge, curb your updateritis and stick with a long time support release without the problematic feature. There are enough enthusiasts out there to iron out the kinks, before anyone needs to get near a new, bleeding edge feature.
Linux at least has the luxury of a few bazzilion distro's, so there should always be one with the right feature set. MS didn't have that luxury with Vista.
Member since:2011-01-28
r_a_trip,
"For me the part in bold is what counts. Progress is painful. I've been using Linux since 1998 and there have been bumpy rides, but the system always got better, even after a temporary regression."
But I strongly disagree with the notion that progress has to be painful. There was no technical reason in this case to make it so painful.
If a for-profit (non-monopoly) company were to do this regularly with it's product lines, then it would likely have irate customers who would be inclined to do business elsewhere. I would add that the company even deserves to loose business.
I'd seriously like to know why linux is different? (yes, I know it's free).
"It is in the nature of people to bitch and moan about temporary setbacks. Look at the abuse we all gave MS over Vista. ... Yet vista was necessary to get to Windows 7. (Yes, a Linux user can praise MS...)"
Wow, I'm astonished to hear this. If microsoft wasn't a monopoly with strong staying power, this would have put it out of business. Vista was not ready, and microsoft deserved all the criticism it received.
"If you can't be on the bleeding edge..."
The problem isn't with the bleeding edge in my opinion, it's that compatibility with the existing model was almost deliberately broken.
Member since:2006-01-24
I find statements like these to be quite pointless, I remember tons of complaints over broken video/audio drivers as Microsoft released Vista with it's new driver architectures, and Microsoft have alot more resources at their disposal for testing before release than Linux devs have.
For OSX obviously it's a different matter since they control the exact hardware and thus only have to make it work flawlessly against their particular specification. So I'm guessing they are the only ones that would get your 'professional OS' seal of quality.
Member since:2006-11-12
A brief web search shows that OSX with the limited Apple hardware has more than its share of audio problems:
http://forums.cnet.com/mac-forums/mac-os-x-forum/1770-5_102-0-2.htm...
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20075185-263/workaround-for-au...
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/Mac_OS_X_10.4.10_Audio_Probl...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2178
When will we dispense with the delusional "Macs just work because all of the hardware is theirs" mentality. Apple products never "just worked."
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Member since:
2011-01-28
diegocg,
"The criticism to Pulseaudio is getting ridiculous."
It's apparent from the voting that your opinion is more popular here, but I really don't think it's ridiculous to criticize pulseaudio (and the distros loading it) when the result was many broken systems.
Personally I am obviously still a devoted Linux user, but these things should not happen with a professional OS. Even if the changes were ultimately beneficial, the chaotic process through which pulse audio was released is unfortunately a set back to the credibility of a reliable OS. It is exactly this sort of mismanagement that fuels the cry that linux is not ready for the desktop.