Glenn Enright wrote:
On Tuesday 01 August 2006 17:21, zcat wrote:
One problem I can see is that applications would have to use these unique entries, potentially different on each system?
How is this different from the current situation, other than the onboard sound will stay at /dev/dsp and the USB 'skype-phone' will stay at /dev/dsp1 instead of randomly swapping as they do now?
Not very I guess. Most importantly, what that means is there is still an element of customization required by the user, rather than just working out of the box. OTH application wizards could quickly set this up much more easily than manually writing udev rules. Point taken...
Less customisation. Right now, your fresh install is broken out of the box. You set up ubuntu and sound works. Plug in a usb phone and configure skype to use /dev/dsp1. Cool. The next time you boot the computer, all your system sounds are coming through the phone and skype is using the system speakers. Most users want devices to NOT MOVE ABOUT. What I'm suggesting is that once a device has been allocated, it stays there, with _perhaps_ an easily discovered option for freeing up or moving devices, although most users won't use it. So now; you set up ubuntu and sound works. (and transparently, the installer has set up a rule so it will always be /dev/dsp.) You plug in the phone and set skype to use /dev/dsp1. (and the installer has made a rule so that phone will always be /dev/dsp1) your webcam microphone will come up as /dev/dsp2 .. and it will stay there even if you accidentally boot the machine with the usb phone unplugged... Normal users with only one or two (or even ten) devices, who want things to 'just work' get that, and things will stay working in the same place every time they boot the machine. Users that need to move devices around or play with new hardware every week can still do that too, with minimal extra effort. Users that enjoy their devices jumping about randomly are going to have to get used to them staying put, or something..