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Access to OSS-compatible audio devices}
\declaremodule{builtin}{ossaudiodev}
-\platform{Linux, FreeBSD}
+\platform{Linux, FreeBSD, possibly other \UNIX-like systems}
\modulesynopsis{Access to OSS-compatible audio devices.}
-% XXX OSS is standard for Linux and FreeBSD -- what about NetBSD?
-% OpenBSD? others?
This module allows you to access the OSS (Open Sound System) audio
interface. OSS is available for a wide range of open-source and
-commercial Unices, and is the standard audio interface for Linux (up to
-kernel 2.4) and FreeBSD.
+commercial Unices, and is the standard audio interface for Linux and
+recent versions of FreeBSD.
+
+% Things will get more complicated for future Linux versions, since
+% ALSA is in the standard kernel as of 2.5.x. Presumably if you
+% use ALSA, you'll have to make sure its OSS compatibility layer
+% is active to use ossaudiodev, but you're gonna need it for the vast
+% majority of Linux audio apps anyways.
+%
+% Sounds like things are also complicated for other BSDs. In response
+% to my python-dev query, Thomas Wouters said:
+%
+% > Likewise, googling shows OpenBSD also uses OSS/Free -- the commercial
+% > OSS installation manual tells you to remove references to OSS/Free from the
+% > kernel :)
+%
+% but Aleksander Piotrowsk actually has an OpenBSD box, and he quotes
+% from its <soundcard.h>:
+% > * WARNING! WARNING!
+% > * This is an OSS (Linux) audio emulator.
+% > * Use the Native NetBSD API for developing new code, and this
+% > * only for compiling Linux programs.
+%
+% There's also an ossaudio manpage on OpenBSD that explains things
+% further. Presumably NetBSD and OpenBSD have a different standard
+% audio interface. That's the great thing about standards, there are so
+% many to choose from ... ;-)
+%
+% This probably all warrants a footnote or two, but I don't understand
+% things well enough right now to write it! --GPW
\begin{seealso}
\seetitle[http://www.opensound.com/pguide/oss.pdf]
- {Open Sound System Programmer's Guide}
- {the official documentation for the OSS C API}
+ {Open Sound System Programmer's Guide} {the official
+ documentation for the OSS C API}
\seetext{The module defines a large number of constants supplied by
the OSS device driver; see \file{<sys/soundcard.h>} on either
Linux or FreeBSD for a listing .}