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24-Jun-2003, 02:47 AM
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 Wal-Mart Linux (Lycoris OS) computer i don't know jack about linux, except there seems to be about 150 different versions of the same name. red hat, yellow dog, lycoris... and, none of them work very well, apparently. (at least not for us non-programmers - which is most of us). seems everybody wants to build their own mousetrap, instead of working on - and improving - the original!! which, back some 5 or 6 years ago, seemed to be the basic idea. or, so we thought. <sigh> so, i'm looking at getting my feet wet with this walmart special. $200! "built from the ground up," apparently. but... i've spent 4 or 5 hours looking all over the freakin' internet for anything remotefully resembling a hint of information on Linux Sound capabilities, and all i get is geek speak nonsense about something called "ALSA," and damn little else. that is to say, NOBODY seems to have a clue if Linux has any Sound capabilities, or not! all i get from google, et. al. is "they're working on it." "they" being ALSA, apparently. and, "it's being developed!" yeah, and i'm getting old!  so, i'm wondering... if this machine running some linux version called 'Lycoris' (if one can imagine) has sound capability??? "sound" meaning web broadcasting capability. that is, can i plug in the mic from my radio console into the back of the walmart special and broadcast my radio show over the 'net??? or... does Linux even HAVE (or "support") such sound capability??? those at 'ALSA' don't seem to have a clue either way. and, if not, my OTHER question would be... just what century does Linux intend to be a legitimate contender in the Battle for the Desktop???? jeepers!  ... evil |
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24-Jun-2003, 05:46 AM
#3 | |||||
| From the tone of your post(BTW,welcome to TSG  ),it would lead one to think you already bought that Walmart PC and cant figure out how to run it. If that's not the case,then you're doing it right by researching things.ALSA is like every other piece of S/W out there:it's constantly in development.That's how you make things better.(Unless it's from M$). As for there being Quote:
A car doesnt work very well if you dont know how to drive it.I am a non-programmer who has been using Linux for quite a while with no major problems except for at the beginning when I tried to use it like it was a windows system.Once I looked at it for what it is(a highly developed and stable OS with all the capabilities of windows and none of it's shortcomings) I was fine.You just have to leave that windows baggage at the door. Thanks for bringing up this subject;most questions about Linux and sound are solved by turning up the volume. I would say this:if you can plug your mike into the back of a windows machine and broadcast your "show"(no link?) you can do it in Linux. HTH lynch
__________________ seldom right,but never in doubt... Here's a few links I find helpful: Intro to Linux:A Hands-on Guide USALUG A little Linux help OpenSUSE help+ Bash Commands |
24-Jun-2003, 11:57 AM
#4 | |||||
| The short answer to your question is "yes -- Linux does have sound capability". Actually, Linux supports a wide range of sound cards, including some truly ancient ones (I know, I use one!) as well as more modern, up-to-date ones. Both PCI and ISA cards are supported as well as builtin motherboard sound chips, and as you discovered, more capabilities are being worked on and added all the time. The key question, though, is whether (your version of) Linux supports your sound card -- and there's no way to know unless you specify both the sound card (or at least the chipset) and the version of Linux you want to use. However, there is a very good chance that your sound card will be supported. You may have to recompile the kernel in order to enable this support. You should also recognize that broadcasting over the net requires specialized software (such as Broadcast 2000, Icecast or similar) which you will have to install and configure. Typically, this software is not provided with a Linux distribution. You also make some good points about Linux in general -- the (confusing) multitude of versions ("distributions"), the lack of clear documentation (the Unix documentation motto is "if you have to ask, you don't need to know" ), and the fact that Linux is not (yet) the "desktop for the rest of us". But hang in there -- the results are worth the effort. As Lynch says, Linux is not Windoze -- and for the most part, that's a good thing.
__________________ The slowest component still sits at the keyboard. |
24-Jun-2003, 07:12 PM
#5 | |||||
| re: wal-mart Linux computer.. thanks! wow! i wasn't expecting such a quick response! my "tone" was the result of 4-5 hours of loop-de-loop search on Google. which pretty much lead nowhere! and, my "tone" was also the result of the 'tude factor that Linux seems to bring: "if you don't know - you don't NEED to know." well, fine! they're probably right!! i don't know jack about "code." but, jeepers... just some simple info. would have been great! like, "this version supports these cards..." anyway... i haven't run Windoze in YEARS! i run on a Mac. an old PowerMac, circa 1996, with a 3rd party (Sonnet) G3-400mHz processor, and some pci card upgrades. i gave up on Billy Boy's "continuous non-stop Upgrade Policy" at v. 3.1. that was enough for me! and, no. i haven't purchased the $200 Wal-Mart special, yet. i'm just looking at it as a possible CHEAP way to get into Linux. key word: cheap. (the Boss has no budget for my "show," and is a cheap bastaad, besides)! show link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/liveat5show talk about cheap! <g> anyway... the wal-mart special runs on Linux Lycoris (or something like that). it is a "stand-alone" OS. that is, there is no M$ OS built-in! hoo rah! (i think it's Linux' answer to getting into America's homes - via wal-mart). and, it has something called "AC '97 audio" built-in, with the typical in/out jacks. since it's a stand-alone OS, i'm hoping there's a pci sound card (or maybe 'USB sound') that i can just pop in the beast and go!! that is, i don't want to do much tinkering to get the config. right. i don't want to spend another 4-5 hours just to get a mic to work! i'd rather spend $499 on one of those eMachines, instead! and, yeah, i KNOW there's "Webcast" software involved - but THAT should be the EASY part! (hopefully). i just wanna make sure the wal-mart Linux special can handle the hardware part! thanks, again!! ... evil |
24-Jun-2003, 09:15 PM
#6 | |||||
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__________________ The slowest component still sits at the keyboard. |
25-Jun-2003, 01:55 AM
#8 | |||||
| $200.00 is just about the price of admission to the digital game these days -- you can't get much cheaper and still have anything to show for your purchase. There are certainly alternatives, however, if you'd like to shop a bit -- try, for example, www.computersurplusoutlet.com for some interesting possibilities to compare against your Walmart special. As another point of comparison, I recently shopped a 2.6 GHz AMD CPU + motherboard + 512 Mbyte DDR RAM (266 Mhz) which comes to roughly $170.00 -- that's without case, power supply, hard disk, modem or video card (although the motherboard does include builtin sound and ethernet). If you're getting a complete system for $200.00, Sam must be making them himself and working really cheap ( ). You're right -- you can't go too far wrong at that price, and for learning/experimentation, it's a cheap investment.
__________________ The slowest component still sits at the keyboard. |
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