“Okay, on to the reasons for this column. I intend to report on
various activities and developments in the rapidly evolving world
of Linux audio. To most normal users perhaps the term audio
software simply means programs to play MP3 and Ogg files or
applications that necessarily have something to do with audio, such
as CD and DVD players. Although I’ll certainly write about such
software, I’ll also present views of work being done in such fields
as MIDI software, telephony, network audio, digital DJing,
professional sound recording and many others. I hope you enjoy the
column, and I invite all readers to write to me with comments and
suggestions.“Out of all my involvements with Linux audio, perhaps my
greatest source of pride is to have been a founding member of the
Linux Audio Development group. I should make it very clear to my
readers that I’m no coder: I have an amateur’s knowledge of C, Lisp
and Tcl/Tk, but I’ve never written a substantial audio application,
nor do I plan to. However, since my first days in Linux I’ve been
in direct contact with developers of such applications, often in
the combined roles of bug-hunter and beta-tester. Since 1996 I’ve
made the acquaintance of almost every developer working on Linux
audio software. In 1998, a group of developers and users decided to
declare themselves the official Linux Audio Development (LAD)
group. At that time the group included about a dozen members, but
by December 2003 the group’s membership list has grown to more than
600 participants and lurkers…”