Re: [orca-list] Revamped explanation of problems relating to lack of speech accessability

[Luke Yelavich <themuso ubuntu com>]

On Tue, Aug 06, 2013 at 01:21:24PM EST, Christopher Chaltain wrote:
> I used two different methods to get Speakup and Orca cohabitating
> with PulseAudio's user mode in Ubuntu and Vinux before Luke provided
> his ConsoleKit package. One method was just to log into a console as
> root and then su to my user ID. Another was to run sudo speechd-up
> in a terminal on the desktop and then log into my user ID in a
> console. I don't consider either method to be extremely difficult.
> Your first statement also made it seem like it was not possible as
> opposed to just difficult.
>
> I've only used PulseAudio systems in the last few years, and I
> haven't found it that complicated. I don't have experience with a
> pure alsa system to compare it to though, so you may be right in
> that I don't know what I'm missing. From the posts I've seen, which
> I haven't read too deeply, it seems like it takes a bit of work to
> install a system without PA on it though.
>
> I'm curious, on a pure alsa system, can I control the volume of each
> audio stream like I can with my Ubuntu systems where I have PA
> running?

No. Its also harder to do the following:
* Use bluetooth audio hardware.
* Move an application's audio output from one card to another.
* Make an app play through a different card, although if the app provides UI to do this, then its not so bad.

The resampling algorithm that ALSA's dmix plugin uses is also nowhere nearly as good a quality as the 
resamplers that pulseaudio can work with. I say resamplers because pulseaudio can work with several, and this 
is changeable in its configuration files. Pulseaudio also does as much as it can to minimize power usage when 
audio is being played back.

Luke