this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2025
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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OK, let's see if I remember well:
OSS is obsolete.
ALSA is a basic primitive way to do play audio streams integrated into the kernel.
PA is an abstraction on top of ALSA that helps with network stuff, per-application volume control, …
JACK is an alternative to ALSA/PA for low latency professional use cases: you can plumb it yourself, connect inputs/outputs, …
PW is an efficient implementation of both PA and JACK, which is better than the original PA in latency.