Jack inclusion in Main

[Eric Hedekar]

In Bug #416778 ( https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/416778 ) Loïc Minier has
requested further public discussion on the subject of Jack Audio Server
http://jackaudio.org/ being included in the Main repositories.  I was told
this list would be the best place for that discussion.  I am also CCing the
ubuntu-studio-devel at lists.ubuntu.com because the Ubuntu Studio team has been
the driving force behind this inclusion request and are extremely
knowledgeable in regards to JACK.

Here are a couple of my thoughts on the matter as to why Jack should be
included in Main.
- Many bugs have been filed against various audio servers currently in Main
(xine, alsa, portaudio, pulseaudio) requesting that the JACK
bridge/plugin/output/etc... be turned on or compiled into the package - this
is not possible without the inclusion of Jack in Main.  Bugs #152487,
#84900, #109659, and #360590 (this may not be a complete list, and
duplicates of most of these have been filed).
- The libffado drivers for firewire soundcards ( http://www.ffado.org ) are
only supported by the Jack driver.  This makes these common, pro, semi-pro,
and hobbyist audio cards inaccessible for most applications without the
previous audio server bridges/plugins/outputs to jack available.  Owners of
these cards must recompile major audio drivers in order to get basic Ubuntu
sound.
- Jack is an audio server designed specifically for professional reliable
audio signals.  This is not a duplicate server clogging up the "audio mess",
which some people believe exists in Linux, it is a specialty tool for
musicians, audio engineers, and anyone using Linux for professional audio.
(In-fact if anything, allowing the aforementioned bugs to get fixed would
clean up a large chunk of the "audio mess" which some believe exists.  It
would at least stop a large segment of people from griping so loudly about
and attempting to remove PulseAudio.)

Please voice your opinion on the matter.
-Eric Hedekar
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