Ubuntu 20.04: No sound

[Liam Proven]

On Wed, 20 May 2020 at 00:24, David Fletcher <dave at thefletchers.net> wrote:
>
> This rubbish is so damned annoying and unnecessary. The devices I have
> which do not comply are an Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard, purchased 2007-
> 12-02 and still in daily use, a Pentax K7 DSLR and two dashcams. Each
> of these items is entirely indifferent to whatever OS is being used so
> long as the BIOS/firmware update file can be copied onto a flash memory
> device and inserted.
>
> I would like to have a nice Meade telescope but so long as the autostar
> update application is windows only I shall not be spending any money
> with them.

Yes, I agree.

Linux is caught in the position of being a sort of successful Esperanto.

Esperanto is a much more successful language than people think. It's
often compared to Klingon, which is in fact very niche indeed, with
few fluent speakers -- maybe hundreds -- whereas Esperanto has
millions. There are many international Esperanto conferences and a
vibrant community, meaning that people meet and form relationships who
don't share a native language -- resulting in native
Esperanto-speaking children. Estimates range from thousands to tens of
thousands of _native_ Esperanto speakers. Native speakers of a
language with no homeland, no native people.

Linux doesn't really have a "native platform". It was an x86-32 OS at
first, yes -- and there are very few of those. DOS and 16-bit Windows
come from x86-16, NT comes from Intel i860, macOS comes from 68030,
etc. But then again, Linux is a *nix, and *nix hasn't had a "native
platform" since the 1960s.

So it has to try fit in, which it manages better than the BSDs etc.,
supporting DOS/Windows partitioning, DOS/Windows file extensions and
formats, even some drivers.

But it's _not_ native. PC firmware is only tested on Windows. PC
drivers are only tested on Windows and mostly only developed for
Windows. Developer docs are confidential, NDA-ridden, so FOSS devs
can't use them -- everything is guesswork, reverse-engineering and so
on. Linux is only commercially relevant on servers, so only server kit
directly supports it -- fancy disk controllers and network cards, not
desktop/laptop/consumer stuff.

Phones run Android and that has its own display server, its own
networking, etc. Nothing that benefits desktop/laptop stuff there.

We all live on the crumbs from the table of Linux servers and Windows desktops.

So it's great when stuff works. If it doesn't, well, sorry...

Assume that your firmware etc. was only tested with Windows. Assume it
has bugs that may only affect Linux etc. because if they don't affect
Windows, then the OEM won't care. Assume you need to update your own
firmware and assume you will need to keep Windows around just for
that.

An unregistered copy of Win10 is enough.

But if you are proud and "live FOSS or die" then you must assume that
some things will never work, and you may need to replace your on-board
wifi or sound with external USB devices that you bought at premium
prices _because_ they are Linux-compatible.

Don't be a hero. Keep Windows around, even if just for flashing your
firmware. It's not being a coward: it's being pragmatic.

And if 3rd party external kit needs Windows, well, yes, you're right
-- don't buy it. :-(

-- 
Liam Proven – Profile: https://about.me/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk – gMail/gTalk/gHangouts: lproven at gmail.com
Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/Flickr: lproven – Skype: liamproven
UK: +44 7939-087884 – ČR (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053