From alsa-user-owner@alsa.jcu.cz  Sun Oct 25 02:16:31 1998
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To: alsa-user@jcu.cz
From: sharkey@ale.physics.sunysb.edu
Subject: Re: ALSA and Audiopci problems 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Sat, 24 Oct 1998 20:49:59 +0200."
             <Pine.LNX.3.96.981024204259.15112F-100000@entry.jcu.cz> 
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 09:27:48 +0900
Reply-To: alsa-user@alsa.jcu.cz
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> Last thing: Anyone know why users ask for "bad" and "old" contents of
>             /dev/sndstat? ALSA uses this file only for compatibility and
>             in /dev/sndstat aren't very much information as in
>             /proc/asound directory...

Habit.

In my experience, it is very difficult to get people to do something different.

When the main piece of software I was working on for my thesis experiment
reached a turning point, I decided that a name change was a good idea.  I
changed many things in the code, as well as the name, and checked it all
in to a new directory in our CVS repository.  After I got the major bugs worked
out, this code had a superset of the functionality of the original.

Unfortunately, the other people I work with continued to use and develope the
old code because they were not familiar with this "new" program and "did not
know how to use it".  Much time was wasted in merging software revisions and
it took me six months to convince my collegues that the new version was
essentially the same as the original but with an expanded feature set.

That name change cost me no end of trouble.

People don't respond well to change.  You can tell them again and again and
again.  They just won't hear you.


Jaroslav, would it break compatibility to include a warning message at the
end of the sndstat message?  Something like:

WARNING!!!  THIS DEVICE IS OBSOLETE.  SUPPORT FOR /dev/sndstat MAY BE REMOVED
IN THE FUTURE!  MORE DETAILED INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE IN /proc/asound.

This would put the message in plain sight of the people who use this device.
It might just clue them in to the status quo.

Eric

