[1]

We (no wait..I?) finally decided that it’s time we moved something to stable, and none other than kernel26rt qualifies to be the first among the few. We’ve not forgotten to move the dependent packages either, and this so far only means nvidia-rt as we do not see how the binary ATI drivers or the virtualization stuff for example are going to fit in. So now you must add the repo to your list.

Reminder: x86_64 users, you have to WAIT =p

# /etc/pacman.conf
...
[archaudio-stable]
Server = http://repos.archaudio.org/stable/i686 # or x86_64
 
[archaudio-testing]
Server = http://repos.archaudio.org/testing/i686

[2]

So we got around to actually adding more useless things to our repos (no wait..I actually didn’t ask anyone for permission! *runs*), and this time they’re arrogantly called kernel26icedrt (in the spirit of Iced Tea)and kernel26daw. We plan to provide the PAE versions as well, and the latter will also get its Iced flavour in due time, preferably named kernel26icedaw. This is subject to change if and when another one of us decides differently.

So what’s the deal with these? Well, firstly, the icedrt is actually an “adaptation” of kernel26-ice from AUR. That is to say, we realised that a combination of realtime and some of those patches are in fact no cause for major disasters, and as such we rolled our own (we use different buildscripts).

Then we have this new daw thing. You guessed right, it’s our BFS-patched offering – for pro audio users. We couldn’t possibly name it kernel26bfs because there’s a possibility someone would like to have both installed, and for that there’s a kernel26-bfs in AUR. It does look like it needs a lot more love, though. So the current tentative list, which may be withdrawn at any time given our manpower to maintain these (well actually it’s just 2 different “branches”):

* kernel26rt
** kernel26rtpae
* kernel26icedrt
** kernel26icedrtpae

* kernel26daw
** kernel26dawpae
* kernel26icedaw
** kernel26icedawpae

Some clarification on the use or lack, of hyphens: They’re a hindrance. On the filesystem (eg. /usr/{lib,src}), it doesn’t matter, but for package names, we don’t want something which requires you to exercise “terminal stretching” when searching. In short, we like to keep things short.

This rounds up our absence from frontpage since the last update, and we hope you keep on rocking with Arch or whatever your poison is right now.

edit: Packages will still appear in testing until we replace them with bleeding builds.

Let us take the chance to give you an example:

kernel-26231rt11

That is one very stable kernel – in one of our opinions. It’s well worth the time to sync to yet another repo during a pacman refresh. Take, for example, a scenario where you have no time to compile a kernel. What would Hercules do?

# /etc/pacman.conf
...
[proaudio]
Server = http://arch.madfire.net/proaudio/i686

1) Can be used by  anyone in the RT Audio community; generic to an extent
2) Humbly stripped of useless stuff (this is why  we mentioned “generic to an extent”)
3) Patched and tweaked with utmost care and simplicity (no extensive patching like adding support for Grandma)
4) Can work wonders
5) Can drive and lift a Rolls Royce

And oh yes, we’re always looking for suggestions on which kernel version to use for the ultimate experience. We know it’s subjective and the point is moot, but at least it gives us an idea. For the moment, it looks like one or two users are facing issues related to JACK with the current kernel26rt. We can’t tell if it’s a borked kernel or a borked system, so more feedback (from more people) is a must (in the future)!

No, we’re not noobs (goes out to the Gentoo no0bs) – we just want a kernel which can blow people away. That is why we’re selling out.

Arch Linux rules, and so do we.