Suggested modification/extension of beep

Harald Becker ralda at gmx.de
Fri Feb 19 21:00:52 UTC 2010


Hallo Jim!

On 19.02.2010 21:30, Cathey, Jim wrote:
> The 'musicker' you get, the 'pipier' you need to be.
> I see a place for both usages.
>   
You are absolutely true and if there is interest I can add this
functionality to beep, may be with an option to enable or disable this
in the configuration menu.

... but just think about this:

Memory consumption is temporary at the moment xargs/beep is used. Adding
pipe support to beep adds code statically to the binary which consumes
memory all the time regardless of playing tunes or not.

Playing sounds on the pc speaker isn't accurate either. There are no
fractional of the frequencies and the clock sources tend to be
inaccurate. Additionally there are several other points producing
unintended delays and variations in tone length depending on the systems
speed and other load. Not to mention those clicks most systems produce
when you turn the speaker on or off.

... so to be philosophical: The 'musicker' you get, the more you need to
use ALSA and aplay or alike.

... but let me know if there is a public interest in that pipe feature.

Harald


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