[pulseaudio-discuss] Client-server bad design

[Lukas Polacek]

Hello!
I use X forwarding and I have setup pulse audio for network sound. It works, but
I think the design of how it works is bad. Let me explain.

Let A be a computer, which I am using and B be a computer, which I want to
connect to. This is how X forwarding works: A and B both run an X server. A
connects to B and the X session from B is transferred through the netwrok to A.
A is a _client_ of B, hence B is a _server_. This client-server relation of A
and B has nothing to do with the fact that A and B both run an X server.

Pulse audio network transfer works exactly the opposite way. A wants to play
sound from B and B has to connect to A. I don't understand. A wants something
from B, why should B start the connection?

This may seem like a stupid play with the words, but this design flaw causes,
that you can't use PA over NAT without workarounds.

Lukas