[pulseaudio-discuss] Proper PulseAudio installation for KUbuntu 10.4 ; jor PA

[giovanni_re]

What's the proper set of packages, & setup actions, to get PulseAudio working properly on KUbuntu 10.4?

==  Background
To assist in Skype setup on a KUbuntu 10.4 system, a friend familiar with PA on Ubuntu suggested I install some specific PA packages:
padevchooser & pavucontrol.  I installed those 2 packages.  Which gave me:
dpkg -l | grep PulseAudio
ii  gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio             0.10.21-1ubuntu3                                GStreamer plugin for PulseAudio
ii  libpulse-browse0                     1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 PulseAudio client libraries (zeroconf suppor
ii  libpulse-mainloop-glib0              1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 PulseAudio client libraries (glib support)
ii  libpulse0                            1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 PulseAudio client libraries
ii  padevchooser                         0.9.3-2ubuntu4                                  PulseAudio Device Chooser
ii  paman                                0.9.4-1ubuntu2                                  PulseAudio Manager
ii  paprefs                              0.9.9-2ubuntu1                                  PulseAudio Preferences
ii  pavucontrol                          0.9.9-1                                         PulseAudio Volume Control
ii  pavumeter                            0.9.3-1ubuntu1                                  PulseAudio Volume Meter
ii  pulseaudio                           1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 PulseAudio sound server
ii  pulseaudio-esound-compat             1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 PulseAudio ESD compatibility layer
ii  pulseaudio-module-gconf              1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 GConf module for PulseAudio sound server
ii  pulseaudio-module-x11                1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 X11 module for PulseAudio sound server
ii  pulseaudio-module-zeroconf           1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 Zeroconf module for PulseAudio sound server
ii  pulseaudio-utils                     1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 Command line tools for the PulseAudio sound 


I see here:
http://pulseaudio.org/wiki/AboutPulseAudio
"The following obsolete or out-of-date UI tools have been Developed for PulseAudio as well:
    * PulseAudio Manager
    * PulseAudio Volume Meter
    * PulseAudio Device Chooser "

So, the chooser is out of date.  There's no indication on that page what it has been replaced with, if anything.

So, firstly, what is the proper set of packages to get a proper PA system installed on KUbuntu?

I see here:
http://pulseaudio.org/wiki/PerfectSetup
"Install All Utilities
Make sure to install all auxiliary GUI tools for the PulseAudio sound server:
    * PulseAudio Volume Control
    * PulseAudio Volume Meter
    * PulseAudio Manager OBSOLETE
    * PulseAudio Device Chooser OBSOLETE
    * PulseAudio Preferences 
The packages are pavucontrol pavumeter paman padevchooser paprefs. "

So, someone should update that page & remove those "oblolete" packages from the 
"Make sure to install" list!  And make sure the resultant list is correct.


Moreover, there should be a list of the proper .deb packages to install for an Ubuntu (I'm guessing the #1 most used GNU/Linux distro).

What packages should be installed?
Would installing just the 
ii  pulseaudio                           1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14 PulseAudio sound server
package be sufficient?  Or, should others be installed as well.


What GUI tools should be installed to allow a user to easily monitor & see what settings are in place in the PA system - especially with a view to debugging to determine why some audio on the system isn't working, like "why can Audacity output properly, but DragonPlayer makes no output?" {which is my current problem}.

All that info should be on that web page.


=====
"Current Status
The PulseAudio daemon and utilities are still under heavy development. Although they are generally considered stable, they haven't seen enough testing to warrant a first completely stable release."

So, what are the important things to be aware of?
And what are estimated dates for future feature releases?

That is crucial info, given that 
http://pulseaudio.org/
shows no releases since Nov 2009 - 6 months ago.


=====  Home page improvements:
The PA home page would be greatly improved for potential users if several items were added to it:
1) A few sentences about "what is the purpose of PA?  What uses/needs does it fulfull?  For users?  For developers?
2) Here is the suggested set of sw you should install.

======
I'm sending this question to the KUbuntu & PulseAudio mailing lists.

=========
So, what is the proper set of packages to get a proper PA system installed on KUbuntu?

Thanks for your help :)