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aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is most famous for previously being used in KDE
KDE

KDE is a free software project based around its flagship product, a desktop environment for Unix-like systems. The goal of the project is to provide basic desktop functions and applications for daily needs as well as tools and documentation for developers to write stand-alone applications for the system....
 (series 2
KDE 2

KDE 2 was the second series of releases of the KDE. There were three major releases in this series....
 and 3
KDE 3

KDE 3 was the third series of releases of the KDE. There were six major releases in this series....
) to simulate an analog synthesizer
Analog synthesizer

An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog electronics and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically....
.

A key component of aRts is the sound server
Sound server

A sound server is software that manages the use of and access to sound reproduction devices, most notably, the soundcard. It usually runs as a background process....
 which mixes several sound stream
Streaming media

Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by, and normally presented to, an End-user while it is being delivered by a streaming provider ....
s in realtime. The sound server
Sound server

A sound server is software that manages the use of and access to sound reproduction devices, most notably, the soundcard. It usually runs as a background process....
, called artsd (d for daemon
Daemon (computer software)

In Unix and other computer computer multitasking operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs in the background , rather than under the direct control of a user; they are usually initiated as background Computer processes....
), is also utilized as the standard sound server for KDE2–3.






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aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is most famous for previously being used in KDE
KDE

KDE is a free software project based around its flagship product, a desktop environment for Unix-like systems. The goal of the project is to provide basic desktop functions and applications for daily needs as well as tools and documentation for developers to write stand-alone applications for the system....
 (series 2
KDE 2

KDE 2 was the second series of releases of the KDE. There were three major releases in this series....
 and 3
KDE 3

KDE 3 was the third series of releases of the KDE. There were six major releases in this series....
) to simulate an analog synthesizer
Analog synthesizer

An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog electronics and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically....
.

A key component of aRts is the sound server
Sound server

A sound server is software that manages the use of and access to sound reproduction devices, most notably, the soundcard. It usually runs as a background process....
 which mixes several sound stream
Streaming media

Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by, and normally presented to, an End-user while it is being delivered by a streaming provider ....
s in realtime. The sound server
Sound server

A sound server is software that manages the use of and access to sound reproduction devices, most notably, the soundcard. It usually runs as a background process....
, called artsd (d for daemon
Daemon (computer software)

In Unix and other computer computer multitasking operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs in the background , rather than under the direct control of a user; they are usually initiated as background Computer processes....
), is also utilized as the standard sound server for KDE2–3. However, the sound server is not dependent on KDE and can be used in other projects. It is a direct competitor to JACK Audio Connection Kit
JACK Audio Connection Kit

The JACK Audio Connection Kit or JACK is a sound server Daemon that provides low latency connections between so-called jackified applications, for both audio and MIDI data....
, another real-time sound server, and an indirect competitor to the Enlightened Sound Daemon
Enlightened Sound Daemon

In computing, the Enlightened Sound Daemon is the sound server for Enlightenment and GNOME.ESD will mix together the simultaneous audio output of multiple running programs, and output the resulting stream to the sound card....
 (ESD). It is now common to use ALSA's software mixing instead of artsd.

The aRts platform
Platform (computing)

In computing, a platform describes some sort of hardware architecture or software framework , that allows Computer software to run. Typical platforms include a computer's Computer architecture, operating system, programming languages and related runtime libraries or graphical user interface....
 also includes aRts Builder — an application
Application software

Application software is any tool that functions and is operated by means of a computer, with the purpose of supporting or improving the software user 's work....
 for building custom layouts and configurations for audio mixers, sequencers, synthesizers and other audio schema
Schema

The word schema comes from the Greek word "s???a" , which means shape, or more generally, plan. The Greek plural is "s???ata" . In English, both schemas and schemata are used as plural forms, although the latter is the standard form for written English....
 via a user-friendly graphical user interface
Graphical user interface

A graphical user interface is a type of user interface which allows people to human-computer interaction such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment....
. aRts is free software
Free software

Free Software or software libre is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things and to prevent consumer-facing hardware...
, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License is a widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. The GPL is the most popular and well-known example of the type of strong copyleft license that requires derived works to be available under the same copyleft....
.

End of project

On December 2, 2004 aRts' creator and primary developer Stefan Westerfeld announced he was leaving the project due to a variety of fundamental development and technical issues with aRts.

In KDE 4 developers choose to replace aRts with a new multimedia API known as Phonon
Phonon (KDE)

Phonon is the multimedia API for KDE 4. Phonon was created to allow KDE 4 to be independent of any single multimedia framework such as GStreamer or xine and to provide a stable API for KDE 4's lifetime....
. Phonon will provide a common interface on top of other systems, such as Xine
Xine

xine is a multimedia playback engine for Unix-like operating systems released under the GNU General Public License. xine is built around a shared library that supports different frontend player applications....
, to avoid being dependent on a single multimedia framework.

See also

  • Enlightened Sound Daemon
    Enlightened Sound Daemon

    In computing, the Enlightened Sound Daemon is the sound server for Enlightenment and GNOME.ESD will mix together the simultaneous audio output of multiple running programs, and output the resulting stream to the sound card....
     (ESD) – used by GNOME
    Gnome

    A gnome is a mythical creature characterized by its extremely small size and wiktionary:subterranean lifestyle. The word gnome is derived from the New Latin gnomus....
  • PulseAudio
    PulseAudio

    PulseAudio is a cross-platform, networked sound server project. It is intended to be an improved drop-in replacement for the Enlightened Sound Daemon ....
     - Advanced Sound Server intended to be a replacement for the ESD


External links