kernel modules

Linux sound is ridiculously overcomplicated.

Its also one of the few areas in Linux which experiences a '2UP' - the 2 Universes Problem, notorious amongst Apple and MSW users but rarer in Linux software.

In a 2UP, a given subsystem will work perfectly, usually out-of-the-box, for one set of users, yet fail catastrophically for another set of users, when they are ostensibly using exactly the same software and hardware.