Dev1 Galaxy Forum / The Absurdist Comedy

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 15:43:23 +0000

Do not remove libpulse0. To prevent "autoremove":

$ sudo apt-mark manual libpulse0 libpulse-mainloop-glib0 libpulsedsp

$ apt remove libpulse0 --simulate
NOTE: This is only a simulation!
...
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  addressmanager.app audacious-plugins blueman celluloid chromium chromium-driver chromium-l10n chromium-shell espeak
  espeakup ffmpeg ffmpegthumbnailer gnumail.app gnustep-back-common gnustep-back0.29 gnustep-back0.29-cairo
  gnustep-core-devel gnustep-devel gnustep-gui-runtime goldendict-ng gorm.app haruna libaddressview0 libavdevice-dev
  libavdevice59 libavfilter-dev libavfilter8 libcegui-mk2-0.8.7 libcegui-mk2-dev libdevil-dev libdevil1c2
  libespeak-ng1 libespeak1 libffmpegthumbnailer4v5 libfluidsynth3 libgnustep-gui-dev libgorm1 liblavplay-2.1-0
  libmatemixer0 libmjpegtools-dev libmpv2 libogre1.12.10 libpcaudio0 libpocketsphinx3 libpopplerkit0 libpulse-dev
  libpulse-mainloop-glib0 libpulse0 libpulsedsp libqt5multimedia5 libqt5multimediagsttools5 libqt5multimediaquick5
  libqt5multimediawidgets5 libqt6multimedia6 libqt6multimediaquick6 libqt6multimediawidgets6 libqt6spatialaudio6
  librenaissance0 librenaissance0-dev libsdl1.2-dev libsdl1.2debian libsdl2-2.0-0 libsdl2-dev libsdl2-image-2.0-0
  libsdl2-mixer-2.0-0 libsdl2-ttf-2.0-0 libsphinxbase3 mate-control-center mate-desktop-environment
  mate-desktop-environment-core mate-desktop-environment-extra mate-desktop-environment-extras mate-media
  mate-settings-daemon minitube mkvtoolnix-gui mplayer mpv orca pdf4qt projectcenter.app python3-libcegui-mk2-0.8.7
  python3-pygame qt6-multimedia-dev qt6-speech-flite-plugin qtmultimedia5-dev scrcpy smplayer smplayer-l10n
  smplayer-themes speech-dispatcher speech-dispatcher-audio-plugins speech-dispatcher-espeak-ng strawberry
  task-mate-desktop viewpdf.app zoom
...

How to pin pipewire and other unwanted packages
sudo nano /etc/apt/preferences.d/no-install
Create /etc/apt/preferences.d/no-install like this:
Explanation: None shall install
Package: pipewire* pulseaudio* wireplumber*
Pin: release *
Pin-Priority: -1
Then verify with apt-cache policy pipewire pulseaudio — each version should show -1.

Once unwanted packages are pinned, you can safely explore the hidden absurdity of the Debian packaging system. As a precaution, use apt with the --simulate option.

$ apt install pipewire --simulate
NOTE: This is only a simulation!
...
Package pipewire is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
  pipewire-bin libspa-0.2-modules libpipewire-0.3-modules
...
E: Package 'pipewire' has no installation candidate

$ apt install pipewire-bin --simulate
NOTE: This is only a simulation!
...
Package pipewire-bin is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
...
E: Package 'pipewire-bin' has no installation candidate

Absurdity is the hidden truth of normality. It is evident, but not obvious.

Explanation for ALSA users:

Absurdity is normality, and normality is absurdity. The tension between thesis and antithesis is resolved through a dialectical synthesis (Hegel).

Dialectics homework

Thesis: Dementia is functional; it allows conformists to adopt upstream innovations (systemd, PulseAudio/PipeWire, Rust) without cognitive dissonance.

Try your hand at the Antithesis and Synthesis.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (kapqa) — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:49:40 +0000

Tested: the hold did survive one upgrade, but the next upgrade just dropped it — no warning.

it just happened ~ somewhat ~

tried to install "mate" after "xfce" via "sudo tasksel" and i got pulseaudio back in the mix; furthermore, the mate desktop does start to black-screen, so apparently the xfce4 and mate-desktop seem not like each other very much;
now i uninstalled "pulseaudio" and "pulseaudio-utils" and got audio back (importante!)
however, parole player not playing back;
if i uinstall "libpulse0" at lot of packages would get purged, so probably that package should stay put?

thanks!

fuser -av $(find /dev/snd -type c 2>/dev/null)
                     USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC2:  rich       2975 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/hwC2D0:
/dev/snd/pcmC2D2c:
/dev/snd/pcmC2D1p:
/dev/snd/pcmC2D0c:
/dev/snd/pcmC2D0p:
/dev/snd/controlC0:  rich       2975 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC1:  rich       2975 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/hwC0D0:
/dev/snd/hwC1D0:
/dev/snd/pcmC0D9p:
/dev/snd/pcmC1D7p:
/dev/snd/pcmC0D8p:
/dev/snd/pcmC0D7p:
/dev/snd/pcmC1D3p:
/dev/snd/pcmC0D3p:
/dev/snd/seq:        rich       2969 F.... pipewire
/dev/snd/timer:
rich@devuan:~$ sudo apt purge pipewire wireplumber
Package 'pipewire' is not installed, so not removed. Did you mean 'pipewire:i386'?
Package 'wireplumber' is not installed, so not removed. Did you mean 'wireplumber:i386'?
Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 0, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 0

 sudo apt-get purge wireplumber pipewire-alsa pipewire-audio pipewire pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils pavucontrol pulseaudio-module-bluetooth pipewire pipewire-bin pipewire-pulse
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Package 'wireplumber' is not installed, so not removed. Did you mean 'wireplumber:i386'?
Package 'pipewire-alsa' is not installed, so not removed
Package 'pipewire-audio' is not installed, so not removed
Package 'pipewire' is not installed, so not removed. Did you mean 'pipewire:i386'?
Package 'pulseaudio' is not installed, so not removed
Package 'pulseaudio-utils' is not installed, so not removed
Package 'pavucontrol' is not installed, so not removed
Package 'pulseaudio-module-bluetooth' is not installed, so not removed
Package 'pipewire-bin' is not installed, so not removed. Did you mean 'pipewire-bin:i386'?
Package 'pipewire-pulse' is not installed, so not removed. Did you mean 'pipewire-pulse:i386'?
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

upon further inspection, maybe "i386" packages wreaking havoc, uninvitedly? (system is amd64)

 sudo apt purge pipewire:i386 wireplumber:i386
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  dconf-gsettings-backend:i386  libraw1394-11:i386
  libconfig++11:i386            libreadline8t64:i386
  libdconf1:i386                libroc0.4:i386
  libebur128-1:i386             libserd-0-0:i386
  libffado2:i386                libsigc++-2.0-0v5:i386
  libglibmm-2.4-1t64:i386       libsord-0-0:i386
  libiec61883-0:i386            libspa-0.2-modules:i386
  liblilv-0-0:i386              libsratom-0-0:i386
  liblua5.4-0:i386              libuv1t64:i386
  libmysofa1:i386               libwireplumber-0.5-0:i386
  libncursesw6:i386             libxml++2.6-2v5:i386
  libopenfec1:i386              libzix-0-0:i386
  libpipewire-0.3-0t64:i386     pipewire-bin:i386
  libpipewire-0.3-modules:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.

Installing dependencies:
  libaudit1:i386       libpam0g:i386     libuuid1:i386          rtkit:i386
  libcap-ng0:i386      libpulsedsp:i386  libxtst6:i386
  libice6:i386         libsm6:i386       pulseaudio:i386
  libpam-elogind:i386  libtdb1:i386      pulseaudio-utils:i386

Suggested packages:
  libpam-doc:i386  pavumeter:i386  pavucontrol:i386  paprefs:i386

Recommended packages:
  dbus-user-session:i386

REMOVING:
  pipewire:i386*  pipewire-pulse:i386*  wireplumber:i386*

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 13, Removing: 3, Not Upgrading: 0
  Download size: 1,953 kB
  Space needed: 8,219 kB / 609 GB available

Continue? [Y/n]

EDIT: after setting also

apt mark hold   pipewire:i386*  pipewire-pulse:i386*  wireplumber:i386* pulseaudio:i386

the above command to remove pulseaudio:i386 pipewire:i386 wireplumber:i386 function properly, and audio is back for parole, too!

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:57:41 +0000

kapqa wrote:

am using devuan 7 and have noticed in latest "updates" the pipewire crept back in...
possibly had them already on hold,... but it may have been "overwritten" by a sneaky update.

Tested: the hold did survive one upgrade, but the next upgrade just dropped it — no warning.

$ sudo apt upgrade
...
Unpacking mplayer (2:1.5+svn38408-1) over (2:1.5+svn38408-1) ...

Look closely at the version strings — they're identical (2:1.5+svn38408-1 → 2:1.5+svn38408-1).
The locally rebuilt package was "upgraded" with the same version (from the official repo).
The hold was unset.

$ apt-mark showhold | grep mplayer

If you do not know how to pin packages, you have to purge pipewire/pulseaudio on a regular basis.
However, the pin can also be removed, and pipewire reinstalled by "apt upgrade".
It is technically possible, and perhaps inevitable.

$ cat /etc/apt/preferences | grep pipew -A3
Package: pipewire 
Pin: release *
Pin-Priority: -1

Package: pipewire-bin 
Pin: release *
Pin-Priority: -1

Package: pipewire-pulse
Pin: release *
Pin-Priority: -1

Package: gstreamer1.0-pipewire
Pin: release *
Pin-Priority: -1

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (PedroReina) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:20:45 +0000

bai4Iej2need wrote:

I would like to have an option to turn all sound off

I think that this will work, it did for me in some boxes when I needed it:

1. Disable sound card in BIOS
2. Do not install any sound related package (like alsa-utils)

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:55:45 +0000

You can make it with one command

sudo /etc/init.d/alsa-utils stop

You can also blacklist ALSA and reboot

sudo cp -v ./all_blacklist/alsa-base-blacklist.conf /etc/modprobe.d

# verify
cat /etc/modprobe.d

EXAMPLE:

$ cat ./all_blacklist/alsa-base-blacklist.conf
blacklist snd_hda_codec_hdmi     
blacklist snd_hda_codec_realtek   
blacklist snd_hda_codec_generic   
blacklist snd_usb_audio                  
blacklist snd_usbmidi_lib        
blacklist snd_rawmidi            
blacklist snd_seq_device                             
blacklist snd_hda_intel          
blacklist snd_intel_dspcfg       
blacklist snd_intel_sdw_acpi     
blacklist snd_hda_codec         
blacklist snd_hda_core          
blacklist snd_hwdep            
blacklist snd_pcm               
blacklist snd_timer             
blacklist snd                   
blacklist soundcore

Verify your blacklist with lsmod

$ lsmod | grep snd
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     81920  1
snd_hda_codec_generic    98304  1
ledtrig_audio          16384  1 snd_hda_codec_generic
snd_hda_intel          61440  3
snd_intel_dspcfg       36864  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_intel_sdw_acpi     20480  1 snd_intel_dspcfg
snd_hda_codec         184320  3 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_core          122880  4 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_usb_audio         385024  2
snd_usbmidi_lib        45056  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_hwdep              16384  2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
snd_rawmidi            53248  1 snd_usbmidi_lib
snd_seq_device         16384  1 snd_rawmidi
mc                     81920  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_pcm               159744  5 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
snd_timer              49152  1 snd_pcm
snd                   126976  21 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_usb_audio,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi
soundcore              16384  1 snd
usbcore               348160  10 xhci_hcd,ehci_pci,snd_usb_audio,usbhid,snd_usbmidi_lib,usb_storage,ehci_hcd,btusb,xhci_pci,uas

You can also remove all ALSA modules/drivers. The OSS4 GitHub repository has a script for this.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (bai4Iej2need) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:46:18 +0000

for most of the time, maybe 25 years I used linux ootb without sound. I would like to have an option to turn all sound off and eliminate the related disk space, cpu and energy consumption..
similar to init freedom I want sound freedom and video freedom. Some metapackages then to install my choices.

Maybe more users will be attracted by more freedom ?

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 01:00:42 +0000

They made it difficult to remove PipeWire to lock users in. Otherwise, it would be instantly purged.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (greenjeans) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:07:53 +0000

tard wrangle a pure alsa setup

I have to disagree though, I have actually gone to great lengths to make it easy for people, just made a new version of AlsaTune recently that adds a nice first-run dialog to make it easier for folks to get sound running.

The only hard part is getting rid of Pulse/Pipe to start with, they are dug in like Texas ticks, but once that's dealt with it's smooth sailing.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 23:20:16 +0000

Have you already tried the patched ALSA backend with device enumeration and without the PulseAudio workaround?

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (ralph.ronnquist) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:54:50 +0000

Yeah, and others too. Your scale is not useful as it makes your language be an implied offense. Unless of course you want to show up as a rude prick.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:43:57 +0000

Yes, "a pure ALSA setup" might be quite a challenge for the demented.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (EDX-0) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:02:27 +0000

at this point it is harder to tard wrangle a pure alsa setup than it is to implement a completely off the ground user service manager just to manage the pipewire, pipewire-pulse and wireplumber programs as user session daemons... and i know first hand how difficult it is to implement such user service manager.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:22:34 +0000

[dsd_lsbf_planar @ 0x55a1ea368940] Converting DSD to PCM in the decoder is deprecated and will be removed. Set request_sample_fmt to AV_SAMPLE_FMT_DSD to receive the raw bitstream, and use libswresample to convert it to PCM when needed.

Customer: I'd like to report a problem with this DSD decoder.
Shopkeeper: What's wrong?
Customer: It's deprecated.
Shopkeeper: It's not removed.
Customer: It will be removed in the next update. I just patched it for double precision, 64-bit Float!
Shopkeeper: Is it bit perfect?
Customer: …
Shopkeeper: Install PipeWire.

$ ffmpeg-git -request_sample_fmt dblp -i 03*.dsf -c:a pcm_f64le -f alsa default
ffmpeg version N-127451-g263f271422 Copyright (c) 2000-2026 the FFmpeg developers
Input #0, dsf, from '03. DSD 256fs - 2ch.dsf':
  Duration: 00:29:57.83, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 22579 kb/s
  Stream #0:0: Audio: dsd_lsbf_planar, 1411200 Hz, stereo, dblp, 22579 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (dsd_lsbf_planar (native) -> pcm_f64le (native))

[dsd_lsbf_planar @ 0x55a1ea368940] Converting DSD to PCM in the decoder is deprecated and will be removed. Set request_sample_fmt to AV_SAMPLE_FMT_DSD to receive the raw bitstream, and use libswresample to convert it to PCM when needed.

Input:  1411200 Hz, 2 ch, 'float64_le' (0x10): dummy = 0, period = 56448
Output: 192000 Hz, 2 ch, 's32_le' (0xa): dummy = 0, period = 7680
Rates:  1411200 --> 192000 (J: 0.00%, T: FFT, W: Vorbis)
Ok.

Output #0, alsa, to 'default':
  Stream #0:0: Audio: pcm_f64le, 1411200 Hz, stereo, dbl, 180633 kb/s
size=N/A time=00:01:18.08 bitrate=N/A speed=0.999x elapsed=0:01:18.12

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (igorzwx) — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:57:35 +0000

It seems like Monty Python enhanced with Catch-22.

The Removal Trap: Removing the enforced default triggers an automatic reinstallation of its predecessor (PulseAudio), which in turn triggers the reinstallation of the default when removed. This is not a neutral dependency graph; it is a state-preserving loop designed to prevent users from returning to pure ALSA without explicit, manual intervention.

It is a sort of "aggressive packaging to enforce freedom of choice," in terms of Trotskyist dialectics. Calling this "immoral" is not hyperbole when applied to a project that markets itself on user sovereignty.

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

dummy@example.com (coder-hase) — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:51:24 +0000

Thank you, Igor, for posting the `apt-mark` command above. After an update of an old Raspberry 11 I found pipewire on the system where it's clearly not needed.

I also agree with your "23 Years of Stupid Business" post above. If you ask me for a possible reason, I would say that starting with the late 90s new developers entered the scene, looking for "stuff to do", showing their expertise to enhance things. New solutions were invented for problems that didn't exist. Even worse: I expect that a lot of them grew up with Windows as their first OS.

The "AI-slopped" youtube video that was mentioned here some weeks ago make another good point when it says that Linux is no longer UNIX. I would say, the UNIX is still there but it's hard to find. If you prefer to read something about the UNIX tool approach this link might be for you: https://github.com/arnoldrobbins/unix-p … _design.ms