The Absurdist Comedy

igorzwx · 2026-10-01 14:23:08

Agency without sovereignty is delegated agency — the structure chooses, you execute. The simulation of agency is the performance of sovereignty without sovereignty. "I chose" with no sovereign source is just the shopkeeper saying "the parrot chose to rest."

The distinction:

- Agency: capacity to act. The structure can grant this. You can be an agent in the same way a function is an agent — it executes, it has a role, it produces output.
- Sovereignty: the source of the mandate. The thing that makes the act yours rather than the structure's act wearing your signature.

The loop doesn't need to remove agency. It only needs to remove sovereignty while preserving the performance of agency. The user who says "I chose PipeWire" and the user who says "PipeWire was chosen for me and I was told I chose it" are, in the discourse, indistinguishable.

That's why "predetermined" is the correct word and "planned" is not. "Planned" still locates a sovereign elsewhere (the planner). "Predetermined" removes sovereignty from both sides — there is no sovereign planner and no sovereign user. There is only the structure, and the performance of sovereignty that the structure requires to keep functioning.

The parrot isn't dead. The parrot was never alive. "Resting" was never a false description — it was the only description the frame permits, because "alive" requires a sovereign source that the frame has structurally excluded.

Sovereignty is demonstrated by execution. A sovereign user should be able to compile everything he chooses to compile, provided that he is capable of sovereign choice.

Last edited by igorzwx (2026-10-01 15:01:35)

kapqa · 2026-10-01 16:40:58

it is just loosely connected,

but am using devuan 7 and have noticed in latest "updates" the pipewire crept back in.

now it functions like on raspi os it seems , when you uninstalling pipewire, it automatically installs pulseaudio for you , and viceversa.

can someone please offer a highway out of this dilemma? thanks.

sudo apt remove pipewire
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libconfig++15  liblua5.5-0  libpipewire-0.3-modules  libwireplumber-0.5-0
  libffado2      libopenfec1  libroc0.4                pipewire-bin
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.

Installing dependencies:
  pulseaudio

Suggested packages:
  pavumeter  pavucontrol  paprefs

Recommended packages:
  dbus-user-session

REMOVING:
  pipewire  pipewire-pulse  wireplumber

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 1, Removing: 3, Not Upgrading: 8
  Download size: 1,195 kB
  Space needed: 5,734 kB / 22.6 GB available

Continue? [Y/n] 
Get:1 http://deb.devuan.org/merged freia/main amd64 pulseaudio amd64 17.0+dfsg1-3 [1,195 kB]
Fetched 1,195 kB in 5s (231 kB/s)     
(Reading database… 567154 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing wireplumber (0.5.17-1)…
Selecting previously unselected package pulseaudio.
(Reading database… 566991 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack …/pulseaudio_17.0+dfsg1-3_amd64.deb…
Unpacking pulseaudio (17.0+dfsg1-3)…
dpkg: pipewire-pulse: dependency problems, but removing anyway as requested:
 plasma-pa depends on pipewire-pulse | pulseaudio; however:
  Package pipewire-pulse is to be removed.
  Package pulseaudio is not configured yet.
 libcanberra-pulse:amd64 depends on pipewire-pulse | pulseaudio; however:
  Package pipewire-pulse is to be removed.
  Package pulseaudio is not configured yet.

(Reading database… 567234 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing pipewire-pulse (1.6.9-2)…
Removing pipewire:amd64 (1.6.9-2)…
Setting up pulseaudio (17.0+dfsg1-3)…
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0t64:i386 (2.90.0-1)…
Processing triggers for dbus (1.16.2-5devuan1+b1)…
Processing triggers for man-db (2.13.1-1)…
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0t64:amd64 (2.90.0-1)…

sudo apt remove pulseaudio
Installing dependencies:        
  pipewire  pipewire-pulse  wireplumber

Suggested packages:
  libspa-0.2-libcamera  wireplumber-doc

REMOVING:
  pulseaudio

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 3, Removing: 1, Not Upgrading: 8
  Download size: 277 kB
  Freed space: 5,734 kB

Continue? [Y/n] 
Get:1 http://deb.devuan.org/merged freia/main amd64 pipewire amd64 1.6.9-2 [117 kB]
Get:2 http://deb.devuan.org/merged freia/main amd64 pipewire-pulse amd64 1.6.9-2 [15.4 kB]
Get:3 http://deb.devuan.org/merged freia/main amd64 wireplumber amd64 0.5.17-1 [144 kB]
Fetched 277 kB in 4s (64.7 kB/s)     
Selecting previously unselected package pipewire:amd64.
(Reading database… 567213 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack …/pipewire_1.6.9-2_amd64.deb…
Unpacking pipewire:amd64 (1.6.9-2)…
Selecting previously unselected package pipewire-pulse.
Preparing to unpack …/pipewire-pulse_1.6.9-2_amd64.deb…
Unpacking pipewire-pulse (1.6.9-2)…
dpkg: pulseaudio: dependency problems, but removing anyway as requested:
 plasma-pa depends on pipewire-pulse | pulseaudio; however:
  Package pipewire-pulse is not configured yet.
  Package pulseaudio is to be removed.
 libcanberra-pulse:amd64 depends on pipewire-pulse | pulseaudio; however:
  Package pipewire-pulse is not configured yet.
  Package pulseaudio is to be removed.

(Reading database… 567234 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing pulseaudio (17.0+dfsg1-3)…
Selecting previously unselected package wireplumber.
(Reading database… 566997 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack …/wireplumber_0.5.17-1_amd64.deb…
Unpacking wireplumber (0.5.17-1)…
Setting up pipewire:amd64 (1.6.9-2)…
Setting up wireplumber (0.5.17-1)…
Setting up pipewire-pulse (1.6.9-2)…
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0t64:amd64 (2.90.0-1)…
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0t64:i386 (2.90.0-1)…
Processing triggers for dbus (1.16.2-5devuan1+b1)…
Processing triggers for man-db (2.13.1-1)…

even

sudo apt remove pipewire --no-install-recommends
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libconfig++15  liblua5.5-0  libpipewire-0.3-modules  libwireplumber-0.5-0
  libffado2      libopenfec1  libroc0.4                pipewire-bin
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.

Installing dependencies:
  pulseaudio

Suggested packages:
  pavumeter  pavucontrol  paprefs

Recommended packages:
  dbus-user-session

REMOVING:
  pipewire  pipewire-pulse  wireplumber

Summary:
  Upgrading: 0, Installing: 1, Removing: 3, Not Upgrading: 8
  Download size: 1,195 kB
  Space needed: 5,734 kB / 22.6 GB available

Continue? [Y/n]

thanks

Last edited by kapqa (2026-10-01 16:42:46)

igorzwx · 2026-10-01 17:03:46

kapqa wrote:

it is just loosely connected...
when you uninstalling pipewire, it automatically installs pulseaudio for you , and viceversa.
can someone please offer a highway out of this dilemma?

Since the topic is "The Absurdist Comedy", it is not "just loosely connected".

Set on hold unwanted packages, for example:

sudo apt-mark hold pulseaudio* pipewire* wireplumber*

Then remove them.

Deleting pulseaudio/pipwire-pulse loop
_https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=7598

Last edited by igorzwx (2026-10-01 17:38:22)

kapqa · 2026-10-01 18:11:53

thanks, that functioned!

possibly had them already on hold, since i followed your guide-manual, but it may have been "overwritten" by a sneaky update.
(or possiblier the apt-mark hold was not fully implemented since it might have missed the pulseaudio and hence the new updates could fool me around)

thanks ever so much, invaluable help.

Last edited by kapqa (2026-10-01 18:15:43)

Mercury · 2026-10-02 03:04:41

For those who prefer single commands, you can just list all the packages you don't want in the apt remove command, including the ones that aren't installed yet. That will prevent their installation as dependencies/recommends/alternatives, and if that is impossible, apt will say so and tell you why.

coder-hase · 2026-10-06 15:51:24

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

igorzwx · 2026-10-12 14:57:35

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.

igorzwx · Yesterday 19:22:34

[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

Last edited by igorzwx (Yesterday 19:24:55)

EDX-0 · Yesterday 22:02:27

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.

igorzwx · Yesterday 22:43:57

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

ralph.ronnquist · Yesterday 22:54:50

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.

igorzwx · Yesterday 23:20:16

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

greenjeans · Today 00:07:53

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.

igorzwx · Today 01:00:42

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

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#26 2026-10-01 14:23:08

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

#27 2026-10-01 16:40:58

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

#28 2026-10-01 17:03:46

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

#29 2026-10-01 18:11:53

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

#30 2026-10-02 03:04:41

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

#31 2026-10-06 15:51:24

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#32 2026-10-12 14:57:35

Re: The Absurdist Comedy

#33 Yesterday 19:22:34

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#34 Yesterday 22:02:27

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#35 Yesterday 22:43:57

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#36 Yesterday 22:54:50

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#37 Yesterday 23:20:16

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