[SDL] ALSA/OSS linux audio driver priorities

[Gerry JJ]

Hey,

I recently found out that SDL prefers using OSS audio over ALSA audio
in Linux.  This is a bit of a problem on systems using ALSA's software
mixing (dmix), because ALSA's OSS emulation doesn't do any
software-mixing at all unless the OSS-using program is run through
aoss, which results either in no sound or blocking other apps
(including ALSA ones) from using sound while the OSS emulation is in
use.  (Anyone know if there's a reason ALSA can't do a proper mixing OSS
driver btw?  Why is the aoss hack required?).  I've also noticed that
OSS emulation can have lower audio quality than pure ALSA.

So, I'm wondering if there's any reason why SDL prefers OSS over ALSA
in Linux, and if not, if the priorities could be switched?  (I know that
the SDL_AUDIODRIVER envvar can be used to override priorities, but it'd
be nice if things just worked in stead of having to resort to that).

- Gerry