SolarOS 4.8.x

\*\*What's new?\*\*   

  

I have been focusing on the \*\*audio\*\* capabilities of the OS - so I have added \*\*PCM5102\*\* and \*\*PWM\*\* audio expansion drivers. \*( The latter lets you add voice through a single pin. )\* From now on all audio is a \*\*stream;\*\* there are \*\*sinks\*\* and \*\*sources\*\* like in the big league.   

Both 'arecord' and 'aplay' remained as CLI primitives, but they got GUI/TUI counterparts, called '\*\*recorder\*\*' and '\*\*player\*\*'. Since we are streaming, a '\*\*webradio\*\*' was also a logical addition.  

  

My favorite new feature is the 8 voice synthesizer service that can stream to any audio device. It is utilized by a nice user facing '\*\*synth\*\*' app, with a multi tab GUI \*( that compacts itself automatically on smaller attached screens ).\* The app can run headless as well, and yes there are py/lua bindings.  

  

I have also added \*\*MIDI\*\* and \*\*PS/2 bus\*\* support, besides a cool new concept that I call '\*\*control\*\*' where you can define any scalar stream in the system \*( e.g. adc or temperature )\* as a controller and \*\*bind\*\* it to application exposed \*\*parameters\*\*. 'control' together with 'gpio-keys' let's you define your own physical inputs. \*( Meaning, you can plug in a poti and bind it to synth.volume/filter/etc... or use rotary encoders and simple push buttons to emit key events. )\*

And finally, what justified the \*\*4.8.x version\*\* jump is the '\*\*flash\*\*' application that downloads a signed \*\*SolarOS firmware\*\* catalog from \[solar-os.eu\](http://solar-os.eu) and let's you \*\*program\*\* any supported board to any deployed flavor and version. \*( That's right, it's a replicant. Doomsday scenario is covered, I guess... If all goes south we can still turn our "smart appliances" into digital synthesizers. yay )\*

SolarOS 4.8.x is out