OSSAUDIO(3) | Library Functions Manual | OSSAUDIO(3)

# NAME

`ossaudio` — OSS audio emulation

# SYNOPSIS

OSS Audio Emulation Library (libossaudio, -lossaudio)
`#include <soundcard.h>`

# DESCRIPTION

The `ossaudio` library provides an emulation of the OSS (Linux) audio interface.

Use the native sioctl_open(3) interface for new programs and the emulation library only for porting programs.

# SEE ALSO

sioctl_open(3), audio(4)

# HISTORY

The `ossaudio` library first appeared in NetBSD 1.3.

# BUGS

The emulation uses a #define for `ioctl`() so some obscure programs can fail to compile.

The emulation is incomplete.

The emulation only covers `ioctl`(), there are other differences as well. E.g., on a write that would block in non-blocking mode Linux returns `EINTR` whereas OpenBSD returns `EAGAIN`.

June 6, 2025 | Debian