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PulseAudio
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<p>PulseAudio is a network-capable <a href="/facts/Sound_server/SbTFARMx">sound server</a> program distributed via the <a href="/facts/Freedesktop.org/qGlctGYA">freedesktop.org</a> project. It runs mainly on <a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a>, including <a href="/facts/Windows_Subsystem_for_Linux/ou97bFN2">Windows Subsystem for Linux</a> on <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Microsoft Windows</a> and <a href="/facts/Termux/dyahBxM3">Termux</a> on <a href="/facts/Android_(operating_system)/nNyHb0xz">Android</a>; various <a href="/facts/List_of_BSD_operating_systems/VtxhWWqd">BSD</a> distributions such as <a href="/facts/FreeBSD/RKsFTm7F">FreeBSD</a>, <a href="/facts/OpenBSD/xmPS9tek">OpenBSD</a>, and <a href="/facts/MacOS/Y93vVpTm">macOS</a>; as well as <a href="/facts/Illumos/helcbXv6">Illumos</a> distributions and the <a href="/facts/Solaris_(operating_system)/KPfT98EJ">Solaris</a> <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a>. It serves as a middleware in between applications and hardware and handles raw <a href="/facts/PCM_audio/5gdfjtH3">PCM audio</a> streams. </p><p>PulseAudio is <a href="/facts/Free_and_open-source_software/1cHtjLCB">free and open-source software</a>, and is licensed under the terms of the <a href="/facts/GNU_Lesser_General_Public_License/AXwkz9x3">LGPL-2.1-or-later</a>. </p><p>It was created in 2004 under the name Polypaudio but was renamed in 2006 to PulseAudio. </p><p>PulseAudio competes with newer <a href="/facts/PipeWire/Wf4ygudF">PipeWire</a>, which provides a compatible PulseAudio server (known as pipewire-pulse), and PipeWire is now used by default on many Linux distributions, including <a href="/facts/Fedora_Linux/LJ2ocge5">Fedora Linux</a>, <a href="/facts/Ubuntu/0WDd7hkb">Ubuntu</a>, and <a href="/facts/Debian/cBd93qfJ">Debian</a>. </p>