JSS will be ready "when it's done". I cannot promise any specific timetable or release dates since I do this on my free time (which, although not too limited, is still MY free time ;) and I do have several other projects going on all the time. And in the name of honesty, I must admit that I am quite lazy too ;)

However, here is the approximate ROADMAP for JSS's future. I cannot promise that I will keep this and changes are even quite probable, but this may give some guidelines.

• v0.0.x - NOW: The current alpha version
  New features, bugfixes, much development. When I have done the unfinished parts of JSS (mainly VTS) and have some drivers (DOS and Linux) working, it will be time for first beta-release (v0.1.0).
• v0.1.x - FUTURE: First beta release
  Although not considered "stable" this is ought to be quite usable. No new features will be added to this branch, only bugfixes. When it gets stable enough, I will release the first 'stable' version (v0.2.0).
• v0.2.x - FUTURE: First stable release
  Now JSS should be ready for all production use. No new features will be added to this, only bugfixes. Other development will be done on the new beta branch (0.3.x)
• vX.X.X - FUTURE: After the Genesis
  Support for ALSA under Linux, OS/2's DART and MMPM/2, not forgetting Win32's DirectSound should be added in 0.3.x and be ready in 0.4.0. I'll try to get IT format working in 0.3.x too. Other significant features might be added too, but it's too early to talk about them.

In 1996, I implemented a very stupid and simple Sound Blaster/DOS-only sample player, which was called "Judas Sound System". This "system" was used only once in a small game.

After couple of years, in the end of 1998 (sometime in December), I decided finally to move _totally_ from Borland Pascal to Free Pascal's 32-bit world. So, a 32-bit sound system was needed. First I tried 32-bit MIDAS since I had used the old 16-bit version with BP, but I was unable to get it working properly enough under both DOS and Linux. (I did got it working just great under Linux, but not under DOS)

I got bored of fiddling with MIDAS and so (as stupid as I was) I started my own sound system project, which was back then called "Judas Sound System II". Unfortunately and unbeknownst to me, there already existed another sound system by same name! (it was "Judas Sound System 2.x" by Cadaver)

So one more change had to be applied to the name. Due to the fact that I had originally prepended the routine-names with "jss" and mostly due to my laziness, I decided that to change the name to "J", which eventually mangled into "J Sound System" aka "JSS".

Hmm, because it is just so good? ;) Seriously speaking, it depends much on your needs (what you want from a sound system) and many other highly subjective things that cannot be measured, but affect this selection. I can only tell some facts about JSS and then hope that you like it and it feels 'right' for you, but I have always thought that it is either rude and/or impossible to convince someone to use something that one does not want to use. Do what you feel is right, follow the Force! ;)

But let's see ... J Sound System is good, because:

• It's Free Software. Licensed under GNU Lesser General Public License, JSS can be used in other free software (you can also use it under pure GPL if you wish!) and in commercial and other not-so-free software.
• It's designed from ground to up in the spirit of Object Orientation, extensibility and flexibility. This brings the power of easily adding application-space extensions to the JSS functionality.
• JSS is programmed in Pascal. So it is, at least in theory, the best alternative if you are writing your application for Free Pascal.
• It's 32-bit and multi-platform. Multi-platform support can extend the usability of your own application too! Porting software is naturally easier if you have some ground under your feet on other platforms.

Again, a hard one to answer. Adding support for feature X (where X equals to anything) requires always some amount of work and that work has to be done by someone. There is not generally any good answer for this, because it highly depends on the feature(s) itself and the ratio of work/"what good it will add". Please don't let this keep yourself from suggesting any features, they might even get implemented! ;-)

This is not actually related to JSS, but since I have the same problem (with normal, non SSH-tunneled CVS), let's straighten it out here:

Problem is probably that your ISP/SO ;-) is blocking the CVS port for some stupid reason. It may also be a routing problem, but CVS may not say any specific error. Bugger your ISP to fix the problem or get the CVS snapshots! The developers (I mainly) should not have this problem, since we must connect via SSH anyway (which does the tunneling) and it works just fine.