I need to create a C++ application with a simple audio recording from microphone functionality. I can't say that there aren't enough audio APIs to do this! Pulse, ALSA, /dev/dsp, OpenAL, etc. My question is what is the current "Best practice" API? Pulse seems supported by most modern distros, but seems almost devoid of documentation. Will OpenAL be supported across different distros, or is it too obscure? Have I missed any? Is there not a simple answer? thanks!