&gt; It seems like Linux is getting harder and harder to use without [systemd]...<p>This Gentoo Linux user is getting along juuuuuust fine without systemd. :)<p>Edit: To bring it on-topic: It&#x27;s a damn shame that PA -apparently- doesn&#x27;t let you set playback&#x2F;record device preference lists that let you specify which of the potentially many sound devices in your system should be used when some or many of them are unavailable. It seems that KDE4 and -IIRC- 5 use Phonon to add this <i>on top of</i> PulseAudio. (Or, actually, they add this on top of <i>whatever</i> sound playback system you&#x27;re using... whether it is JACK, ALSA, PA, or something else. I&#x27;ve never written software that <i>interacts</i> with Phonon, but -from an end-user perspective- it&#x27;s pretty great.)