Attached is a set of patches that adds an openal32.dll thunk, allowing an app using OpenAL to use the system's lib instead of Creative's software driver. The advantages of using the system lib include:
* It avoids the unnecessary step through DirectSound, instead going right to ALSA, OSS, or whichever is supported by the system implementation. This also allows for a DSound->OpenAL wrapper, since OpenAL won't create a circular dependency by using DSound.
* It can provide more options and features, including surround sound (where Creative's software driver only does stereo), depending on the implementation.
* It integrates better with the system, as Wine apps will use the same OpenAL configuration used by native apps.
If necessary, the Windows DLL can still be used by adding an openal32 override with installing the Windows redistributable. However, more recent versions of the Unix/Linux OpenAL have been much better compatibility-wise than the old 0.0.8 version, as it is actually a fork of the LGPL Windows version.
This patch set does not support OSX's OpenAL, but it should be simple enough to add for anyone familiar with handling frameworks in configure.ac.
An incomplete list of games that use OpenAL, for testing, can be found here: http://connect.creativelabs.com/openal/OpenAL%20Wiki/Games.aspx
Comments and questions are welcome.