I've just got me a copy of RedHat 9.0 (I'd been using Go! Linux on my laptop up until now) and have managed to install it on a third partition next to Windows 98 and Windows XP, and it's running fine, although I do have one big problem. Yes, people, it's ALSA.
RedHat 9.0 does come with ALSA and does seem to recognise my Realtek AC97 audio codec as a VIA AC97 codec (via82cxxx). So far so good. It even goes as far to play CDs without a hitch. However, when I go to switch on the sound server, and play anything resembling a sound effect, Nautilus just locks up, and I sometimes have to hit the reset button just to get things going again. I'm wondering if it's picked up the wrong audio codec.
It wouldn't be at all surprising if it was the hardware's fault though. The same damn codec causes me problems in Windows 98 and Windows XP too, although I am stumped about one thing in Linux. I've followed the installation instructions to a T, right up until it says "edit your etc/modules.conf". I've found the file OK, and I've looked at the modules.conf that came with the driver, though I'm not clear on what I should be putting in or taking out.
Anyway, I didn't have a driver for my extremely poor Prophet 4000XT so I've just downloaded that, I'm looking forward to all kinds of problems with that!