--with-sequencer=yes: This tells the ALSA Driver package to build the sequencer modules for whichever soundcards for which you are building. Most people want them so you will usually want to leave it set to yes. --with-oss=yes: This tells the package to build the OSS/Free emulation modules. Again, most people want this so it's probably best to stick with yes. --with-isapnp=no: Most sound cards these days are PCI and so ISA Plug and Play support isn't needed. If you are using an ISA soundcard, it's best to say yes here. --with-cards=all: You can tell the script just to build the drivers for your particular sound card here. For full information on which drivers are available see ./configure --help. If you aren't sure which chipset your soundcard uses, have a look in CARDS-STATUS in the ALSA Driver source tree. The default specified here will build all drivers.