HOWTO understand sound reproduction on a computer

[Paulo]

Hi,

I'm breaking my head trying to get sound working on a Debian Linux
laptop and realized that I don't understand basic sound reproduction
concepts. I started googling around but then realized that I don't even
know which word best pin my doubts. I read terms like: channels, mixer
controls, PCM, that I have a kind of working comprehension, but I can't
picture which elements, hardware and software, are involved in, for
example, listening to a radio station on the internet, or playing a CD
on the laptop. I feel that I need to understand the various elements
and how they interact, to be able finally get sound working properly on
my Linux laptop.

Would anybody be kind to share references to documents that might cover
this kind of theme ? I hope I managed to express what my doubts are.

Thanks for your attention,
Paulo