QUOTE
Well , it does not matter
Most post processing is done with an audio editor such as Audacity (open source), GoldWave, Adobe Audition, Pro Tools, etc. Frequently, optional plug-ins are used. The surround-sound stuff is pretty specialized.
Real time processing is most-often done in hardware, although some soundcards come with utilities that can apply effects (including surround sound processing). I don't know if there are any open source tools to do this, since (I think) it's usually done at the driver-level, and is closely tied to the particular soundcard.