From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mail.redhat.com (mail.redhat.com [199.183.24.239]) by listman.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 247E92F7CC for ; Tue, 22 Aug 2000 08:59:26 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from mail@localhost) by mail.redhat.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) id IAA30122 for blinux-list@listman.redhat.com; Tue, 22 Aug 2000 08:59:26 -0400 Received: from eagle.prod.itd.earthlink.net (eagle.prod.itd.earthlink.net [207.217.120.24]) by mail.redhat.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id IAA30118 for ; Tue, 22 Aug 2000 08:59:25 -0400 From: cbrannon1979@earthlink.net Received: from gondor.notarealdomain.org (pool-209-138-200-38-dlls.grid.net [209.138.200.38]) by eagle.prod.itd.earthlink.net (8.9.3-EL_1_3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id FAA21025 for ; Tue, 22 Aug 2000 05:59:23 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost (root@localhost) by gondor.notarealdomain.org (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id e7MEu3d00515 for ; Tue, 22 Aug 2000 07:56:03 -0700 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 07:56:03 -0700 (PDT) To: blinux-list@redhat.com Subject: talking terminals Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Loop: blinux-list@redhat.com Sender: blinux-list-admin@redhat.com Errors-To: blinux-list-admin@redhat.com X-BeenThere: blinux-list@redhat.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0beta4 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: blinux-list@redhat.com List-Id: Linux for blind general discussion I was reading all the discussion about talking terminals yesterday. The way I see it, they have a very big disadvantage to a screenreader for a blind person with a hardware synthesizer. You need sighted help to install Linux with a talking terminal. And IMNSHO, a sighted person reading a screen for me is a very poor substitute for speech output, especially if you're like me, and don't know anyone in your area who uses Linux. I installed Zipspeak with absolutely zero sighted assistance. And as far as I can tell, kernels built with Speakup can do this for full distributions, as well. This would make Linux the only operating system that can be installed by someone who is blind without sighted help. Maybe I could install DOS on my own, if I'd done it enough, but I wouldn't have the computer actually talking to me while I was installing. And, with Speakup you get speech from bootup to power down. Only thing that won't talk to you now is the BIOS, and there's supposedly a board you can get that'll send the BIOS messages out the serial port. Compare this setup to Win-95, where speech isn't necessarily constant, even if you're booted and the screenreader's active. (JFW crashes so easy its sick.) But getting back to the topic of talking terminals. Anyone remember the old Apple II computer from the seventies? That's what I started out on; and I seem to remember that the synthesizer for those was only about $150, or so. Question is, if a blind person doesn't have a hardware synth, would it be possible to use an Apple II as a terminal under Linux? You can still find them, once in a while, and like I said, the synth was cheap, even new. I seem to remember them having a serial port, so I'd think they could be usable as talking terminals, for someone with limited funds who doesn't have, and can't afford a hardware synthesizer. Later.