From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailout5-0.nyroc.rr.com ([24.92.226.122] helo=mailout5.nyroc.rr.com) by speech.braille.uwo.ca with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 179GoE-0003pG-00 for ; Sat, 18 May 2002 22:52:34 -0400 Received: from akp.selfhost.com (roc-66-24-100-23.rochester.rr.com [66.24.100.23]) by mailout5.nyroc.rr.com (8.11.6/RoadRunner 1.20) with SMTP id g4J2qZ807096 for ; Sat, 18 May 2002 22:52:35 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 3957 invoked by uid 1000); 19 May 2002 02:55:20 -0000 From: Ann Parsons MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <15591.5144.519448.99808@akp@eznet.net> Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 22:55:20 -0400 To: speakup@braille.uwo.ca Subject: Re: interesting experiment. In-Reply-To: <016601c1fed2$c1c895a0$7b4de9d5@microsoft.com> References: <016601c1fed2$c1c895a0$7b4de9d5@microsoft.com> X-Mailer: VM 7.01 under Emacs 20.7.2 Sender: speakup-admin@braille.uwo.ca Errors-To: speakup-admin@braille.uwo.ca X-BeenThere: speakup@braille.uwo.ca X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.9 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: speakup@braille.uwo.ca List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux. List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Hi all, >>>>> "Octavian" == Octavian Rasnita writes: Octavian> Are there any games accessible for the blind under Octavian> Linux, like under Windows? Yes and no. If you expect whizzy sound and graphics, no. But there are lots of good games. Do a search on Google. Octavian> Are there any good sound editing programs Octavian> for Linux, like Sound Forge, Cool Edit, Gold Wave, etc, Yes, Many in fact. Octavian> and programs for creating MIDI music, like Cake Walk? Dunnow about Cake Walk, but there is no OCR stuff that isn't really complicated to run, either. Octavian> Is there a text editor, that has macro features, Regular Octavian> expressions, the ability to save in Windows/Mac/Unix Octavian> format, etc? Emacs has all that, and your friends and employers can import anything written in Emacs into whatever Word Processor they're using because Emacs is basic text. If you're talking about LaTeX or stuff like that, then no, you can't import it, but why would you, unless you absolutely had to for a job. If your employer wanted hard copy, you could write rings around MSWord. Can you program in MSWord? Can you write C programs in MSWord? Can you not only write them but check them and run them in MSWord? You can't, but you sure as Hell can in Emacs! Octavian> A lot of things are accessible, but ... harder to learn, Octavian> harder to configure and harder to use, if I am not so Octavian> bright to remember 1000 command line parameters. Well, if you like Windows, then use it, but don't bother us on the Linux list, then. Windowws is very difficult to learn for some people, especially totally blind people who find it easier to use a command line interface. Neither OS is bad, Teddy, each has its strengths and weaknesses. If you are willing to learn, Linux is really rewarding. Windows can be too, I guess, but not in the same way, not the way Linux makes you feel as if you've really accomplished something when you get done typing all those hundreds of commands. If Windows works for you, then use it. It's all in the tools that fit your hands the best and do the job you ask them to do best. Nothing is either right or wrong. One last note. I repeat, do not confuse wanting Windows look-alike programs with needing a good word processor/markup language. Consider what you are really asking. If you want Windows look-alike tools in Linux for the blind, they aren't available yet. On the other hand, if you want word processor/markup languages, programming modes, good sound editing, and web and so on. Linux has all that. However, make sure you know what you're asking for here. Same isn't necessarily best, you know, guys. Ann P. -- Ann K. Parsons email: akp@eznet.net ICQ Number: 33006854 WEB SITE: http://home.eznet.net/~akp "All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT