Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Buddy Brannan]

Any thoughts on having Speakup work with one of these when they come out:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs

With speak, I'm supposing. 

I don't think it's reasonable to expect to get much from a GUI on this, but I'd think Speakup wouldn't be a problem. 

Anyone else thinking about getting one to play with? The price is right. 
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Kyle]

 From the website:

What Linux distros will be supported at launch?

Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope 
to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer 
releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t 
commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to 
download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released, 
and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.

So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled 
with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech 
synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it 
has an extremely low memory requirement.

On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking 
Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth 
running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a 
bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This 
looks more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little 
money. And with the right software, it will work better than most of 
those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby, 
and that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
~Kyle

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Littlefield, Tyler]

I think you are a bit to optomistic. Because speakup works on Debian or 
arch doesn't mean that it'll work on arm. It's a different architecture.
Just figured I'd throw that out there.
On 2/20/2012 5:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
> From the website:
>
> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>
> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope 
> to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer 
> releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t 
> commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to 
> download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is 
> released, and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly 
> after release.
>
> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels 
> compiled with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech 
> synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it 
> has an extremely low memory requirement.
>
> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
> purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get 
> Talking Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get 
> bluetooth running on something like this. It looks like it would pair 
> well with a bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable 
> computer. This looks more and more like a fun little project to work 
> on for very little money. And with the right software, it will work 
> better than most of those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times 
> as much as this baby, and that some people still buy for some reason. 
> Smile.
> ~Kyle
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup


-- 

Take care,
Ty
Web: http://tds-solutions.net
The Aspen project: a light-weight barebones mud engine
http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud

Sent from my toaster.

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Buddy Brannan]

Hi,

Yes, Arm is a different architecture, but that doesn't mean Speakup won't compile for it. Doesn't mean it will, but it seems to me that it should. Well, for $35, I reckon a bunch of us can get them and play around with them, anyway. I'm game. And, speak should work, I mean, they got it to work on Android, and most of those devices are Arm-based. 
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Feb 20, 2012, at 7:52 PM, Kyle wrote:

> From the website:
> 
> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
> 
> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released, and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.
> 
> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it has an extremely low memory requirement.
> 
> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This looks more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little money. And with the right software, it will work better than most of those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby, and that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
> ~Kyle
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Littlefield, Tyler]

I think it can be done. I was just warning about out of the box optomism.
On 2/20/2012 6:04 PM, Buddy Brannan wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Yes, Arm is a different architecture, but that doesn't mean Speakup won't compile for it. Doesn't mean it will, but it seems to me that it should. Well, for $35, I reckon a bunch of us can get them and play around with them, anyway. I'm game. And, speak should work, I mean, they got it to work on Android, and most of those devices are Arm-based.
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>
>
>
> On Feb 20, 2012, at 7:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
>
>>  From the website:
>>
>> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>>
>> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released, and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.
>>
>> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it has an extremely low memory requirement.
>>
>> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This looks more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little money. And with the right software, it will work better than most of those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby, and that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
>> ~Kyle
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup


-- 

Take care,
Ty
Web: http://tds-solutions.net
The Aspen project: a light-weight barebones mud engine
http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud

Sent from my toaster.

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Angelo Sonnesso]

I was thinking the same thing.
Please keep me posted, and I will do likewise.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kyle" <kyle4jesus@gmail.com>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 7:52 PM
Subject: Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?


>From the website:

What Linux distros will be supported at launch?

Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope
to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer
releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t
commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to
download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released,
and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.

So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled
with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech
synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it
has an extremely low memory requirement.

On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely
purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking
Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth
running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a
bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This
looks more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little
money. And with the right software, it will work better than most of
those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby,
and that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
~Kyle
_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup 

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Kyle]

I didn't think Arch would run on Arm at all, since according to their 
website, only x86 and x86_64 are supported, but apparently Raspberry Pie 
will be supporting ArchLinux as soon as the board is released. As for 
Speakup, since it is a set of Linux kernel modules, it should compile on 
Arm with no problem. Also, as far as I know, eSpeak shouldn't have any 
trouble compiling for Arm either, and this may have already been tested. 
As far as I know, it runs successfully on most, if not all, Android 
devices, and a quick Google showd an eSpeak Debian package for the Arm 
architecture as well. And yes, for $35, I will probably be one of the 
many of us who will play with this thing.
~Kyle

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Angelo Sonnesso]

I guess you could always put Android , or Chrome on it.
But I will bet that speakup will work just fine.
Anyone want to recommend a good cli word processor?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy@brannan.name>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?


Hi,

Yes, Arm is a different architecture, but that doesn't mean Speakup won't 
compile for it. Doesn't mean it will, but it seems to me that it should. 
Well, for $35, I reckon a bunch of us can get them and play around with 
them, anyway. I'm game. And, speak should work, I mean, they got it to work 
on Android, and most of those devices are Arm-based.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Feb 20, 2012, at 7:52 PM, Kyle wrote:

> From the website:
>
> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>
> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope to 
> see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer 
> releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t commit 
> to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to download 
> distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released, and we will 
> also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.
>
> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled 
> with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech synthesizers 
> may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it has an extremely 
> low memory requirement.
>
> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
> purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking 
> Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth 
> running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a 
> bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This looks 
> more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little money. 
> And with the right software, it will work better than most of those 
> notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby, and 
> that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
> ~Kyle
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup 

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Alex Snow]

Speakup seems to be ok on archs other then x86...I've had it running on 
both Sparc and Pa-Risc systems without modifications, and there have 
been reports of it liking Alpha also.

On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 06:02:02PM -0700, Littlefield, Tyler wrote:
> I think you are a bit to optomistic. Because speakup works on Debian or 
> arch doesn't mean that it'll work on arm. It's a different architecture.
> Just figured I'd throw that out there.
> On 2/20/2012 5:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
> >From the website:
> >
> >What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
> >
> >Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope 
> >to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer 
> >releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can?t 
> >commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to 
> >download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is 
> >released, and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly 
> >after release.
> >
> >So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels 
> >compiled with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech 
> >synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it 
> >has an extremely low memory requirement.
> >
> >On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
> >purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get 
> >Talking Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get 
> >bluetooth running on something like this. It looks like it would pair 
> >well with a bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable 
> >computer. This looks more and more like a fun little project to work 
> >on for very little money. And with the right software, it will work 
> >better than most of those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times 
> >as much as this baby, and that some people still buy for some reason. 
> >Smile.
> >~Kyle
> >_______________________________________________
> >Speakup mailing list
> >Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Take care,
> Ty
> Web: http://tds-solutions.net
> The Aspen project: a light-weight barebones mud engine
> http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud
> 
> Sent from my toaster.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
Always borrow money from a pessimist; he doesn't expect to be paid
back.

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Littlefield, Tyler]

emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
On 2/20/2012 6:25 PM, Angelo Sonnesso wrote:
> I guess you could always put Android , or Chrome on it.
> But I will bet that speakup will work just fine.
> Anyone want to recommend a good cli word processor?
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy@brannan.name>
> To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." 
> <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 8:04 PM
> Subject: Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?
>
>
> Hi,
>
> Yes, Arm is a different architecture, but that doesn't mean Speakup 
> won't compile for it. Doesn't mean it will, but it seems to me that it 
> should. Well, for $35, I reckon a bunch of us can get them and play 
> around with them, anyway. I'm game. And, speak should work, I mean, 
> they got it to work on Android, and most of those devices are Arm-based.
> -- 
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>
>
>
> On Feb 20, 2012, at 7:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
>
>> From the website:
>>
>> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>>
>> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We 
>> hope to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with 
>> newer releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu 
>> can’t commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able 
>> to download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is 
>> released, and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly 
>> after release.
>>
>> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels 
>> compiled with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech 
>> synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it 
>> has an extremely low memory requirement.
>>
>> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
>> purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get 
>> Talking Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get 
>> bluetooth running on something like this. It looks like it would pair 
>> well with a bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable 
>> computer. This looks more and more like a fun little project to work 
>> on for very little money. And with the right software, it will work 
>> better than most of those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 
>> times as much as this baby, and that some people still buy for some 
>> reason. Smile.
>> ~Kyle
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup


-- 

Take care,
Ty
Web: http://tds-solutions.net
The Aspen project: a light-weight barebones mud engine
http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud

Sent from my toaster.

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Buddy Brannan]

Oh, clearly there will be challenges, and I would be very surprised if it just came right up talking.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Feb 20, 2012, at 8:19 PM, Littlefield, Tyler wrote:

> I think it can be done. I was just warning about out of the box optomism.
> On 2/20/2012 6:04 PM, Buddy Brannan wrote:
>> Hi,
>> 
>> Yes, Arm is a different architecture, but that doesn't mean Speakup won't compile for it. Doesn't mean it will, but it seems to me that it should. Well, for $35, I reckon a bunch of us can get them and play around with them, anyway. I'm game. And, speak should work, I mean, they got it to work on Android, and most of those devices are Arm-based.
>> --
>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Feb 20, 2012, at 7:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
>> 
>>> From the website:
>>> 
>>> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>>> 
>>> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released, and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.
>>> 
>>> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it has an extremely low memory requirement.
>>> 
>>> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This looks more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little money. And with the right software, it will work better than most of those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby, and that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
>>> ~Kyle
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Speakup mailing list
>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Take care,
> Ty
> Web: http://tds-solutions.net
> The Aspen project: a light-weight barebones mud engine
> http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud
> 
> Sent from my toaster.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Kerry Hoath]

Speakup communicates with x86 hardware directly. Careful about out of 
the box optimism you might have to modify or remove all the hardware 
specific modules.
there also may be timer tick issues.

regards, Kerry.

On 21/02/2012 9:25 AM, Kyle wrote:
> I didn't think Arch would run on Arm at all, since according to their
> website, only x86 and x86_64 are supported, but apparently Raspberry Pie
> will be supporting ArchLinux as soon as the board is released. As for
> Speakup, since it is a set of Linux kernel modules, it should compile on
> Arm with no problem. Also, as far as I know, eSpeak shouldn't have any
> trouble compiling for Arm either, and this may have already been tested.
> As far as I know, it runs successfully on most, if not all, Android
> devices, and a quick Google showd an eSpeak Debian package for the Arm
> architecture as well. And yes, for $35, I will probably be one of the
> many of us who will play with this thing.
> ~Kyle
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Littlefield, Tyler]

Well, I am thinking that removing the dtlk and the rest shouldn't be to 
hard since it's modularized from what I've seen of the code. Perhaps 
it's time to do some architecture modularization as well? Maybe lift out 
some of the x86 specific stuff and do what the kernel does, with an arch 
folder and then arch specific code under there. I'm not really sure how 
that'd be done with the modules and the compilation process, but it 
seems like it could be doable.

On 2/20/2012 7:26 PM, Kerry Hoath wrote:
>
> Speakup communicates with x86 hardware directly. Careful about out of 
> the box optimism you might have to modify or remove all the hardware 
> specific modules.
> there also may be timer tick issues.
>
> regards, Kerry.
>
> On 21/02/2012 9:25 AM, Kyle wrote:
>> I didn't think Arch would run on Arm at all, since according to their
>> website, only x86 and x86_64 are supported, but apparently Raspberry Pie
>> will be supporting ArchLinux as soon as the board is released. As for
>> Speakup, since it is a set of Linux kernel modules, it should compile on
>> Arm with no problem. Also, as far as I know, eSpeak shouldn't have any
>> trouble compiling for Arm either, and this may have already been tested.
>> As far as I know, it runs successfully on most, if not all, Android
>> devices, and a quick Google showd an eSpeak Debian package for the Arm
>> architecture as well. And yes, for $35, I will probably be one of the
>> many of us who will play with this thing.
>> ~Kyle
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup


-- 

Take care,
Ty
Web: http://tds-solutions.net
The Aspen project: a light-weight barebones mud engine
http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud

Sent from my toaster.

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Cheryl Ann Homiak]

This does indeed look really interesting.


-- 
Cheryl

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to You,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14, HCSB)

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[John Heim]

I never heard of this device until this moment. But its very close to 
something I've been asking around about for a long time.  Assuming speakup 
works, it really does seem perfect for blind linux users.  There are similar 
devices available already but not that run off batteries.  And not at that 
price, obviously.

My department owns a Soekris Net4801. Its got a 200Mhz processor and 128Mb 
of RAM. Right now I'm running debian squeeze off a 512Mb CF card.  But this 
thing isn't intended as an end user device. It is intended for use as an 
embedded system or for people who need to build their own wireless hub for 
some reason. The real problem is that it has to be plugged into a wall. I 
suspect if you googled enough, you could find a way to replace the power 
supply with a battery pack but it would probably cost as much as the 
Raspberry Pie thingy.  The Soekris itself cost approximately $125 and that 
was 6 years ago.

But what I've done with the Soekris is get speakup running with a USB 
headset. The Soekris also has 2 serial ports so you can use it with a 
hardware speech synth.  According to the Raspberry Pie specs, it has audio 
out so you might not even need a USB headset.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy@brannan.name>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 5:41 PM
Subject: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?


> Any thoughts on having Speakup work with one of these when they come out:
> http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs
>
> With speak, I'm supposing.
>
> I don't think it's reasonable to expect to get much from a GUI on this, 
> but I'd think Speakup wouldn't be a problem.
>
> Anyone else thinking about getting one to play with? The price is right.
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
> 

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[John Heim]

Speakup works on the Geode by NSC.  That's the chip in my Soekris 4801.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Littlefield, Tyler" <tyler@tysdomain.com>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 7:02 PM
Subject: Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?


I think you are a bit to optomistic. Because speakup works on Debian or
arch doesn't mean that it'll work on arm. It's a different architecture.
Just figured I'd throw that out there.
On 2/20/2012 5:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
> From the website:
>
> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>
> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope to 
> see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer 
> releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t commit 
> to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to download 
> distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released, and we will 
> also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.
>
> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled 
> with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech synthesizers 
> may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it has an extremely 
> low memory requirement.
>
> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
> purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking 
> Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth 
> running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a 
> bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This looks 
> more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little money. 
> And with the right software, it will work better than most of those 
> notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby, and 
> that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
> ~Kyle
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup


-- 

Take care,
Ty
Web: http://tds-solutions.net
The Aspen project: a light-weight barebones mud engine
http://code.google.com/p/aspenmud

Sent from my toaster.

_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Robert cole]

I heard about the Raspberry Pi probably six months ago (estimating) on 
the Linux Action Show. If I am able, I definitely want to pick one (or 
more) up when they are shipped in cases.

It is definitely something worth looking into.

I told my wife (who doesn't know much about tech) that I was going to 
buy a Raspberry Pi, and she said, "Why do you want to eat a raspberry 
pie?" I love getting her with tech things like that. <smile>

On 02/21/2012 08:32 AM, John Heim wrote:
> Speakup works on the Geode by NSC.  That's the chip in my Soekris 4801.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Littlefield, Tyler" 
> <tyler@tysdomain.com>
> To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." 
> <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 7:02 PM
> Subject: Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?
>
>
> I think you are a bit to optomistic. Because speakup works on Debian or
> arch doesn't mean that it'll work on arm. It's a different architecture.
> Just figured I'd throw that out there.
> On 2/20/2012 5:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
>> From the website:
>>
>> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>>
>> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We 
>> hope to see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with 
>> newer releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu 
>> can’t commit to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able 
>> to download distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is 
>> released, and we will also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly 
>> after release.
>>
>> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels 
>> compiled with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech 
>> synthesizers may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it 
>> has an extremely low memory requirement.
>>
>> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
>> purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get 
>> Talking Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get 
>> bluetooth running on something like this. It looks like it would pair 
>> well with a bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable 
>> computer. This looks more and more like a fun little project to work 
>> on for very little money. And with the right software, it will work 
>> better than most of those notetaker thingies that still cost 100 
>> times as much as this baby, and that some people still buy for some 
>> reason. Smile.
>> ~Kyle
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Willem van der Walt]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: TEXT/PLAIN, Size: 3253 bytes --]

Hi,
I have just gotten speakup talking on an arm based netbook called the 
webbook.
It runs Ubuntu, but not quite the standard version.
Espeak kind of works, but I have issues with the audio device on this 
particular machine.
Regards, Willem


On Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Robert cole wrote:

> I heard about the Raspberry Pi probably six months ago (estimating) on the 
> Linux Action Show. If I am able, I definitely want to pick one (or more) up 
> when they are shipped in cases.
>
> It is definitely something worth looking into.
>
> I told my wife (who doesn't know much about tech) that I was going to buy a 
> Raspberry Pi, and she said, "Why do you want to eat a raspberry pie?" I love 
> getting her with tech things like that. <smile>
>
> On 02/21/2012 08:32 AM, John Heim wrote:
>> Speakup works on the Geode by NSC.  That's the chip in my Soekris 4801.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Littlefield, Tyler" 
>> <tyler@tysdomain.com>
>> To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
>> Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 7:02 PM
>> Subject: Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?
>> 
>> 
>> I think you are a bit to optomistic. Because speakup works on Debian or
>> arch doesn't mean that it'll work on arm. It's a different architecture.
>> Just figured I'd throw that out there.
>> On 2/20/2012 5:52 PM, Kyle wrote:
>>> From the website:
>>> 
>>> What Linux distros will be supported at launch?
>>> 
>>> Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux will be supported from the start. We hope to 
>>> see support from other distros later. (Because of issues with newer 
>>> releases of Ubuntu and the ARM processor we are using, Ubuntu can’t commit 
>>> to support Raspberry Pi at the moment.) You will be able to download 
>>> distro images from us as soon as the Raspberry Pi is released, and we will 
>>> also be selling pre-loaded SD cards shortly after release.
>>> 
>>> So if Arch and Debian are supported, Speakup modules or kernels compiled 
>>> with Speakup should run without issues. Some software speech synthesizers 
>>> may have memory issues, but eSpeak is sure to run, as it has an extremely 
>>> low memory requirement.
>>> 
>>> On a side note, I really want one of these things , and will likely 
>>> purchase one once the cases are available. Then I can try to get Talking 
>>> Arch running on it. I also wonder how easy it would be to get bluetooth 
>>> running on something like this. It looks like it would pair well with a 
>>> bluetooth keyboard and become a nice little portable computer. This looks 
>>> more and more like a fun little project to work on for very little money. 
>>> And with the right software, it will work better than most of those 
>>> notetaker thingies that still cost 100 times as much as this baby, and 
>>> that some people still buy for some reason. Smile.
>>> ~Kyle
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Speakup mailing list
>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> 
>> 
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Jason White]

Littlefield, Tyler <speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.

And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and Org-mode for
notes and other simple documents.

I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control of the
files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input. I've
been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was no doubt
as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Robert cole]

Jason,

Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis 
using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and 
wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been 
working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX 
than a GUI word processor for different projects.

As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one 
(or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so 
wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.

Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my 
hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days. 
this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to 
become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other 
projects which are  being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!

Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.

[1] http://makeplaylive.com/

On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and Org-mode for
> notes and other simple documents.
>
> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control of the
> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input. I've
> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was no doubt
> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

LaTeX and big writing projects

[Liz Hare]

Hi Robert,

I'm not Jason, but I wrote my dissertation in LaTex 14 years ago. Back 
then, I had someone read me the print books that had been written on the 
subject. I'm not sure what resources are out there now, but I bet there 
is a lot of online documentation. It's also helpful to look at the .tex 
files for documents others have written that have similar features to 
those you want.

It was great. I had way more control of the formatting and tables than I 
ever could have had with a word processor. I think if you are taking on 
a project like writing a thesis or a book, it's definitely worthwhile.

The disappointing part was that once I finished the degree and made it 
out into the real world (working in the life sciences), I couldn't use 
it much. Journal articles had to be submitted in Word. I didn't have any 
coworkers who knew LaTeX and so many documents, like grant applications, 
had to be in word processing files. If I had the opportunity to work on 
a large writing project now, I'd have a lot to re-learn, and things have 
probably also changed a lot since then. But I still use the notation 
from LaTeX to communicate with sighted people about equations.

Liz

Liz Hare PhD
Dog Genetics LLC
doggene@earthlink.net
http://www.doggenetics.com

On 3/1/2012 6:47 PM, Robert cole wrote:
> Jason,
>
> Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis
> using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and
> wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been
> working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX
> than a GUI word processor for different projects.
>
> As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one
> (or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so
> wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
>
> Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my
> hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days.
> this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to
> become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other
> projects which are being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!
>
> Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.
>
> [1] http://makeplaylive.com/
>
> On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
>> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
>> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and
>> Org-mode for
>> notes and other simple documents.
>>
>> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
>> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control
>> of the
>> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
>> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input.
>> I've
>> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was
>> no doubt
>> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Justin Harford]

I learned LaTeX back in 2006 by reading on the internet. I also took a semester class in 2007, but I mostly learned from the online tutorials.
On 01-03-2012, at 16:12, Liz Hare wrote:

> 
> Hi Robert,
> 
> I'm not Jason, but I wrote my dissertation in LaTex 14 years ago. Back then, I had someone read me the print books that had been written on the subject. I'm not sure what resources are out there now, but I bet there is a lot of online documentation. It's also helpful to look at the .tex files for documents others have written that have similar features to those you want.
> 
> It was great. I had way more control of the formatting and tables than I ever could have had with a word processor. I think if you are taking on a project like writing a thesis or a book, it's definitely worthwhile.
> 
> The disappointing part was that once I finished the degree and made it out into the real world (working in the life sciences), I couldn't use it much. Journal articles had to be submitted in Word. I didn't have any coworkers who knew LaTeX and so many documents, like grant applications, had to be in word processing files. If I had the opportunity to work on a large writing project now, I'd have a lot to re-learn, and things have probably also changed a lot since then. But I still use the notation from LaTeX to communicate with sighted people about equations.
> 
> Liz
> 
> Liz Hare PhD
> Dog Genetics LLC
> doggene@earthlink.net
> http://www.doggenetics.com
> 
> On 3/1/2012 6:47 PM, Robert cole wrote:
>> Jason,
>> 
>> Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis
>> using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and
>> wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been
>> working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX
>> than a GUI word processor for different projects.
>> 
>> As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one
>> (or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so
>> wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
>> 
>> Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my
>> hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days.
>> this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to
>> become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other
>> projects which are being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!
>> 
>> Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.
>> 
>> [1] http://makeplaylive.com/
>> 
>> On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
>>> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>>>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
>>> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and
>>> Org-mode for
>>> notes and other simple documents.
>>> 
>>> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
>>> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control
>>> of the
>>> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
>>> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input.
>>> I've
>>> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was
>>> no doubt
>>> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Speakup mailing list
>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Robert cole]

Thanks for the replies, Liz and Justin.

I came across a free LaTeX book [1] at Wikibooks [2]. The book is 
evidently a featured book there due to its good content and formatting. 
It is downloadable as a PDF as well as it is readable online. I have not 
read through it yet, but it looks to be a 295 page book. Here is a brief 
description of the book from its main Wikibooks page:

This is a guide to the *LaTeX* markup language. It is intended that this 
can serve as a useful resource for everyone from new users who wish to 
learn, to old hands who need a quick reference.

I am going to search for tutorials as well, and hopefully I can just 
print them to PDF. My Internet connection, though fast as it is, can be 
slightly flaky sometimes, so I like to have materials on-hand.

I plan to possibly start reading this book after I finish the current 
book which I am reading. I actually have a book which I began writing 
while I was still using windows (it was a fictional novel), and I may 
just port it over and redo it using LaTeX. I stopped writing it sometime 
back in 2004...I hope to pick it up and finish it one day.

Once again, thanks for the replies.

Take care, everyone.

[1] http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX
[2] http://www.wikibooks.org/

On 03/01/2012 06:51 PM, Justin Harford wrote:
> I learned LaTeX back in 2006 by reading on the internet. I also took a semester class in 2007, but I mostly learned from the online tutorials.
> On 01-03-2012, at 16:12, Liz Hare wrote:
>
>> Hi Robert,
>>
>> I'm not Jason, but I wrote my dissertation in LaTex 14 years ago. Back then, I had someone read me the print books that had been written on the subject. I'm not sure what resources are out there now, but I bet there is a lot of online documentation. It's also helpful to look at the .tex files for documents others have written that have similar features to those you want.
>>
>> It was great. I had way more control of the formatting and tables than I ever could have had with a word processor. I think if you are taking on a project like writing a thesis or a book, it's definitely worthwhile.
>>
>> The disappointing part was that once I finished the degree and made it out into the real world (working in the life sciences), I couldn't use it much. Journal articles had to be submitted in Word. I didn't have any coworkers who knew LaTeX and so many documents, like grant applications, had to be in word processing files. If I had the opportunity to work on a large writing project now, I'd have a lot to re-learn, and things have probably also changed a lot since then. But I still use the notation from LaTeX to communicate with sighted people about equations.
>>
>> Liz
>>
>> Liz Hare PhD
>> Dog Genetics LLC
>> doggene@earthlink.net
>> http://www.doggenetics.com
>>
>> On 3/1/2012 6:47 PM, Robert cole wrote:
>>> Jason,
>>>
>>> Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis
>>> using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and
>>> wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been
>>> working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX
>>> than a GUI word processor for different projects.
>>>
>>> As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one
>>> (or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so
>>> wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
>>>
>>> Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my
>>> hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days.
>>> this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to
>>> become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other
>>> projects which are being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!
>>>
>>> Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.
>>>
>>> [1] http://makeplaylive.com/
>>>
>>> On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
>>>> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>>>>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
>>>> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and
>>>> Org-mode for
>>>> notes and other simple documents.
>>>>
>>>> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
>>>> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control
>>>> of the
>>>> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
>>>> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input.
>>>> I've
>>>> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was
>>>> no doubt
>>>> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Speakup mailing list
>>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Speakup mailing list
>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Justin Harford]

Howdy 

Yeah you know what you should do is just look up an intro to latex tutorial, and follow what it tells you to do. Of course you first must have installed a distribution like texlive with a graphical front end or a texteditor like emacs. But tstart with "hello world" so to speak, and just slowly move up from there. The key difficulty that I found was compiling and troubleshooting errors, so make sure that you try to do a lot of that.

Justin 
On 01-03-2012, at 20:09, Robert cole wrote:

> Thanks for the replies, Liz and Justin.
> 
> I came across a free LaTeX book [1] at Wikibooks [2]. The book is evidently a featured book there due to its good content and formatting. It is downloadable as a PDF as well as it is readable online. I have not read through it yet, but it looks to be a 295 page book. Here is a brief description of the book from its main Wikibooks page:
> 
> This is a guide to the *LaTeX* markup language. It is intended that this can serve as a useful resource for everyone from new users who wish to learn, to old hands who need a quick reference.
> 
> I am going to search for tutorials as well, and hopefully I can just print them to PDF. My Internet connection, though fast as it is, can be slightly flaky sometimes, so I like to have materials on-hand.
> 
> I plan to possibly start reading this book after I finish the current book which I am reading. I actually have a book which I began writing while I was still using windows (it was a fictional novel), and I may just port it over and redo it using LaTeX. I stopped writing it sometime back in 2004...I hope to pick it up and finish it one day.
> 
> Once again, thanks for the replies.
> 
> Take care, everyone.
> 
> [1] http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX
> [2] http://www.wikibooks.org/
> 
> On 03/01/2012 06:51 PM, Justin Harford wrote:
>> I learned LaTeX back in 2006 by reading on the internet. I also took a semester class in 2007, but I mostly learned from the online tutorials.
>> On 01-03-2012, at 16:12, Liz Hare wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Robert,
>>> 
>>> I'm not Jason, but I wrote my dissertation in LaTex 14 years ago. Back then, I had someone read me the print books that had been written on the subject. I'm not sure what resources are out there now, but I bet there is a lot of online documentation. It's also helpful to look at the .tex files for documents others have written that have similar features to those you want.
>>> 
>>> It was great. I had way more control of the formatting and tables than I ever could have had with a word processor. I think if you are taking on a project like writing a thesis or a book, it's definitely worthwhile.
>>> 
>>> The disappointing part was that once I finished the degree and made it out into the real world (working in the life sciences), I couldn't use it much. Journal articles had to be submitted in Word. I didn't have any coworkers who knew LaTeX and so many documents, like grant applications, had to be in word processing files. If I had the opportunity to work on a large writing project now, I'd have a lot to re-learn, and things have probably also changed a lot since then. But I still use the notation from LaTeX to communicate with sighted people about equations.
>>> 
>>> Liz
>>> 
>>> Liz Hare PhD
>>> Dog Genetics LLC
>>> doggene@earthlink.net
>>> http://www.doggenetics.com
>>> 
>>> On 3/1/2012 6:47 PM, Robert cole wrote:
>>>> Jason,
>>>> 
>>>> Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis
>>>> using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and
>>>> wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been
>>>> working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX
>>>> than a GUI word processor for different projects.
>>>> 
>>>> As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one
>>>> (or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so
>>>> wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
>>>> 
>>>> Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my
>>>> hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days.
>>>> this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to
>>>> become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other
>>>> projects which are being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!
>>>> 
>>>> Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.
>>>> 
>>>> [1] http://makeplaylive.com/
>>>> 
>>>> On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
>>>>> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>>>>>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
>>>>> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and
>>>>> Org-mode for
>>>>> notes and other simple documents.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
>>>>> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control
>>>>> of the
>>>>> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
>>>>> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input.
>>>>> I've
>>>>> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was
>>>>> no doubt
>>>>> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Speakup mailing list
>>>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Speakup mailing list
>>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Speakup mailing list
>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Michael Whapples]

The wikibook on LaTeX is quite good, I tend to use that as a reference book, 
although it does have sections which would be good for beginners as well.

I have to agree with Liz though, you may come across times where the 
expected format means using LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying with 
the Open University and I must submit my project report as a word document 
or RTF).

Michael Whapples

-----Original Message----- 
From: Robert cole
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 4:09 AM
To: speakup@braille.uwo.ca
Subject: Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

Thanks for the replies, Liz and Justin.

I came across a free LaTeX book [1] at Wikibooks [2]. The book is
evidently a featured book there due to its good content and formatting.
It is downloadable as a PDF as well as it is readable online. I have not
read through it yet, but it looks to be a 295 page book. Here is a brief
description of the book from its main Wikibooks page:

This is a guide to the *LaTeX* markup language. It is intended that this
can serve as a useful resource for everyone from new users who wish to
learn, to old hands who need a quick reference.

I am going to search for tutorials as well, and hopefully I can just
print them to PDF. My Internet connection, though fast as it is, can be
slightly flaky sometimes, so I like to have materials on-hand.

I plan to possibly start reading this book after I finish the current
book which I am reading. I actually have a book which I began writing
while I was still using windows (it was a fictional novel), and I may
just port it over and redo it using LaTeX. I stopped writing it sometime
back in 2004...I hope to pick it up and finish it one day.

Once again, thanks for the replies.

Take care, everyone.

[1] http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX
[2] http://www.wikibooks.org/

On 03/01/2012 06:51 PM, Justin Harford wrote:
> I learned LaTeX back in 2006 by reading on the internet. I also took a 
> semester class in 2007, but I mostly learned from the online tutorials.
> On 01-03-2012, at 16:12, Liz Hare wrote:
>
>> Hi Robert,
>>
>> I'm not Jason, but I wrote my dissertation in LaTex 14 years ago. Back 
>> then, I had someone read me the print books that had been written on the 
>> subject. I'm not sure what resources are out there now, but I bet there 
>> is a lot of online documentation. It's also helpful to look at the .tex 
>> files for documents others have written that have similar features to 
>> those you want.
>>
>> It was great. I had way more control of the formatting and tables than I 
>> ever could have had with a word processor. I think if you are taking on a 
>> project like writing a thesis or a book, it's definitely worthwhile.
>>
>> The disappointing part was that once I finished the degree and made it 
>> out into the real world (working in the life sciences), I couldn't use it 
>> much. Journal articles had to be submitted in Word. I didn't have any 
>> coworkers who knew LaTeX and so many documents, like grant applications, 
>> had to be in word processing files. If I had the opportunity to work on a 
>> large writing project now, I'd have a lot to re-learn, and things have 
>> probably also changed a lot since then. But I still use the notation from 
>> LaTeX to communicate with sighted people about equations.
>>
>> Liz
>>
>> Liz Hare PhD
>> Dog Genetics LLC
>> doggene@earthlink.net
>> http://www.doggenetics.com
>>
>> On 3/1/2012 6:47 PM, Robert cole wrote:
>>> Jason,
>>>
>>> Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis
>>> using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and
>>> wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been
>>> working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX
>>> than a GUI word processor for different projects.
>>>
>>> As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one
>>> (or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so
>>> wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
>>>
>>> Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my
>>> hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days.
>>> this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to
>>> become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other
>>> projects which are being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!
>>>
>>> Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.
>>>
>>> [1] http://makeplaylive.com/
>>>
>>> On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
>>>> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>>>>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
>>>> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and
>>>> Org-mode for
>>>> notes and other simple documents.
>>>>
>>>> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display 
>>>> and
>>>> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control
>>>> of the
>>>> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
>>>> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input.
>>>> I've
>>>> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was
>>>> no doubt
>>>> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Speakup mailing list
>>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Speakup mailing list
>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Chris Brannon]

"Michael Whapples" <mwhapples@aim.com> writes:

> I have to agree with Liz though, you may come across times where the
> expected format means using LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying
> with the Open University and I must submit my project report as a word
> document or RTF).

Here's what you do.  Run latex2rtf to produce a .rtf file from your
LaTeX source.  If they want an actual .doc file, then just rename
document.rtf to document.doc, and send that to them.  Most people don't
know the difference, and neither does Microsoft Word.  It will open the
.rtf file without complaint, even though it has the wrong extension.
This is what I do when people ask for Word documents from me, and it
works like a charm.

-- Chris

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Robert cole]

Thanks for all of the input here.

I am trying to rely less and less on screen magnification, and I think I 
have a lot of good hints and ideas on where to go now so that I can get 
a bit further away from relying on my last bit of vision in order to do 
things.

It takes me a very long time to perform certain formatting tasks in 
LibreOffice, and it gets so frustrating when trying to point-and-click 
on the right thing. It sounds like the learning of LaTeX may be quite 
beneficial to me as I love to write, and I have had many book ideas over 
the past years. It would definitely, for the most part, eliminate the 
frustrations of having my good eye so close to the screen and trying to 
click on the right tools to do certain things.

Thanks for all of the input.

On 03/02/2012 03:46 AM, Chris Brannon wrote:
> "Michael Whapples"<mwhapples@aim.com>  writes:
>
>> I have to agree with Liz though, you may come across times where the
>> expected format means using LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying
>> with the Open University and I must submit my project report as a word
>> document or RTF).
> Here's what you do.  Run latex2rtf to produce a .rtf file from your
> LaTeX source.  If they want an actual .doc file, then just rename
> document.rtf to document.doc, and send that to them.  Most people don't
> know the difference, and neither does Microsoft Word.  It will open the
> .rtf file without complaint, even though it has the wrong extension.
> This is what I do when people ask for Word documents from me, and it
> works like a charm.
>
> -- Chris
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Michael Whapples]

I was aware that there are tools for converting to other formats, I guess I 
am just cautious of how well they work.

As an aside, I know that there are some differences between RTF and word 
document format, however I don't know much of the differences, may be you 
could list the key ones.

Michael Whapples

-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris Brannon
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 11:46 AM
To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
Subject: Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

"Michael Whapples" <mwhapples@aim.com> writes:

> I have to agree with Liz though, you may come across times where the
> expected format means using LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying
> with the Open University and I must submit my project report as a word
> document or RTF).

Here's what you do.  Run latex2rtf to produce a .rtf file from your
LaTeX source.  If they want an actual .doc file, then just rename
document.rtf to document.doc, and send that to them.  Most people don't
know the difference, and neither does Microsoft Word.  It will open the
.rtf file without complaint, even though it has the wrong extension.
This is what I do when people ask for Word documents from me, and it
works like a charm.

-- Chris

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Justin Harford]

Right for example what format elements does latextortf recognize and what elements does it just ignore? Does it understand fancyhdr, setspace, geometry, etc?

Justin 
On 03-03-2012, at 12:06, Michael Whapples wrote:

> I was aware that there are tools for converting to other formats, I guess I am just cautious of how well they work.
> 
> As an aside, I know that there are some differences between RTF and word document format, however I don't know much of the differences, may be you could list the key ones.
> 
> Michael Whapples
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Chris Brannon
> Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 11:46 AM
> To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
> Subject: Re: LaTeX and big writing projects
> 
> "Michael Whapples" <mwhapples@aim.com> writes:
> 
>> I have to agree with Liz though, you may come across times where the
>> expected format means using LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying
>> with the Open University and I must submit my project report as a word
>> document or RTF).
> 
> Here's what you do.  Run latex2rtf to produce a .rtf file from your
> LaTeX source.  If they want an actual .doc file, then just rename
> document.rtf to document.doc, and send that to them.  Most people don't
> know the difference, and neither does Microsoft Word.  It will open the
> .rtf file without complaint, even though it has the wrong extension.
> This is what I do when people ask for Word documents from me, and it
> works like a charm.
> 
> -- Chris
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Anyone thought about raspberry pie?

[Jason White]

Robert cole  <speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>Jason,
>
>Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis 
>using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and 
>wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been 
>working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX 
>than a GUI word processor for different projects.
>

There are many good resources on the Web. I learned LaTeX in the late 90s when
there weren't so many excellent online sources. Here is one of the newer
online books:
http://latex.silmaril.ie/formattinginformation/
and if you want a reference:
http://home.gna.org/latexrefman/
and I've found parts of the LaTeX wikibook useful:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX

There are editor extensions for LaTeX in both Emacs and Vim, which can make
your task even easier. Simple documents are easy and complicated documents are
possible.
>As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one 
>(or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so 
>wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
>
>Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my 
>hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days. 
>this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to 
>become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other 
>projects which are  being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!

It is indeed, and I expect it to become more so over time. KDE is the first
Linux desktop project to have an arrangement with a hardware developer, but
Gnome, and probably also Unity are interested in tablets and other mobile
devices. LWN have published very good articles on this topic and I would
recommend them as the best source of news and commentary related to Linux.
http://lwn.net/

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Jason White]

Michael Whapples <speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>The wikibook on LaTeX is quite good, I tend to use that as a reference book, 
>although it does have sections which would be good for beginners as well.
>
>I have to agree with Liz though, you may come across times where the 
>expected format means using LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying with 
>the Open University and I must submit my project report as a word document 
>or RTF).

You can still write it in LaTeX and convert it. Tex4ht is the best package for
this. It can generate HTML, XHTML or ODF. Unoconv (which uses LibreOffice) can
take this and convert it to RTF or even MS-Word format.

Even if you need a word processor format in the end, this doesn't mean you
have to use a word processor to create it.

I think there are conversions from Docbook as well, but I haven't investigated
those. Almost everyone with whom I have ever exchanged documents has gladly
accepted either PDF or HTML.

There are other interesting formats worth mentioning also, such as Emacs
Org-mode, Mardown, RestructuredText and so on, which again are supported by
ocnversion tools.

The only situation in which I would use a word processor is one in which I had
a document with formatting that needed to be preserved, which I was
collaboratively editing with a word processor user.

At that point, LibreOffice would probably be a necessity, despite the bad
editing environment compared with Emacs or Vim.

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Jason White]

Michael Whapples <speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>I was aware that there are tools for converting to other formats, I guess I 
>am just cautious of how well they work.

Tex4HT actually uses TeX macros for part of its processing, thus it supports
more features than the other converters.

I have used it to generate HTML from LaTeX documents.

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Robert Cole]

This all sounds really interesting.

Because I see that both Vim and Emacs have some very powerful features, 
I am probably going to try and learn both of them. I have actually used 
Vim completely for all text editing needs through the past few weeks, 
and I must say I am really glad that I can get things done so quickly. I 
sure wish that I would have known about Linux much earlier on in my 
life, but I am sure glad to be using it now!

On 03/03/2012 10:37 PM, Jason White wrote:
> Michael Whapples<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>> I was aware that there are tools for converting to other formats, I guess I
>> am just cautious of how well they work.
> Tex4HT actually uses TeX macros for part of its processing, thus it supports
> more features than the other converters.
>
> I have used it to generate HTML from LaTeX documents.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

CAVI Linux Course was Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Kerry Hoath]

This is all good information, I'll link to some of these things on our 
linux wiki at
http://linuxwiki.ciscovision.org

we are running an intro to Linux command-line admin course at the 
academy at the moment and all the resources are free for the taking 
although the certificate costs.
http://www.cucat.org,
select student resources, then linux intro.

regards, Kerry.


On 4/03/2012 2:20 PM, Jason White wrote:
> Michael Whapples<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>> The wikibook on LaTeX is quite good, I tend to use that as a reference book,
>> although it does have sections which would be good for beginners as well.
>>
>> I have to agree with Liz though, you may come across times where the
>> expected format means using LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying with
>> the Open University and I must submit my project report as a word document
>> or RTF).
>
> You can still write it in LaTeX and convert it. Tex4ht is the best package for
> this. It can generate HTML, XHTML or ODF. Unoconv (which uses LibreOffice) can
> take this and convert it to RTF or even MS-Word format.
>
> Even if you need a word processor format in the end, this doesn't mean you
> have to use a word processor to create it.
>
> I think there are conversions from Docbook as well, but I haven't investigated
> those. Almost everyone with whom I have ever exchanged documents has gladly
> accepted either PDF or HTML.
>
> There are other interesting formats worth mentioning also, such as Emacs
> Org-mode, Mardown, RestructuredText and so on, which again are supported by
> ocnversion tools.
>
> The only situation in which I would use a word processor is one in which I had
> a document with formatting that needed to be preserved, which I was
> collaboratively editing with a word processor user.
>
> At that point, LibreOffice would probably be a necessity, despite the bad
> editing environment compared with Emacs or Vim.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: CAVI Linux Course was Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Jason White]

Kerry Hoath  <speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>This is all good information, I'll link to some of these things on our 
>linux wiki at
>http://linuxwiki.ciscovision.org

You're welcome.
>
>we are running an intro to Linux command-line admin course at the 
>academy at the moment and all the resources are free for the taking 
>although the certificate costs.

Have you considered recommending that students read the following book?
http://www.linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php
(PDF download, but accessible if converted to text, so anyone with access
needs should be fine).

I have reviewed some of the chapters and I think the book is the best that
I've found online or offline as an introduction to Linux.

After reading that, my recommendation would be Unix Power Tools, 3rd ed.,
published by O'Reilly. This is the book to read if you want to discover what
make Linux and UNIX such great systems.

Re: CAVI Linux Course was Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Kerry Hoath]

I'll go take a look at this and certainly recommend it. thanks for the 
pointers.

regards, Kerry.

On 5/03/2012 3:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
> Kerry Hoath<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>> This is all good information, I'll link to some of these things on our
>> linux wiki at
>> http://linuxwiki.ciscovision.org
>
> You're welcome.
>>
>> we are running an intro to Linux command-line admin course at the
>> academy at the moment and all the resources are free for the taking
>> although the certificate costs.
>
> Have you considered recommending that students read the following book?
> http://www.linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php
> (PDF download, but accessible if converted to text, so anyone with access
> needs should be fine).
>
> I have reviewed some of the chapters and I think the book is the best that
> I've found online or offline as an introduction to Linux.
>
> After reading that, my recommendation would be Unix Power Tools, 3rd ed.,
> published by O'Reilly. This is the book to read if you want to discover what
> make Linux and UNIX such great systems.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: CAVI Linux Course was Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Jason White]

Kerry Hoath  <speakup@braille.uwo.ca> wrote:
>
>I'll go take a look at this and certainly recommend it. thanks for the 
>pointers.

You're welcome to write to me off-list if you wish to discuss book
recommendations.

I was going to mention Rute as well:
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz
but some of the material is very out of date now. Likewise for the Linux
Cookbook:
http://www.dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_toc.html
which should not be confused with the book of the same title from O'Reilly.

For system administration of UNIX and Linux in general, I think Aeleen Frisch,
Essential System Administration (O'Reilly) is excellent, but again, some of
the material is out of date.

We're drifting off-topic for the list, but I also recognize that some on the
list may find these references helpful as well. even if you already know it
all, these are books you can recommend when someone with less expertise asks
for advice.

Re: CAVI Linux Course was Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Robert Cole]

Thanks, Jason.

I am definitely one who find your recommendations helpful. I would not 
have known about The Linux Command Line had you not mentioned it on the 
Orca list some time ago. I have been reading through it, and it is 
probably one of the best introductory books which I have ever read, and 
it has some advanced materials in it as well. I have definitely learned 
more from it than I have from any other college-recommended Linux textbook.

Thanks for sharing.

On 03/05/2012 01:54 AM, Jason White wrote:
> Kerry Hoath<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
>> I'll go take a look at this and certainly recommend it. thanks for the
>> pointers.
> You're welcome to write to me off-list if you wish to discuss book
> recommendations.
>
> I was going to mention Rute as well:
> http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz
> but some of the material is very out of date now. Likewise for the Linux
> Cookbook:
> http://www.dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_toc.html
> which should not be confused with the book of the same title from O'Reilly.
>
> For system administration of UNIX and Linux in general, I think Aeleen Frisch,
> Essential System Administration (O'Reilly) is excellent, but again, some of
> the material is out of date.
>
> We're drifting off-topic for the list, but I also recognize that some on the
> list may find these references helpful as well. even if you already know it
> all, these are books you can recommend when someone with less expertise asks
> for advice.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Mike Keithley]

Looks like Wikibooks is an excellent resource.

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert cole <rkcole72984@gmail.com>
To:  speakup@braille.uwo.ca,
Date: Thursday, Mar 1, 2012 08:09:23 PM
Subject: Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

>
>
> Thanks for the replies, Liz and Justin.
> 
> I came across a free LaTeX book [1] at Wikibooks [2]. The book is 
> evidently a featured book there due to its good content and formatting. 
> It is downloadable as a PDF as well as it is readable online. I have not 
> read through it yet, but it looks to be a 295 page book. Here is a brief 
> description of the book from its main Wikibooks page:
> 
> This is a guide to the *LaTeX* markup language. It is intended that this 
> can serve as a useful resource for everyone from new users who wish to 
> learn, to old hands who need a quick reference.
> 
> I am going to search for tutorials as well, and hopefully I can just 
> print them to PDF. My Internet connection, though fast as it is, can be 
> slightly flaky sometimes, so I like to have materials on-hand.
> 
> I plan to possibly start reading this book after I finish the current 
> book which I am reading. I actually have a book which I began writing 
> while I was still using windows (it was a fictional novel), and I may 
> just port it over and redo it using LaTeX. I stopped writing it sometime 
> back in 2004...I hope to pick it up and finish it one day.
> 
> Once again, thanks for the replies.
> 
> Take care, everyone.
> 
> [1] http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX
> [2] http://www.wikibooks.org/
> 
> On 03/01/2012 06:51 PM, Justin Harford wrote:
> > I learned LaTeX back in 2006 by reading on the internet. I also took a semester class in 2007, but I mostly learned from the online tutorials.
> > On 01-03-2012, at 16:12, Liz Hare wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Robert,
> >>
> >> I'm not Jason, but I wrote my dissertation in LaTex 14 years ago. Back then, I had someone read me the print books that had been written on the subject. I'm not sure what resources are out there now, but I bet there is a lot of online documentation. It's also helpful to look at the .tex files for documents others have written that have similar features to those you want.
> >>
> >> It was great. I had way more control of the formatting and tables than I ever could have had with a word processor. I think if you are taking on a project like writing a thesis or a book, it's definitely worthwhile.
> >>
> >> The disappointing part was that once I finished the degree and made it out into the real world (working in the life sciences), I couldn't use it much. Journal articles had to be submitted in Word. I didn't have any coworkers who knew LaTeX and so many documents, like grant applications, had to be in word processing files. If I had the opportunity to work on a large writing project now, I'd have a lot to re-learn, and things have probably also changed a lot since then. But I still use the notation from LaTeX to communicate with sighted people about equations.
> >>
> >> Liz
> >>
> >> Liz Hare PhD
> >> Dog Genetics LLC
> >> doggene@earthlink.net
> >> http://www.doggenetics.com
> >>
> >> On 3/1/2012 6:47 PM, Robert cole wrote:
> >>> Jason,
> >>>
> >>> Sorry to divert this, but I have read about you writing your thesis
> >>> using LaTeX on the Orca list in the past. I was always curious and
> >>> wanted to ask you what resources you used to learn LaTeX. I've been
> >>> working to learn both vi and Emacs, and I think I would rather use LaTeX
> >>> than a GUI word processor for different projects.
> >>>
> >>> As far as the Raspberry Pi goes, I am definitely planning on getting one
> >>> (or more, if possible) when they are offered with cases. It is so
> >>> wonderful to see all of these nice flashy Linux systems coming out.
> >>>
> >>> Although the price is out of range for me right now, I'd like to get my
> >>> hands on a KDE Plasma Active powered Spark tablet [1] one of these days.
> >>> this looks like a very promising device, especially as KDE is seeming to
> >>> become more accessible thanks to QT-AT-SPI, Orca, and all of the other
> >>> projects which are being developed. This is definitely getting exciting!
> >>>
> >>> Take care, and my apologies for my diversion from the original topic.
> >>>
> >>> [1] http://makeplaylive.com/
> >>>
> >>> On 03/01/2012 03:17 PM, Jason White wrote:
> >>>> Littlefield, Tyler<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
> >>>>> emacs. I love it, especially with emacspeak.
> >>>> And to be more specific, AucTeX mode for anything complicated and
> >>>> Org-mode for
> >>>> notes and other simple documents.
> >>>>
> >>>> I wrote my thesis in Emacs, with BRLTTY operating the braille display and
> >>>> emacspeak for speech output, and, of course, Git for revision control
> >>>> of the
> >>>> files. TeX gives better typeset output, reputedly, than popular word
> >>>> processors and you can use a good text editor such as Emacs for input.
> >>>> I've
> >>>> been using LaTeX instead of a word processor since 1998, so there was
> >>>> no doubt
> >>>> as to what tool to use when it came to writing my thesis.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Speakup mailing list
> >>>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> >>>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Speakup mailing list
> >>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> >>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >>>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Speakup mailing list
> >> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> >> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[Mike Keithley]

Does Vim allow you to use selectable and scalable fonts to a printer like WordPerfect does?

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Cole <rkcole72984@gmail.com>
To:  speakup@braille.uwo.ca,
Date: Saturday, Mar 3, 2012 10:56:23 PM
Subject: Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

>
>
> This all sounds really interesting.
> 
> Because I see that both Vim and Emacs have some very powerful features, 
> I am probably going to try and learn both of them. I have actually used 
> Vim completely for all text editing needs through the past few weeks, 
> and I must say I am really glad that I can get things done so quickly. I 
> sure wish that I would have known about Linux much earlier on in my 
> life, but I am sure glad to be using it now!
> 
> On 03/03/2012 10:37 PM, Jason White wrote:
> > Michael Whapples<speakup@braille.uwo.ca>  wrote:
> >> I was aware that there are tools for converting to other formats, I guess I
> >> am just cautious of how well they work.
> > Tex4HT actually uses TeX macros for part of its processing, thus it supports
> > more features than the other converters.
> >
> > I have used it to generate HTML from LaTeX documents.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: LaTeX and big writing projects

[pj]

Michael Whapples wrote:
> you may come across times where the expected format means using
> LaTeX is not possible (eg. I am studying with the Open University
> and I must submit my project report as a word document or RTF).

It does have some limitations, but:
  latex2rtf MyProjectReport.tex
works for me, for submitting reviews to a music magazine which
also insists on .doc or .rtf ...

On debian, try:
  aptitude install latex2rtf latex2rtf-doc

Regards,  Peter Billam

http://www.pjb.com.au      pj@pjb.com.au     (03) 6278 9410
"Follow the charge, not the particle."  --  Richard Feynman
 from The Theory of Positrons, Physical Review, 1949