From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from blu0-omc1-s27.blu0.hotmail.com (blu0-omc1-s27.blu0.hotmail.com [65.55.116.38]) by speech.braille.uwo.ca (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9EA34109AC for ; Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:48:19 -0500 (EST) Received: from BLU149-W41 ([65.55.116.8]) by blu0-omc1-s27.blu0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.3959); Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:50:10 -0800 Message-ID: X-Originating-IP: [24.233.116.4] From: To: Subject: re: Introducint myself to list members Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:50:11 -0500 Importance: Normal MIME-Version: 1.0 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 17 Nov 2008 20:50:10.0590 (UTC) FILETIME=[14DC33E0:01C948F6] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.11 X-BeenThere: speakup@braille.uwo.ca X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.11 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Id: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:48:20 -0000 greetings Ahmed I'm new to linux myself=2C but I'll try and point you to some places that m= ight be of interest. I'm not sure if anyone has replied to you off-list=2C= so I'll try to start at the beginning. =20 First=2C there are many distributions of linux available. Some of the most= common include=3B Open Solaris (http://www.opensolaris.org/os/)=2C Fedora = (http://fedoraproject.org/)=2C Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/)=2C and Open = SuSE (http://en.opensuse.org/Welcome_to_openSUSE.org). =20 As far as I know=2C all of these distributions that I have listed use what = is called the "gnome desktop." The gnome desktop is just a graphic desktop= environment--sort of analogus to the Windows desktop. Gnome includes it's= own screen-reader called "orca" (http://live.gnome.org/Orca). In my opini= on=2C orca is highly functional and makes gnome-based linux distrobutions q= uite accessible. At this point in time=2C you will want to avoid any distr= ibution that uses "KDE" instead of gnome. KDE is an alternate graphical de= sktop environment that is not yet compatible fully with AT-SPI (the linux a= ccessibility protocol). I'm new to speakup myself (I'm looking through the process to install speak= up on my own machine)=2C but from what i have found out=2C in most cases=2C= you will need to install it after you get your specific linux distribution= up and running. There is one exception: it is possible to obtain Fedora w= ith speakup pre-compiled (http://speakupmodified.org/). You might want to check out Darragh's site (http://www.digitaldarragh.com/l= inux/showpage.asp?section=3Dlinux&category=3Daccessibility&title=3DLinux%20= Accessibility)=3B he has made several audio tutorials concerning linux acce= ssibility. In particular=2C you can listen to a walk-through for installin= g Ubuntu and Open SuSE and get a handle on the process before doing it your= self. One more thing to consider=2C I'm not sure about internationally but within= the United States among universities Solaris is popular. I use Ubuntu mys= elf=2C but if you are going to be working with institutions that are runnin= g one version of Solaris or another=2C using Open Solaris might make transi= tioning your work from your personal machine to a university network more s= eamless. I hope this is not over-whelming and helps get you started:-) _________________________________________________________________ Get 5 GB of storage with Windows Live Hotmail. http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=3DTXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_5gb_= 112008=