Trying to come back?

Trying to come back?

[Joseph Norton]

Hi All:

It's been a rough year or two!--not all of it, but, enough!

To briefly update:

I went out of circulation because of a house fire suffered in December 2007.  I lost my computers, most of my software, my 3 hardware synths and most of everything else.

On the good side, I escaped alive and physically intact.

I have also gotten married and have a beautiful wife and a 4-year-old step daughter.  So, again, not all bad news.

We are in new quarters and I have acquired a donated HP computer which seems to be capable of running Linux.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a hardware synth.

I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called "GRML".  I have successfully downloaded and installed it on my HD.  It does work, but, I probably need some assistance to do more with it--if this is even possible.

Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with GRML?  In particular, can I get a better software synth than the robotic british one that ships with GRML?  Since it's based on Debian, can I install Debian packages over it?

Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with only software synth available?

Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Trying to come back?

[Hermann]

Am 08.07.2009 22:29, schrieb Joseph Norton:
> Hi All:
[...]
> I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called "GRML".  I have successfully downloaded and installed it on my HD.  It does work, but, I probably need some assistance to do more with it--if this is even possible.
>
You can do all your daily work with GRML. I use it for years. What 
specific problems do you have?

> Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with GRML?  In particular, can I get a better software synth than the robotic british one that ships with GRML?  Since it's based on Debian, can I install Debian packages over it?
>
You could do a "grml-debootstrap", in order to install a regular Debian.
But your GRML would be lost.
Check out the manuals of grml-debootstrap.
But you can keep your GRML, but I would recomment one change:
Go to /etc/apt/sources.list and change the entries by commenting out the 
unstable branch, and include the testing branches. You then will have a 
more stable system after you did:
aptitude update
Regarding the synth: You can buy a soft synth such as Voxin or ttsynth, 
and you can use it together with Speech-dispatcher and Speechd-up, all 
installed on GRML.

> Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with only software synth available?
>
You could check out Vinux, I think there also are podcasts on Blind 
cooltech.
Hermann

RE: Trying to come back?

[Don Raikes]

Vinux uses teh espeak synthesizer so it is the same as grml.

If you switch to the en_us voice is sounds a bit better, though.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hermann [mailto:meinelisten@onlinehome.de]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 1:43 PM
> To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
> Subject: Re: Trying to come back?
> 
> 
> Am 08.07.2009 22:29, schrieb Joseph Norton:
> > Hi All:
> [...]
> > I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called 
> "GRML".  I have successfully downloaded and installed it on 
> my HD.  It does work, but, I probably need some assistance to 
> do more with it--if this is even possible.
> >
> You can do all your daily work with GRML. I use it for years. What 
> specific problems do you have?
> 
> > Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with 
> GRML?  In particular, can I get a better software synth than 
> the robotic british one that ships with GRML?  Since it's 
> based on Debian, can I install Debian packages over it?
> >
> You could do a "grml-debootstrap", in order to install a 
> regular Debian.
> But your GRML would be lost.
> Check out the manuals of grml-debootstrap.
> But you can keep your GRML, but I would recomment one change:
> Go to /etc/apt/sources.list and change the entries by 
> commenting out the 
> unstable branch, and include the testing branches. You then 
> will have a 
> more stable system after you did:
> aptitude update
> Regarding the synth: You can buy a soft synth such as Voxin 
> or ttsynth, 
> and you can use it together with Speech-dispatcher and 
> Speechd-up, all 
> installed on GRML.
> 
> > Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with 
> only software synth available?
> >
> You could check out Vinux, I think there also are podcasts on Blind 
> cooltech.
> Hermann
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: Trying to come back?

[Joseph Norton]

How do I change the synth?

Can I install or compile pine on this thing?

Thanks!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Raikes" <DON.RAIKES@oracle.com>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 5:02 PM
Subject: RE: Trying to come back?


> Vinux uses teh espeak synthesizer so it is the same as grml.
> 
> If you switch to the en_us voice is sounds a bit better, though.
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Hermann [mailto:meinelisten@onlinehome.de]
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 1:43 PM
>> To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
>> Subject: Re: Trying to come back?
>> 
>> 
>> Am 08.07.2009 22:29, schrieb Joseph Norton:
>> > Hi All:
>> [...]
>> > I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called 
>> "GRML".  I have successfully downloaded and installed it on 
>> my HD.  It does work, but, I probably need some assistance to 
>> do more with it--if this is even possible.
>> >
>> You can do all your daily work with GRML. I use it for years. What 
>> specific problems do you have?
>> 
>> > Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with 
>> GRML?  In particular, can I get a better software synth than 
>> the robotic british one that ships with GRML?  Since it's 
>> based on Debian, can I install Debian packages over it?
>> >
>> You could do a "grml-debootstrap", in order to install a 
>> regular Debian.
>> But your GRML would be lost.
>> Check out the manuals of grml-debootstrap.
>> But you can keep your GRML, but I would recomment one change:
>> Go to /etc/apt/sources.list and change the entries by 
>> commenting out the 
>> unstable branch, and include the testing branches. You then 
>> will have a 
>> more stable system after you did:
>> aptitude update
>> Regarding the synth: You can buy a soft synth such as Voxin 
>> or ttsynth, 
>> and you can use it together with Speech-dispatcher and 
>> Speechd-up, all 
>> installed on GRML.
>> 
>> > Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with 
>> only software synth available?
>> >
>> You could check out Vinux, I think there also are podcasts on Blind 
>> cooltech.
>> Hermann
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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: Trying to come back?

[Hermann]

Am 08.07.2009 23:12, schrieb Joseph Norton:
> How do I change the synth?
>
You have to configure Speech-dispatcher in order to make your favorite 
synth the default one.
Check out Speech-dispatcher's manual.
Note: There is also Festival installed on GRML, so if you prefer that, 
you can use it out of the box.
The other mentioned synths you have to buy first.

> Can I install or compile pine on this thing?
>
Don't know, I never used it. I think it is non-free and came only with Suse.
Try to use Mutt.
Hermann

Re: Trying to come back?

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

Pine has been resurrected lately and is called alpine, which many
distros are happy to provide.


On Thu, Jul 09, 2009 at 10:03:18AM +0200, Hermann wrote:
> Am 08.07.2009 23:12, schrieb Joseph Norton:
>> How do I change the synth?
>>
> You have to configure Speech-dispatcher in order to make your favorite  
> synth the default one.
> Check out Speech-dispatcher's manual.
> Note: There is also Festival installed on GRML, so if you prefer that,  
> you can use it out of the box.
> The other mentioned synths you have to buy first.
>
>> Can I install or compile pine on this thing?
>>
> Don't know, I never used it. I think it is non-free and came only with Suse.
> Try to use Mutt.
> Hermann
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
The Moon is Waning Gibbous (97% of Full)
                  My web site: www.hallenbeck.ftml.net
    For an accessible open source twitter service, see www.identi.ca
                                --------
All newspaper editorial writers ever do is come down from the hills after
the battle is over and shoot the wounded.

Re: Trying to come back?

[Glenn Ervin]

Hi Joseph,
I like Ubuntu at:
http://www.ubuntu.com/
On the computers I actually install it, I use the eloquence synth, A K A, 
via voice.
But it works well as a live CD.
To get it to speak when you boot up, after the disk spins up, do the 
following:
Press enter for English
Then press F5 for Accessibility features
Then press the letter 3 for synthetic speech
Then press enter twice, and it will come up talking.
HTH.
Glenn
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Norton" <joseph.norton@gmail.com>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 3:29 PM
Subject: Trying to come back?


Hi All:

It's been a rough year or two!--not all of it, but, enough!

To briefly update:

I went out of circulation because of a house fire suffered in December 2007. 
I lost my computers, most of my software, my 3 hardware synths and most of 
everything else.

On the good side, I escaped alive and physically intact.

I have also gotten married and have a beautiful wife and a 4-year-old step 
daughter.  So, again, not all bad news.

We are in new quarters and I have acquired a donated HP computer which seems 
to be capable of running Linux.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a hardware synth.

I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called "GRML".  I have 
successfully downloaded and installed it on my HD.  It does work, but, I 
probably need some assistance to do more with it--if this is even possible.

Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with GRML?  In 
particular, can I get a better software synth than the robotic british one 
that ships with GRML?  Since it's based on Debian, can I install Debian 
packages over it?

Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with only software 
synth available?

Any help would be appreciated.
_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup




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Re: Trying to come back?

[Joseph Norton]

Hi Glen:


Do you use the desktop or server edition?

I also saw one version 9 and a version 8 for what it calls "large
deployments".  Which one do you think?

Thanks!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Glenn Ervin" <GlennErvin@cableone.net>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 8:18 PM
Subject: Re: Trying to come back?


> Hi Joseph,
> I like Ubuntu at:
> http://www.ubuntu.com/
> On the computers I actually install it, I use the eloquence synth, A K A,
> via voice.
> But it works well as a live CD.
> To get it to speak when you boot up, after the disk spins up, do the
> following:
> Press enter for English
> Then press F5 for Accessibility features
> Then press the letter 3 for synthetic speech
> Then press enter twice, and it will come up talking.
> HTH.
> Glenn
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Joseph Norton" <joseph.norton@gmail.com>
> To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 3:29 PM
> Subject: Trying to come back?
>
>
> Hi All:
>
> It's been a rough year or two!--not all of it, but, enough!
>
> To briefly update:
>
> I went out of circulation because of a house fire suffered in December
> 2007.
> I lost my computers, most of my software, my 3 hardware synths and most of
> everything else.
>
> On the good side, I escaped alive and physically intact.
>
> I have also gotten married and have a beautiful wife and a 4-year-old step
> daughter.  So, again, not all bad news.
>
> We are in new quarters and I have acquired a donated HP computer which
> seems
> to be capable of running Linux.
>
> Unfortunately, I do not have access to a hardware synth.
>
> I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called "GRML".  I have
> successfully downloaded and installed it on my HD.  It does work, but, I
> probably need some assistance to do more with it--if this is even
> possible.
>
> Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with GRML?  In
> particular, can I get a better software synth than the robotic british one
> that ships with GRML?  Since it's based on Debian, can I install Debian
> packages over it?
>
> Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with only software
> synth available?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>
>
>
> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441)
> Database version: 6.12780
> http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/
>
>
>
>
>
> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441)
> Database version: 6.12780
> http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Trying to come back?

[Kirk Reiser]

Hi Joe! Welcome back.  We've missed you around here.

You can use speech-dispatcher with quite a few different synths on
grml or debian and ubuntu.  Some of them are commercial so they cost a
small amount depending on the synth.  Some of them sound better than
espeak also.  However, none of the speech-dispatcher synths will give
you the responsiveness of espeakup with espeak.  So you'll need to
make a choice between quality of speech and response.  I myself use
espeakup/espeak exclusively anymore and have become pretty comfortible
with many of the espeak voices.  espeak has quite a few different
accents you can play with to get a better idea of it's capability so
you may find one you like or can tolerate.

I'm really sorry to hear about the fire but am very glad to hear about
the new family.  Good luck with your set-up and again welcome back.
   Kirk
--
Kirk Reiser				The Computer Braille Facility
e-mail: kirk@braille.uwo.ca		University of Western Ontario
phone: (519) 661-3061

Re: Re: Trying to come back?

[Michael Whapples]

Hello,
I think people have covered most of the things I would say, but there 
are a few things left (I think).

Most people seem to say about using speech-dispatcher for other synths 
and this is generally the only way other synths can be used, however if 
you choose the viavoice synth (either as voxin or ttsynth) then there is 
a speakup connector for it available at the ttsynth website (the 
connector is freely available and is under an open source license). This 
connector I believe uses ALSA for audio output.

If you wish to stick with an entirely free system then I feel espeak and 
espeakup are the best out there. You may wish to have a look at all the 
voices available (eg. you may find the female versions better, or you 
may find one of the other accents better, or may be even one of the 
other varients).

As for installing extra software on GRML, just use the standard debian 
packages, GRML is meant to follow debian's standards and actually uses 
debian's repositories for some of its packages. The system I am using to 
write this email is running GRML and I installed gnome onto it from 
debian's repositories. As suggested, you may wish to change it to use 
testing or you may want to install plain debian by using grml-debootstrap.

Michael Whapples

On -10/01/37 20:59, Kirk Reiser wrote:
> Hi Joe! Welcome back.  We've missed you around here.
>
> You can use speech-dispatcher with quite a few different synths on
> grml or debian and ubuntu.  Some of them are commercial so they cost a
> small amount depending on the synth.  Some of them sound better than
> espeak also.  However, none of the speech-dispatcher synths will give
> you the responsiveness of espeakup with espeak.  So you'll need to
> make a choice between quality of speech and response.  I myself use
> espeakup/espeak exclusively anymore and have become pretty comfortible
> with many of the espeak voices.  espeak has quite a few different
> accents you can play with to get a better idea of it's capability so
> you may find one you like or can tolerate.
>
> I'm really sorry to hear about the fire but am very glad to hear about
> the new family.  Good luck with your set-up and again welcome back.
>   Kirk
> -- 
> Kirk Reiser                The Computer Braille Facility
> e-mail: kirk@braille.uwo.ca        University of Western Ontario
> phone: (519) 661-3061
>

Re: Trying to come back?

[Joseph Norton]

Hi Glen:

I tried purchasing eloquence and got a key code, but, the install file
packages were corrupted.  Can you recommend a fix?

I tried contacting the one I urchased from but they never got back to me.


On 7/8/09, Glenn Ervin <GlennErvin@cableone.net> wrote:
> Hi Joseph,
> I like Ubuntu at:
> http://www.ubuntu.com/
> On the computers I actually install it, I use the eloquence synth, A K A,
> via voice.
> But it works well as a live CD.
> To get it to speak when you boot up, after the disk spins up, do the
> following:
> Press enter for English
> Then press F5 for Accessibility features
> Then press the letter 3 for synthetic speech
> Then press enter twice, and it will come up talking.
> HTH.
> Glenn
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joseph Norton" <joseph.norton@gmail.com>
> To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 3:29 PM
> Subject: Trying to come back?
>
>
> Hi All:
>
> It's been a rough year or two!--not all of it, but, enough!
>
> To briefly update:
>
> I went out of circulation because of a house fire suffered in December 2007.
> I lost my computers, most of my software, my 3 hardware synths and most of
> everything else.
>
> On the good side, I escaped alive and physically intact.
>
> I have also gotten married and have a beautiful wife and a 4-year-old step
> daughter.  So, again, not all bad news.
>
> We are in new quarters and I have acquired a donated HP computer which seems
> to be capable of running Linux.
>
> Unfortunately, I do not have access to a hardware synth.
>
> I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called "GRML".  I have
> successfully downloaded and installed it on my HD.  It does work, but, I
> probably need some assistance to do more with it--if this is even possible.
>
> Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with GRML?  In
> particular, can I get a better software synth than the robotic british one
> that ships with GRML?  Since it's based on Debian, can I install Debian
> packages over it?
>
> Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with only software
> synth available?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>
>
>
> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441)
> Database version: 6.12780
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>
>
>
>
>
> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441)
> Database version: 6.12780
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> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: Trying to come back?

[James & Nash]

Try Voxin. Tule Voxin into Google and you'll find the website.

TC

James
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Norton" <joseph.norton@gmail.com>
To: "Glenn Ervin" <GlennErvin@cableone.net>; "Speakup is a screen review 
system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 3:03 PM
Subject: Re: Trying to come back?


> Hi Glen:
>
> I tried purchasing eloquence and got a key code, but, the install file
> packages were corrupted.  Can you recommend a fix?
>
> I tried contacting the one I urchased from but they never got back to me.
>
>
> On 7/8/09, Glenn Ervin <GlennErvin@cableone.net> wrote:
>> Hi Joseph,
>> I like Ubuntu at:
>> http://www.ubuntu.com/
>> On the computers I actually install it, I use the eloquence synth, A K A,
>> via voice.
>> But it works well as a live CD.
>> To get it to speak when you boot up, after the disk spins up, do the
>> following:
>> Press enter for English
>> Then press F5 for Accessibility features
>> Then press the letter 3 for synthetic speech
>> Then press enter twice, and it will come up talking.
>> HTH.
>> Glenn
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Joseph Norton" <joseph.norton@gmail.com>
>> To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 3:29 PM
>> Subject: Trying to come back?
>>
>>
>> Hi All:
>>
>> It's been a rough year or two!--not all of it, but, enough!
>>
>> To briefly update:
>>
>> I went out of circulation because of a house fire suffered in December 
>> 2007.
>> I lost my computers, most of my software, my 3 hardware synths and most 
>> of
>> everything else.
>>
>> On the good side, I escaped alive and physically intact.
>>
>> I have also gotten married and have a beautiful wife and a 4-year-old 
>> step
>> daughter.  So, again, not all bad news.
>>
>> We are in new quarters and I have acquired a donated HP computer which 
>> seems
>> to be capable of running Linux.
>>
>> Unfortunately, I do not have access to a hardware synth.
>>
>> I saw on blindcooltech that there is a small distro called "GRML".  I 
>> have
>> successfully downloaded and installed it on my HD.  It does work, but, I
>> probably need some assistance to do more with it--if this is even 
>> possible.
>>
>> Can I install or build a more robust systtem starting with GRML?  In
>> particular, can I get a better software synth than the robotic british 
>> one
>> that ships with GRML?  Since it's based on Debian, can I install Debian
>> packages over it?
>>
>> Or, are there other alternatives for installing Linux with only software
>> synth available?
>>
>> Any help would be appreciated.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441)
>> Database version: 6.12780
>> http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441)
>> Database version: 6.12780
>> http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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