Re: [orca-list] orca/linux new user questions

[Bill Cox <bill viasic com>]

I haven't tried Vinux, yet, but from what I've read, I would strongly
recommend it for a new Linux user.  If you don't know what
'./configure; make; sudo make install' means, then you'll probably
want a Linux distribution that is already pre-packaged with solid
voice accessibility built in.  So far as I know, Vinux is the only
current distribution that qualifies.

Vinux is based on Ubuntu, which is regarded by many (including me) as
the easiest to use Linux distribution out-of-the-box, although there
are several outstanding linux distributions now days that are very
easy to use.  Ubuntu is based on Debian, which has more installable
packages than any other, and Ubuntu inherits all this good work.
Open-Solaris sounds great, but my customers all use Linux, and I
prefer to be on a similar platform.

I'm personally using Ubuntu 9.04, the latest version.  Don't use this
version, as it has sound problems, some of which I have yet to fix on
my machine.  However, Vinux is based on Ubuntu 8.10, and is far more
stable with Orca.  As soon as Vinux ships a new version, I will
probably switch to it.  Hopefully, Vinux will get enough man power to
become the prefered Linux based accessible OS, but it's too early to
tell.  This is the first ever version of Vinux, so far as I know.
Vinux can be downloaded from:

    http://vinux.org.uk

I don't know if the Voxin voice is built into Vinux by default (if
not, please consider adding it!).  Adding the Voxin voice (same as the
old IBM ViaVoice) makes a huge difference, in my opinion.  This voice
seems far easier for me to understand at high speed than espeak.  It
can be bought for under $10 from:

    http://vinux.org.uk/

However, this voice may be causing some of my systems stability
problems with Orca.  I haven't figured out what's going wrong, yet.
If Vinux can pre-install voices like voxin, and programs like Orca,
emacspeak, and speakup, and get everything working properly, it would
really help make Linux a ton more accessible, in my opinion.

Another issue you'll face is choosing applications.  Orca works well
with the Gnome desktop.  Don't use KDE or any Linux distribution that
uses KDE instead of Gnome, since KDE dropped the ball on
accessibility.  Vinux and Ubuntu ship with Gnome enabled by default,
but other Linux distributions ship with KDE, including Kubuntu.
You'll want to use the default browser - FireFox, and the default
e-mail client - Evolution, since they seem to work well with Orca.

I don't know how I'd live without the gnome-terminal program, but I
guess some people manage to go through life without it.  Assuming you
have speakup installed, you switch to it with Ctrl-Alt-F1, and back to
Gnome with Ctrl-Alt-F7.  When using speakup, you type directly into a
bash terminal, just like gnome-terminal, except it's full-screen.  It
is a great environment for system administration.  However, if you
don't do system administration, you may not need it.

One problem you may find in Linux or Open Solaris is that Dragon
Naturally Speaking doesn't run there.  If you need speech recognition,
you may just want to stick with Windows.

Anyway, this is my opinion so far, based on just a couple weeks of
learning about Linux accessibility.

One other thing... Thanks guys for all the help!  The Orca and
blindprogramming lists have been extremely helpful.  I'm a
professional programmer, and I'm slowly losing the ability to read.  I
didn't know if this would end my career and make it hard for me to
support my family.  I can't tell you how relieved I am now that I've
found these groups.  They've made it very clear that yes, I will be
able to keep my job, and there are many people on these lists who are
very willing to offer great advice on just how to do it.  I don't even
have to switch to Windows!

Bill

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 2:30 AM, <w9fyi cox net> wrote:
> Hello,
> I am just beginning my travel down the road of Orca/linux use, and hoping to find some sense of dirrection 
> as to where to start.  Ideally i would like to replace my use of windows with Linux.  The bottom line is 
> I'm tired of being chained at the wallet to the screen-reader manufacturers and I'd like to be able to 
> brake the chains that bind me to microsoft.  Is this a realistic expectation?  If yes, then what flavor of 
> Linux/Linux is most compatible with  Orca, out of the box?  Again I do apologize in advance if this has 
> been covered.  Thanks in advance for any help
> ---- Msg sent via Cox.net- http://cox.net
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