I hate amen posts, but...umm...never mind. I'm wholely behind Kirk. I've been using Speakup now for about four years (can you believe?) and think it's great! If you don't like the direction it's going or want something else added, improved, or changed, well...this is Linux, man! This is the GNU system and the GPL! What the heck do you think this is, proprietary software? Pitch in and help change it if you don't like it...that's why the GPL incorporates the essential freedoms of free software. If you have the know-how, pitch in and help make it happen. If you don't have the know-how, use something else that you like better. (Even if you do have the know-how, use something else that works better for you.) If you don't like Speakup, change it yourself, help to affect change, or use something else. This "the developers haven't seen the light" business is crap. ... Kirk has seen the light enough to make Speakup free software and to make it damned useful at that. You want software speech to come sooner? You want something that'll load after everything else and get your system talking some other way? Then by gods, help make it happen. That's why we're here, for chrissake! I'll continue to be a happy Speakup user. -- Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3 | "And if the ground yawned, Phone: (814) 455-7333 | I'd step to the side and say, Email: davros@ycardz.com | "Hey ground! I'm nobody's lunch!" http://www.ycardz.com/ | --Eddie From Ohio