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HellO!
If you install grml which i think i will.
Can you run brltty or yascr on that distro?
A/nders.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 3:44
PM
Subject: Re: Hello from a new member, and
some questions
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allison Mervis"
<allisonfm@xxxxxxxxx>
To:
<blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent:
Friday, May 25, 2007 8:21 PM
Subject: Hello from a new member, and some
questions
> Hi all!
> My name is Allison, and I am very
new to the world of Linux. I read what
> seemed like the portions of
the FAQ which pertain to my situation, but I
> still have some
questions.
> Right now, I'm using an Acer laptop running Windows XP home
SP2. What I
> would like to do is burn an image of a version of Linux
bundled with a
> Screen reader onto A CD, (I think the correct term is
live CD) insert it
> into the drive, restart my computer, and have
Linux boot up talking. I do
> not own a hardware synth, and I
understand that this limits my options. I
> then want to be able to
restart the computer, and tell it to boot back up
> in windows. Is such
a thing possible? Thanks!
Sorry it took me so long to respond but I was
on vacation.
Yes, a CD that you can boot your computer from without
effecting the
operating system on your hard drive is called a live
CD.
My opinion is that you should start with grml. It's
pronounced gremel. You
can download it from www.grml.org. Oralux would also be a good
choice. In
some ways oralux is easier to use than grml but in some ways
it's harder. If
you start with oralux, you should be able to get speech
immediately. But
after it finishes booting, you'll be in emacs which has
an extremely high
learning curve. With grml, it's just a bit more
difficult to get speech
started but once you get it started, you're just
at a linux shell prompt.
And then anything you do from a tutorial on
learning linux should work. If
you start with oralux, you'd have to
learn at least a little about emacs
before you can start learning about
linux.
Another thing to consider is what your goal is. Are you learning
linux
because you're a computer professional? If so, that would make a
difference
as to how I think you should proceed. I think it is an
extremely good
career move if you're blind to learn linux. I don't think
I'd be employed if
I didn't know linux. But, linux isn't easy to
learn.
Another point to consider is your hardware. You mentioned that
you have an
Acer computer. Do you know the amount of memory and the speed
of the CPU?
Someone else mentioned ubuntu. This is a live CD that runs a
graphical user
interface. As a result, it has some minimal hardware
requirements. I've
found that in order to get acceptable performance, you
need at least 256 Mb
of RAM and a 1.8 Ghz processor. A computer that
is 4 years old or newer
should work. It might work on an older computer
but if you are used to JAWS
you will be disappointed.
The ubuntu CD
would have the additional disadvantage in that you will have
to learn how
to use the graphical user interface as well as the screen
reader.
TThe last point to consider about the ubuntu CD is
that the screen reader
it uses, called orca, is still under development.
Oralux uses something
called emacspeak which is very stable and grml uses
something called speakup
which is also very stable. I am only guessing but
I really think that the
vast majority of blind professionals use
speakup.
PS: You can use speakup with the live oralux CD. I've never
tried it though.
I'm not sure what advantage that would have over using
grml.
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