Karen Lewellen stammered and stuttered:
I cannot use Linux, no driver exists for my synthesis.
But yes, I just told you that the driver does exist and I have it working on several machines, including the Raspberry Pi. In fact, DECTalk has worked on Linux for many years, it has only been a year or two though that the source code has been available so that no one needs to spend a large amount of money to get the software. Perhaps there is some effort (a source code build that has been simplified into the ./configure && make && sudo make install method) needed to get it working, but it does in fact work. Unfortunately, due to the licensing still being recorded as proprietary, even though the developers of the voices themselves have published the source code, it would not be possible to ship Stormux with DECTalk speaking out of the box. This is however something that can be made for you at little to no cost, or you could also build the source code and install the software onto the MicroSD you intend to use in the Pi. In any case, this is not a non-existing driver that prevents you from using Linux, but rather an artificial limitation put in place by the copyright holders who have for all intents and purposes dropped off the face of the planet, or at least are not fully known to be able to get full permission from them to package it and ship it with distributions. Of course due to the fact that the source code is now published, it is very much possible to work around this limitation and get your favorite Linux speaking with a synthesizer that works for you on any machine.
Further, I asked specifically for Linux based e-readers that can incorporate dectalk speech, because I already know other synthesis that I have tried can cause the physical harm.
This is why I said that I have DECTalk speaking here. I use it not because others cause me physical harm, but because I have come to very much like the way it sounds for some reason. I guess for me it is just that it sounds less glued together and muddled than other synthesizers. In any case, you mentioned it specifically, so I told you that I have it working.
The idea of claiming that a device works for the blind as a whole, but providing only one means of input that 90% of the blind do not use, is frankly stunning.
Well, for one thing, I am blind, but I don't classify myself among the blind, meaning that I am human, not a number, a statistic, or heaven forbid, a disability, or as I prefer to call it, a disperception. Still, I never said anything about the braille input thing. As a matter of fact, I am the one who objected to the cost on the grounds that it is insane to take a $55 to $75 computer, stuff it into something that has only 7 buttons on it and turn around and set a price for the unit at 15 to 20 times the price of the original computer, especially when the input interface doesn't work for many people who are blind or visually impaired. I in fact mentioned the Raspberry Pi 400 specifically, as it is built into a standard typing keyboard that I would say at least 95% of us use on an everyday basis, and I only spent $150 or so to put it together into a fully functional screenless laptop computer that I can cary anywhere. Oh yes, and I have the lovely DECTalk speaking on it beautifully.
I am being specific about my needs to avoid exchanges like this where someone shares that since something works for them, it will work for me, when in fact it might likely put me in Hospital.
No one said that because something works for them that it would definitely work for you. You asked specific questions, and a couple of us gave specific answers to those questions, because since these things work for us, it is our hope that it may possibly help you. On the specific topic of DECtalk working and speaking on a Linux computer, despite the fact that your responses are coming across, at least to me, as unnecessarily unkind and even rude, I will volunteer to send you a link to download an image of Stormux set up with DECTalk speaking right out of the box if you should decide to purchase a Raspberry Pi 400 computer to run it. I have it working for me rather nicely, so it is my hope that maybe it will be able to help you as it helps me, or if not, at least it can help someone. ~Kyle -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to blinux-list+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxx.