Announcing ZipSpeak: A Talking Mini-Distribution of Linux Introduction: ZipSpeak is a talking mini-distribution of Linux for blind and visually impaired people, based on version 7.0 of the ZipSlack distribution and version 0.08 of the Speakup screen reader. ZipSpeak is designed to be easily installed on an existing MS-DOS or Windows system, so that the user can start using a talking Linux system with a minimum of difficulty. The standard version of ZipSpeak consists of a ZIP file which contains the main distribution; a set of Linux kernels which have Speakup built in, one for each supported speech synthesizer; a set of boot disk images for these kernels, along with an image that doesn't include Speakup; a utility for making boot disks from these images; and some documentation. There are also customized versions of ZipSpeak in which the appropriate kernel for a specific speech synthesizer is included in the ZIP file, and the boot disk for that synthesizer is the only included talking boot disk. What You Need to Use ZipSpeak: You need a PC with an Intel 80386 processor or better, with at least four megabytes of RAM, though more RAM is certainly recommended. (For more information about running ZipSpeak with four megabytes of RAM, see the fourmeg.README file in the ZipSpeak distribution.) ZipSpeak requires at least 100 megabytes of hard disk space, though more is recommended. You also need one of the following hardware speech synthesizers: Accent-PC, Accent-SA, DoubleTalk-PC, DoubleTalk-LT, or Speakout, or any synthesizer that is compatible with one of these. Finally, you need a system running MS-DOS or any version of Windows, though Windows NT with the NTFS file system will not work. What You Do Not Need to Use ZipSpeak: You do not need to back up, repartition, or reformat your hard disk to run ZipSpeak; it will install on your current DOS or Windows system (except for Windows NT with NTFS). You do not need a sighted person to help you with the installation or startup of the system; you can do it all independently with speech feedback. Where to Get ZipSpeak: The standard version is available at: ftp://ftp.braille.uwo.ca/pub/speakup/disks/slackware/zipspeak/ A customized version for any supported synthesizer is available on request from me and will probably also be available on CD-ROM in the near future. For Further Information: ZipSpeak is based on ZipSlack, which is a simplified version of the larger Slackware Linux distribution, created and maintained by Patrick Volkerding. To find out more about Slackware, check out its Web site at: http://www.slackware.com/ ZipSpeak uses the Speakup screen reader, written by Kirk Reiser and Andy Berdan, to provide speech feedback under Linux. Speakup is built into the Linux kernel itself, so that everything on the console from boot-up to shutdown is spoken. Speakup will be especially familiar to people who use or have used the Automatic Screen Access Program (ASAP) from MicroTalk under MS-DOS. To find out more about Speakup, check out its Web site at: http://www.braille.uwo.ca/speakup/ Finally, new blind users of Linux can join the blinux-newbie mailing list to ask questions and discuss any issues related to Linux use by blind people. More experienced Linux users are also welcome to join and help out. To join, send a blank message to: blinux-newbie-subscribe at egroups.com Final Comments: I am posting this announcement to the speakup, blinux, and blinux-newbie lists, and to Patrick Volkerding, the maintainer of Slackware. Feel free to pass on this announcement to any other people or mailing lists that might be interested. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email them to me. Thanks to Mark Senk in Pittsburgh for motivating me to work on this project and making suggestions along the way, and to the creators of ZipSlack and Speakup for making ZipSpeak possible. -- Matt Campbell <mattcamp at crosswinds.net> Web site: http://www.crosswinds.net/~mattcamp/ ICQ #: 33005941
