Hi folks. Just figured I would write a quick note to introduce myself to this group since I subscribed to this listserve last night. If you've read this far you know that I'm Ed Barnes. I live in Newfoundland in Canada and am enroled in the Computer Support Specialist Program through College Of The North Atlantic. I am extremely interested in Linux and all that it offers as free software with emphasis on its functions as a viable networking operating system which is free that requires very little as compared with Windows NT/2000 in regard to resources to run. I feel that the mainstream for the most part, I.E., colleges, North Atlantic included fails when it comes to giving Linux and Unix a fair shake as a nos and it doesn't adequately prepare students for the posibility of working in Linux/Unix system admin so I feel that diving in feet first is the best way to acquire these skills. My interest in the speakup project is from an user point of view as I myself am totally blind so I will be compiling it into whatever kernel I decide to install on my machine. I will address these questions in subsequent e-mail messages as due to my IT training I think I have a decent understanding of what I need to do and how I will get there so to speak. Nevertheless, I'll probably seek out some opinions along the way and some good old advice from those who have more direct experience with Linux, in particular with the admin side of things. Nevertheless, for now I am going to jet, I will write my questions and/or opinions in separate e-mails whose subject lines more accurately reflect what I speak of. Talk to all again soon. Warm regards to all. Ed Barnes ed.barnes at janus.northatlantic.nf.caa or ebarnes at superweb.ca