-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: RIPEMD160 Keeping the information up to date is crucial here. I think I like the wiki idea once people learn how to use it, it might be a lot easier to keep stuff current. I also agree that a snapshot should be made available frequently. With so many distros not including a speakup-patched kernel, this may be the next best alternative and if somebody has to go to git to pull down an experimental version of speakup, it could be a real turn-off. Again, many new-comers probably haven't a clue about compiling kernels yet and they want a talking Linux to try out. I think Bill Acker has done a commendable job at keeping up with the speakup-modified kernels for the Fedora distributions. I also commend Pat and the Slackware folks for keeping speakup in their kernels also. Since I'm a Slackware user, I should keep more involved with them to be sure it stays that way. On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 05:53:44AM -0700, Tony Baechler wrote: > Hi, > > One thing that I think is in desperate need of being addressed is making > other developers aware that Speakup exists, greatly increases > accessibility, and can easily be installed into a production kernel. I > have two specific reasons for saying this. First, there are very few > distros which include Speakup as part of their official kernel and > installer images. Unless I'm mistaken, Debian doesn't include it > officially now and the unofficial install image isn't current. I would > strongly recommend against anyone using the unofficial Etch kernel with > Speakup because it hasn't been updated since the release of Etch and has > known security flaws that aren't fixed. Most of the smaller and lesser > known distros don't include Speakup either even though there is no good > reason not to include it. I have thought about using various > specialized distros designed to replace hardware routers and firewalls > but I'm not aware of any that include Speakup. Obviously the point > would be to keep the distro small but it could still be built into the > kernel. > > The second reason may be of less interest to people here but I think > it's important just the same. That is to make commercial projects that > are based on the Linux kernel also aware of Speakup. Specifically, I'm > working with a company that makes backup imaging software for DOS, > Windows, and Linux. It is possible but difficult to use the DOS version > with a screen reader. I suggested that they could build Speakup into > the Linux version and it would be accessible out of the box. They > seemed interested but I think the project is stalled because the site is > not current. I didn't know at the time, but apparently Speakup had > already switched to git and there was no mention of that in the old CVS > repository. Apparently they found the new git repo but I don't know how > because I wasn't aware of it until Kirk posted the url here. It makes > it difficult to push for better accessibility when the site is very old > and the project looks abandoned. While I'm here, I would also like to > suggest putting a link to the most current release (maybe a snapshot > made nightly from git?) and the most recent stable release right on the > home page. Many people, especially the developers described above, > don't have time to browse through a site just to find a download link. > Since most people consider it a favor to include any kind of > accessibility in their particular distro's kernel, they really don't > understand what Speakup is except that it's supposed to help the blind. > Maybe a mp3 demo of someone using Speakup for daily tasks would be good. > > Dawes, Stephen wrote: > > What do you want to see in a revitalized Web site? > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup - -- HolmesGrown Solutions The best solutions for the best price! http://holmesgrown.ld.net/ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFIDe/XWSjv55S0LfERA+2bAKDnT9zsBdBTNDdHfXLxB3hdlMeAeQCfVGv5 C48oBD+t4BmZGIPbNcoHc10= =syhr -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
