thinkpenguin.com knows nothing about braille displays so be specific when requesting the kind of ports you need on anything you buy from them. The blinux-list may be able to help with braille display questions or the slint list though the slint list is for a specific distribution of linux. Hoyem wrote: > Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2020 13:16:51 > From: Tait Hoyem <tait@xxxxxxxxx> > To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux. <speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Subject: Questions More General Than Speakup > > Hello Speakup members, > > I have a few questions about braille displays, what they run, and some other miscellaneous questions related to them. > > When looking into options for a Linux-based notetaker, I was directed towards this project. I'm not 100% sure this is the right place or not, but would love to hear from you guys. > > As part of a personal side project, I am interested in getting a Linux (or *BSD) system running on a notetaker. Are there any commercial options for this? > Commercial options are good for stability, but I'm also interested in what's inside these things? > What kind of hardware do these systems run these days? ARM, Intel? > If so, can I just install a standard Linux to it and have something running? Or will some obscure drivers be needed to make sure it is compatible with this notetaker or that notetaker? > Are they generally running on Windows? Or some modified Linux/BSD variant to accommodate their users? > Also, do they have some kind of video out for optional viewing of what's being written? Or is that not needed because they are meant specifically for very visually impaired people? > > The last time I used one was back in like 2010, so from what I remember they were very limited in usage. This was also before smartphones and widespread accessibility in mainstream operating systems like Windows and Mac without expensive software packages. > > Has the smartphone revolution caused a disturbance in the notetaker market? > If so, what is it being replaced with? Just a phone with accessibility turned on? Or are there dongled, adapters, specialized cases or any of these things to add on to the basic hardware? > > I apologize for all the questions in a haphazard format, here they are in list form: > 1. Are there commercial Linux based notetakers? > 2. What kind of hardware is running on notetakers these days? > 3. Could you install Linux on any old notetaker and have it work, or is there more involved? > 3.5 Is there a video out on alot of these devices so if something goes wrong (bum drivers, etc.) I can fix it? > 4. Are notetakers even really used anymore given the advance of smartphones? > 4.1 What accessories or lack-thereof are visually impaired people using with their phones, if there is a move away from the more traditional notetaker? > 5. Are any of you aware of any *BSD project dealing with braille/speech output specifically? > > Thanks for the work y'all have put into speakup! > On the off chance that notetakers are being phased out, run Windows anyway, don't have a video out, and run specialized CPUs incompatible with major versions of Linux?then I may need more time at the drawing board. > > I want to help command-line tech to be accessible by more people, if that means helping you guys with the speakup project: I'm in! If it means looking more towards BSD as you guys have this covered: I'll do that. > I want to help. With more information I can decide where to go. > > Thanks in advance for reading the slightly off-topic ramble and answering any questions you might have answers to. > > ?Tait Hoyem > Website: https://tait.tech > Email: tait@xxxxxxxxx > > "Live until you die; learn until you die." > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://linux-speakup.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/speakup > -- _______________________________________________ Speakup mailing list Speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://linux-speakup.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/speakup
