Questions about programs under Linux.

[Thomas Ward]

Hi, great speech, Anne. Like Anne I learned Emacspeak before Speakup, and it
was steep, but not as bad as one might think.  Especially, now there is alot
more documentation on Emacspeak, and I find it quite helpful even as a old
Emacspeak hand.
I think what Anna is trying to do is get her business going, and she will
need the full power of Emacs to do that. That will require Emacspeak to
really use the calendar programs, addressbooks, spreadsheets, and Speakup
doesn't always do well with lisp extentions for Emacs.

----- Original Message -----
From: Ann Parsons <akp at eznet.net>
To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 7:02 PM
Subject: Re: Questions about programs under Linux.


> Hi all,
>
> I dunnow why I'm in this argument.  Hmmmm, yes, maybe I do.  I think
> it's because I like and use both Emacspeak and Speakup simultaneously
> all day everyday.    Let me see if I can explain Yvonne's position,
> and she can correct me if I'm wrong.
>
> If you start with Emacspeak, as I did, you are starting from the same
> position as a noncomputer user or a user who's experience has been
> limited.  Yes, the learning curve is steep, and you must learn Emacs
> while learning Emacspeak.  this is no different from the Windows user
> who wants to learn Windows, Window-eyes and MSWord at the same time.
> The position is really the same.  The task here in the main is to
> learn the editor, not to learn about the OS.  This is good if you want
> to be proficient in an editor and you have need of one that will
> accept add-on programs and use the same types of commands for all
> these add-ons, much as does learning all the Windows stuff carry over
> from appl to app.  Emacs is a fantastic editor, my personal opinion.
> Once learned, it is powerful and versatile and its desktop is handy
> and so on. For the new Linux user who has an immediate need for
> programs rather than knowledge of the OS, Emacspeak is perhaps the
> best route to go.  Is this what you mean, Yvonne?
>
> Now, Janina, speakup is fantastic too, but for a vastly different
> reason.  Speakup gives you access to the Linux OS, the underpinning
> for the software.  It allows you to get at the nitty-gritty behind the
> user-friendly interface and gaze at the guts of the OS, if you will.
> the reason Speakup is so simple to use is that it is a tool for
> getting at other programs and to the OS itself.  It is not an editor.
> Sure one can learn to run speakup in an hour, however, it won't do you
> a hoot in Hell if you don't have some idea as to what
> program/interface commands you want to access and why.  One is still
> faced with the task of learning application software.  Just a flea in
> your ear, I came to realize the true value of Speakup only recently
> when I started wanting to read about the OS and to understand what the
> heck was going on with it.  This interest came after, way after I had
> alreadly learned Emacs and Emacspeak.
>
> From reading the newbie's posts, it sounds to me as if the need is for
> application software rather than for training in the OS.  That may
> come in time, which is why I'm for installing both programs; Emacspeak
> and Speakup.  If I were going to give advice, or an opinion based on
> the newbie's post, I'd vote for installing Emacspeak first, then move
> on to Speakup and learn about the OS.
>
> Has that clarified anything ladies?  Please let's not fight here, it's
> so detros.  And besides, it confuses the people who are asking our
> advice.
>
> Ann P.
>
> --
> Ann K. Parsons
> email:  akp at eznet.net ICQ Number:  33006854
> WEB SITE:  http://home.eznet.net/~akp
> "All that is gold does not glitter.  Not all those who wander are lost."
JRRT
>
>
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