gentoo dropping speakup support

[Travis Siegel]

I have to strongly disagree here as relates to bootable messages.
Speakup makes linux the *only* os where blind users can see the boot  
up as it happens.  Even dos can't do that, and I have more than once  
managed to fix a machine with linux because of the speakup capability  
to speak *all* bootup messages.  Dumping them to a logfile, booting  
with a live cd, then reading the log may work for users who are  
advanced enough to figure it out, (or are lucky enough to have simple  
enough configurations this can be done) but by doing so, you're  
basically saying that those who want to troubleshoot their own boxes  
w/o sighted assistance are sol.
And, if the hd is bad, then your logging isn't going to work anyhow.   
Not to mention, this isn't a process that can be done w/o sighted  
assistance.
While I'm more of a slackware user than anything else, having speakup  
work out of the box is something I've enjoyed almost since speakup  
was released, and I for one would be extremely sorry (not to mention  
irritated at the lack of access it would mean) to have it removed  
into user space.  There's already programs for user space access  
(yasr anyone) and while those work for normal usage, they aren't  
usable for troubleshooting and/or fixing a broken machine.  I've been  
doing my own technical support since 1990 (or thereabouts) and having  
this capability now removed would be the equivalent of moving to  
vista before any screen readers were specifically targeted to it.   
Sure, you could use the system, but you're not going to get anywhere  
near the full use out of your system you'd otherwise get.

I don't have a 64-bit machine, so can't help fix this problem, nor  
are my C skills up to the task (likely) but I'd strongly urge those  
with the capability, to *not* abandon speakup working as it does now.
I will of course help where I can, but yanking it entirely out of the  
boot sequence is just asking for additional problems.
Don't do it.