Which hardware synthesizer to buy?

[Chris Brannon]

William Hubbs wrote:
> The question about whether we could do kernel hacking with speakup is an
> interesting question.  There are things like qemu or user-mode linux,
> but I haven't worked with them so  I can't really comment about them.
> Could we use something like that?

I haven't had any luck with qemu or virtual box.
I don't run any sort of X environment over here, and they want it.
I do use the bochs emulator.  It has a "term" output mode,
which works well with a text console.
Bochs can run Linux, but it takes a long time to boot with the average live CD.
This emulator is a good fit for people who are experimenting with small
operating systems.  Want to hack on your very own toy kernel?  Bochs is
definitely the ticket.

User-mode Linux works beautifully.  Grab a kernel source tree, and go through
the usual compilation process, remembering to specify ARCH=um
for all of the invocations of the make command.
You'll need a filesystem to use with it.  I have one that contains a 
minimal ArchLinux installation.  User-mode Linux can use the virtual consoles
of the host, so it is well-suited to Speakup.

Another possibility for kernel hacking is that old stand-by, the serial
console.

-- Chris