Speakup with Fedora or Redhat

[Darragh Ó Héiligh]

Tim,

Answers to your questions are below:

1.  If I go with Redhat as opposed to Fedora, which version of Redhat should
I use.  Will speakup be compiled into this kernel or does it need to be done
manually.  If it needs to be done manually is documentation available for
this process?

As far as I am aware, Speakup was only supplied with only one Red hat
kernel.  It is no longer part of the stock kernel for Red hat.
Installation instructions should be available somewhere.
If you have problems finding instructions or you'd like some
suggestions / help with the process, give me a shout.


2.  If there really isn't much difference between Fedora and Redhat, which
version of Fedora should I use?  Is there a modified speakup distribution
for Fedora 12?  If not,  can speakup be compiled into the Fedora 12 kernel?

What version and flavour of Linux that you choose depends on what you
want to do with it.  Of course, it also depends on how much support
you can get from the community. Especially when you are just starting
out with it. For that reason alone, I would suggest that you go with
Fedora.

Fedora 12 does not yet have a speakup modified version available via
speakup-modified.org for some reason.  However, there are no reasons
that I am aware of why you shouldn't be able to compile speakup into
the kernel.  I have Fedora 12 on a box at home.  I might try to get
some time to do this shortly and report back.  If I'm successful, I'll
place the audio recording of the process to www.lalrecordings.com so
that others can follow.

The installation process for installing speakup into the kernel is
reasonably similar for most versions and distributions.  1... download
and install dependencies, 2.  download the speakup source, 3. install
any dependencies for your software synthesizer, 4.  use make
cloneconfig if your distribution supports it.  If not, copy the config
file from ....... aah! I cant remember where that is stored.  5.  use
make menuconfig to add speakup and the synthesizer module as a module
as part of the kernel or a loadable module that can be loaded in the
application space. finally, use the commands for preparing and
compiling the new kernel. That's a really summarised process but it
will give you an idea what is involved.


3.  I will need to use a software based synthesizer.  I believe TTSync is
the one closest to Eloquence, which I use on windows.  Will TTSync work with
the latest versions of speakup on Fedora and Redhat?  Since it is software
based, I'm assuming that TTSync won't speak from boot up?  If not, can I use
an alternative during boot up and then switch to TTSync?

There's a bit to answer there...
Yes.  you can have two synthes available to you. just compile them as
loadable modules.
TTSynth will almost definitly work for you, you'll just need to spend
time finding and installing the dependencies... and in some cases, the
dependencies of the dependencies.  It can be messy but worth it if
your set on using that synthesizer.
You are right that hardware synthesizers are your only option for
reading boot messages in realtime. There is a list of synthesizers in
the Linux install howto on www.speakupmodified.org I personally use an
apollo but I hate it.

Hope this answers your questions.

Oh, sorry for not answering your mail a few weeks ago that you sent
directly. To answer your question, the only talking boot loader that I
am currently aware of is the one available during the installation of
OpenSuSE.  I know there were a lot of plans in that community to
extend the functionality but due to various priorities getting in the
way, I haven't followed the work on this.  I'd suggest talking to
Brian, one of the main men in the OpenSuSE accessibility movement.



If this is concerning you though, there are ways of making the
navigation of the boot screen a bit easier by making modifications to
the menu.list


On 06/01/2010, Tim Culhane <tim.culhane at criticalpath.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm in the process of getting a new PC in work.  I'm going to be installing
> a partitioned drive with linux on one of the partitions.
>
> I work as a software engineer and many of the products I work with run on
> Linux,  and the preferred  flavour is Redhat Enterprise Server.
>
> AsI'm blind I want to use a flavour of linux which works with speakup on my
> desk top.
>
> I know that speakup works with Fedora  and that Fedora is based on Redhat.
> There appears to be a modified speakup distribution of Fedora 9 available.
>
> So,  I've the following questions:
>
> 1.  If I go with Redhat as opposed to Fedora, which version of Redhat should
> I use.  Will speakup be compiled into this kernel or does it need to be done
> manually.  If it needs to be done manually is documentation available for
> this process?
>
> 2.  If there really isn't much difference between Fedora and Redhat, which
> version of Fedora should I use?  Is there a modified speakup distribution
> for Fedora 12?  If not,  can speakup be compiled into the Fedora 12 kernel?
> Is there documentation?
>
> 3.  I will need to use a software based synthesizer.  I believe TTSync is
> the one closest to Eloquence, which I use on windows.  Will TTSync work with
> the latest versions of speakup on Fedora and Redhat?  Since it is software
> based, I'm assuming that TTSync won't speak from boot up?  If not, can I use
> an alternative during boot up and then switch to TTSync?
>
> Many thanks for any assistance you can give,
>
> Regards,
>
> Tim
>
> -------------------------
> Tim Culhane,
> Critical Path Ireland,
> 42-47 Lower Mount Street,
> Dublin 2.
> Direct line: 353-1-2415107
> phone: 353-1-2415000
>
> Tim.culhane at criticalpath.net
> http://www.criticalpath.net
>
> Critical Path
> a global leader in digital communications
> ------------------------
>
>
>
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