Speakup with Fedora or Redhat

Wed Jan 6 09:44:38 EST 2010

I only rarely use speakup, as I can still read large fonts, so I'm
using Gnome most of the time.  However, speakup comes up talking by
default in all the Vinux distributions with espeakup.  The current
version, Vinux 2.0, is based on Debian, and has excellent speech
performance.  No need to recompile the kernel.  The main drawback is
it doesn't read boot messages, so if it doesn't start talking on the
console login prompt, you're in real trouble.

I'm building speakup support into an upcoming release of Vinux/Ubuntu
Lucid.  I use it with the voxin speech synthesizer, which not only
sounds like Eloquence, it is Eloquence!  Almost, anyway.  It's
actually a slightly outdated version of Eloquence.  Still, I love it.
There's a small charge - $5 or $6 US, but the guys selling it at
voxin.oralux.org are doing this at-cost, with no profit.

I would like the upcoming release of Vinux/Ubuntu Lucid to be the best
distro ever for the blind/VI, which means solid speakup support is a
must.  I've got it working very well with speechd-up,
speechd-dispatcher, voxin, and pulseaudio, but it doesn't start
talking until the login prompt.  Is this OK, or do I need to compile
speakup into the kernel?

Thanks,
Bill

On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 8:40 AM, Darragh Ó Héiligh
<lists at digitaldarragh.com> wrote:
> 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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>> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
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>>
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