Solaris 10 released, with accessibility built-in! Also FreeTTS 1.2 released. (fwd)

[Kenny Hitt]

Hi.  I think you miss my point.

Even if the license allows for patches like speakup, it won't happen any
time soon, if at all.  Unlike user space programs, kernel patches are
specific to the kernel they patch.  To add speakup to a Solaris kernel,
you will need to know the details of how the kernel works and write the
patches from scratch.  When I say "details of how the kernel works", I
don't just mean in theory.  You will have to understand the source code
very well before you can start.  Kirk has spent close to 7 years keeping
up with the Linux kernel to get the speakup you use today.  Unless you
can find a Solaris kernel developer with the same modifation as Kirk to
get access to the system, it isn't going to happen.

Hope this helps.
          Kenny
	  

On Fri, Feb 25, 2005 at 01:18:38PM -0500, Janina Sajka wrote:
> I haven't checked the new Solaris license. Admitedly, that's the
> question for Speakup.
> 
> But, there is definitely a new license for Solaris.
> 
> And, you're right. Brltty is already included. I know that! Sorry.
> <grin>
> 
> 			Janina
> 
> Kenny Hitt writes:
> > Hi.  I'm not a developer, so my info is probably not complete.
> > Hopefully, developers of Brltty and Yasr can jump in and correct me.
> > 
> > Since Brltty isn't in the kernel, it might already work on Solaris.  The
> > same is true for Yasr.
> > 
> > Speakup is a completely different animal.  Even if the license allows
> > it, it isn't likely you will see speakup in Solaris any time soon.  I
> > believe the license for the Freebsd kernel would allow speakup, but
> > there isn't speakup patches for it yet.  The big reason is it will take
> > a lot of time and effort to create the speakup kernel patches for
> > Freebsd.  So far, no developer has been willing to make the commitment of
> > time and effort to write such patches.  Developers of Yasr and Brltty
> > please don't take my next statement the wrong way, but writing kernel
> > patches is more challenging than writing user space screen readers.
> > Programs running in user space can do things that just aren't a good
> > idea in the kernel.  One example is any task that takes a large amount
> > of time.  Time used by a screen reader in kernel space is time lost to
> > the whole system, while time used by a user space screen reader only
> > effects the performance of the screen reader.
> > 
> > Hope this helps.
> >           Kenny
> > 	  
> > On Fri, Feb 25, 2005 at 10:37:55AM -0500, Janina Sajka wrote:
> > > I wonder if the new, "open," license of Solaris will now allow us to put
> > > Speakup and/or Brltty into the Solaris kernel? That would certainly lead
> > > the way to an accessible installation for blind users. As you point out,
> > > Michael, that's a critical componant for community acceptance.