Questions about setting up a new computer

Tue Jul 19 17:45:33 UTC 2016

Hi, John:

So, you should be able to put a very nice machine together along the
lines I suggested in a previous message on this thread. For the
BlueTooth support, you're probably using that as one of your
requirements for your mother board. Of course, you'll want to check that
the parts on that mb have reliable Linux drivers. That kind of
information is generally available on the net, and your local shop there
in Maddison should know all about how to help you with that.

Keep us informed!

Janina

John J. Boyer writes:
> Hi Janina,
> 
> I set up tmpfs as Sam suggested. I'm thinking of a desktop tower with a 
> bluetooth adapter so i can use my Focus 40 blue.
> 
> Which desktop environment do you sugest? I'm not good with GUIs, that's 
> why I'm in command-line only. I'm trying to develop my GUI skills on 
> Windows, since there is more help available for that than for anything 
> else. I tried Vinux 4 with the Unity desktop, but I found it even more 
> counterintuitive than Windows. Another problem was that the Grade 2 
> support in Orca wasn't very good at the time.
> 
> I'll certainly look into Emperor Linux.
> 
> Thanks,
> John
> 
> On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 08:47:38PM -0400, Janina Sajka wrote:
> > Hi, John:
> > 
> > You've already gotten excellent advice on list about modern Linux
> > installations, so I'm not going to repeat all that. Suffice it to say
> > that what you're trying to achieve is pretty much the default install
> > these days, i.e. the tmpfs in ram, etc., etc.
> > 
> > My question to you is what kind of machine? Are we talking about an
> > office tower here? Or is this going to be a laptop?
> > 
> > If the former--then there's lots to talk about. But, if it's a laptop, I
> > strongly suggest you consider getting it from an outfit like Emperor
> > Linux:
> > 
> > http://www.emperorlinux.com/
> > 
> > You'll pay a bit more for the machine than you would pay for the same
> > model elsewhere, but it will have Linux installed to your
> > specifications, and you'll have their support as you learn to use your
> > new machine. That's worth the price difference, imo.
> > 
> > PS: Go ahead and have them install everything you need to run the
> > graphical desktop with Orca's braille support, but tell them you want
> > the console to be your default boot environment. That's a very simple
> > systemctl command these days, and leaves you with all the flexibility
> > you can ever want, i.e. you can start the gui with a startx command
> > whenever you do want to run Firefox, or something else on the desktop.
> > 
> > Janina
> > 
> > John J. Boyer writes:
> > > I've more or less decided to replacer my ten-year-old Linux machine. It 
> > > is giving error messages intermittently. Most of them are about sector 
> > > errors, but others seem to have nothing to do with the hard drive. It 
> > > may be more and more troublesome, even if the hard drive is replaced. 
> > > Besides, it would be nice to get more up-to-date hardware.
> > > 
> > > I'm thinking of getting 32 GB of ram. 8 GB will be for normal use. The 
> > > other 24 GB will be in a ramdisk. Do I need a paging file? 8 GB of 
> > > available ram should be more than enough. The paging file on my present 
> > > machine always shows 0 usage, even with only 4 GB of ram. How do I avoid 
> > > setting up a paging file during installation? I'm using Debian Jessie.
> > > 
> > > How do i set up the ramdisk? I want to assign the temp directory to it. 
> > > It might be nice if the bin, sbin and usr directories were loaded onto 
> > > it at boot-up.
> > > 
> > > Thanks,
> > > John
> > > 
> > > -- 
> > > John J. Boyer; President,
> > > AbilitiesSoft, Inc.
> > > Email: john.boyer at abilitiessoft.org
> > > Website: http://www.abilitiessoft.org
> > > Status: 501(C)(3) Nonprofit
> > > Location: Madison, Wisconsin USA
> > > Mission: To develop softwares and provide STEM services for people with 
> > >          disabilities which are available at no cost.
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Blinux-list mailing list
> > > Blinux-list at redhat.com
> > > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
> > 
> > -- 
> > 
> > Janina Sajka,	Phone:	+1.443.300.2200
> > 			sip:janina at asterisk.rednote.net
> > 		Email:	janina at rednote.net
> > 
> > Linux Foundation Fellow
> > Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:	http://a11y.org
> > 
> > The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
> > Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures	http://www.w3.org/wai/apa
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Blinux-list mailing list
> > Blinux-list at redhat.com
> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
> 
> -- 
> John J. Boyer; President,
> AbilitiesSoft, Inc.
> Email: john.boyer at abilitiessoft.org
> Website: http://www.abilitiessoft.org
> Status: 501(C)(3) Nonprofit
> Location: Madison, Wisconsin USA
> Mission: To develop softwares and provide STEM services for people with 
>          disabilities which are available at no cost.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Blinux-list mailing list
> Blinux-list at redhat.com
> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list

-- 

Janina Sajka,	Phone:	+1.443.300.2200
			sip:janina at asterisk.rednote.net
		Email:	janina at rednote.net

Linux Foundation Fellow
Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:	http://a11y.org

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures	http://www.w3.org/wai/apa