Sonar GNU/Linux merges with Vinux

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Well, the serial terminal is also built into the kernel.  you're just 
depending a a different set of maintainers. A serial terminal is no 
where near as usable as speakup is at boot time. You talk about a serial 
terminal needing only another machine like an RP but that's not entirely 
true. You need a null modem cable and you need a terminal emulator 
configured on the other machine. You need to make sure you have the 
right baud rate, etcetra. In an emergency, that's a hassle.


And speakup is not obsolete.  It's under active development.  I am going 
to say there has been over 100 messages on the speakup list from the 
developers in the month of April. There have been so many that I haven't 
even seen exactly what fixes they are making.


-- John Heim








On 04/24/2017 10:45 AM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
> Boot messages can be sent out via a serial console, without the help 
> of a screen reader locked into the kernel, where it is harder to fix 
> bugs and harder to keep it updated, as the whole kernel has to be 
> updated along with it. I know the serial console works, as I have a 
> uart header on my computer with a cable that allows me to debug any 
> problems I find in boot messages, and even in boot loader messages 
> that are shown prior to "starting kernel ...", from any other machine 
> that has a USB port. And there is yet another thing. I can use any 
> computer with a USB port and fully interact with the machine where I 
> need to see its boot messages, which is something I cannot do with 
> Speakup on any kernel as of now, and I don't have to purchase a very 
> expensive and quite obsolete hardware speech synthesizer to see my 
> kernel and boot loader messages either, as if I have no other machine 
> I can use to access boot messages, a $35 Raspberry Pi or even a $15 
> Orange Pi will do quite nicely.
>
> Frankly, everything that Speakup can possibly do can be done by any 
> number of other applications and even any number of other kernels. 
> Most users only use software speech for daily tasks, and Fenrir covers 
> that. Others need to see boot messages occasionally, and a serial 
> console is best for that. It would seem now that Speakup is pretty 
> much obsolete, so even if it was to find its way into the stable 
> kernel tree tomorrow, it would be far too little too late for me, as I 
> have already found better solutions.
> ~Kyle
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blinux-list mailing list
> Blinux-list at redhat.com
> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list