FYI - Command Line Programs for the Blind

Thu Apr 14 00:53:32 UTC 2022

This is a fine post.
Speaking personally as someone who has tried, and failed to find a Linux 
setup for myself, even while using what  my shell services provided is 
this.
Quality Speech, which I understand differs for everyone, but that speech 
or choices for it, at the outset.
If you are new to  Linux, also fighting your source of synthesis, and the 
screen reader on top of that.. feeling appreciative of Linux at all gets 
harder.
I would admit too that detailed conversations like this simply can 
fortify, at least for some, how much  Linux is a programmers game because 
of all the tiny details involved.
When I still did adaptive technology work, I would first ask a customer 
what the most want their computer to do for them.
then focusing on their feeling powerful about what matters  then excited 
about how they can grow.
Such was how I was introduced to a computer in 1988,  with some skills 
I learned back then still a part of my daily life.
Just thoughts,
Karen

On Wed, 13 Apr 2022, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:

> These debates can be both informative and useful for those new to linux
>>  who haven't made their choices yet.
>
>
> Unfortunately I would say probably not. Usually in situations like this, once 
> someone trying to make a choice to come to Linux or to stay where they are 
> sees all this get lost in a shell and hand-edit config file kind of stuff, 
> they usually run away before they get stuck in the quicksand. Or worse, they 
> end up tossing the virtual machine someone told them to try into the recycle 
> bin because it is just too hard to use. Of course this also applies when new 
> users are trying to find out what applications are available for this or that 
> and they are told of EMACS, Mutt, Vim and the finer points of what people 
> affectionately call "links the chain" and "lynx the cat" vs w3m with all 
> their quirks, or having to learn how to get startx to play nice so that they 
> can run a more capable browser like the Firefox, Google Chrome or Brave that 
> they are used to using, that is not only more comfortable, but is necessary 
> on today's web, when all they had to do was to run a live iso of a ready-made 
> distribution with a fairly modern desktop on it and they could be right at 
> home in minutes. If someone asks me about this Linux thing they heard about, 
> I like to tell them about what they can have up and running and feel fairly 
> comfortable using in about 30 minutes or less, and if they like that, great. 
> Then if they want to learn more about the power user stuff they can do, then 
> and only then would I even mention a terminal, a shell or terminal 
> applications. I probably still wouldn't say too much about EMACS or Mutt 
> other than their availability though, since even though I've been using 
> various Linux distros for almost 20 years, started of all things on 
> Slackware, and even ran a home web and email server fairly early on, even I 
> gave up on both of those because of the steep learning curve involved in just 
> getting past the initial setup process. Even now, even though I still have my 
> own mail and web servers, I still tend to use things like ISPConfig for my 
> server administration, since although the web server is very easy to set up, 
> deploying a mailbox on a virtual domain is still not for the faint of heart, 
> unless it has an automated script like what comes in most web-based control 
> panels that makes it much easier to set up. I mean if not for the craziness 
> involved in setting up a mail server with 3 or 4 mailboxes on 2 to 3 domains, 
> I would just run caddyserver for my websites, which can do a lot really 
> easily, and the caddyfile is very easy to understand and edit, although like 
> most other web servers, it doesn't support .htaccess, which does lots of per 
> site URL rewriting and custom error stuff that just isn't as easy to do on a 
> per-site basis in other ways supported by non-htaccess servers. Still in any 
> case, one point I really like to make is that although other operating 
> systems tend to take features away from users, Linux tends to add features to 
> desktop environments and applications, or just to add applications, all while 
> taking care not to take things away from power users, and even adds things 
> that make the power user experience better over time.
>
>
> Sure I know this list is a general one, aimed at users of all levels and 
> skillsets. But being a more generalized list, it's probably better to keep 
> things on a more general level that while not excluding power users, won't 
> make new users turn tail and run for the window either. This is the beauty of 
> the GNU/Linux landscape as a whole. It's not the wilderness, and it's not a 
> barren wasteland either. It's a whole world with enough freedom and even 
> comfort for everyone. I found long ago that it is not the geeky OS that only 
> a server admin or someone with a masters in computer science could love, and 
> I do enjoy letting the world know that I use it and they can too.
>
> ~ Kyle
>
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