Why do you use Linux? expanded from Converting text to mp3

Thu Jan 27 17:43:14 UTC 2022

Hi Rynhardt,

The file
~/.config/speech-dispatcher/modules/espeak-ng.conf does not exist on
my system. There is no .config folder in my home directory either. Do
I have to create all this stuff?! Thanks.

Amanda[0]

On 1/27/22, Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list at redhat.com> wrote:
> Greetings!
>
>
> I agree with much of what others have written, but I guess I'll pipe up
> a little.
>
>
> I became interested in Linux (or GNU/Linux, as some insist on) for two
> reasons, back in the late 1990's.  Software freedom was the first.  The
> second was that it had real text terminals, which I was used to with
> DOS.  The first reason is vital to my thinking, and the second reason
> remains very important, though I use the gui more than the command line
> most days.
>
>
> I was a programmer in those days, and I hope to do it again for pay some
> day.  One of my continuous and troubling tasks was to get the same
> access to the mainframe computers I worked on as I'd had using DOS.  It
> never happened, though I can't say whether it has happened for somebody
> else since then.  I had to use JAWS during those last years of the job.
> Although JAWS scripting helped somewhat, it seemed to me that (1) JAWS
> needed more basic customizing to do what I needed and (2) this wasn't
> nearly as important to the company as it was to me.  I figured that if
> JAWS had been free software, meaning free as in freedom rather than free
> as in beer, one or more folks who knew more than I did could help me do
> the customizing:  the code would have been at hand.
>
>
> My Linux journey has been long and often quite rocky.  My ignorance
> remains vast, partly because of my own inadequacies and partly because I
> find documentation often sparse or hard to follow.  Even so, I'm much
> more able to fix things myself than I can with our Windows machines.
> Yes, I use Windows most days, mostly because my wife doesn't want to
> abandon it.  (She likes the speech output better, and I agree.  She also
> doubts the wisdom of using software that few if any of the people she
> shares documents with are using, a view I think is less warranted.)  But
> I dare to hope that if I can get her Voxin or something of the sort
> working, maybe in time she'll be willing to drop Windows into the abyss.
> My reasons are practical as well as principled, but I've written long
> enough that I'll leave it at that.
>
>
> Best!
>
> Al
>
>
>
>
> On 1/26/22 21:19, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>> Okay then,
>> This illustrates another point which got touched  on in a different
>> thread as well.
>> The, you must be prepared to do programming if you are going to use
>> Linux fluidly, if at all.
>> On an entirely different list I am on, folks were complaining about
>> windows 10 and windows 11, because of the changes.
>> Computers are increasingly such critical parts of our lives, banking
>> shopping, even voting, that many on the list spoke of just wanting to
>> sit down at their computer and have things work...so they still use
>> older editions of things like Windows  XP?  and Windows  7.
>> I admit that is part of why the out of the box concept discussed here
>> where Access is concerned seems a bit, speaking personally, like a
>> misconception.
>> Few on the list I referenced above are using adaptive tools, and some
>> of them are scientists, with many not wanting configuring to be a part
>> of their computer lives.
>>  So, why do you use Linux?
>> what makes it worth the time the training and the trial  / error?
>> Oh, and is it your only operating system?
>> Want to ask the latter because I know someone who indeed uses Linux
>> exclusively, vowing never to touch windows again.
>> Please feel free to express in detail, never mind my personal
>> situation, because the journalist in me is interested as well.
>> Karen
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 26 Jan 2022, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>>
>>> Fair point.
>>>
>>> As regards the keyboard, I agree with the main keyboard philosophy, and
>>> in fact speakup does allow you to customize it to use the main
>>> keyboard instead of the
>>> keypad. However, it took me a while to customize it to my liking and
>>> required quite a bit of study and generating of personal keymaps, so
>>> might not be of any interest to those who aren't comfortable making
>>> some low level modifications.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 26, 2022 at 08:16:08PM -0500, Linux for blind general
>>> discussion wrote:
>>>> Which may illustrate my point.
>>>> I can use those without changing what I have now.
>>>> Speaking personally if Linux does not provide equal access to both
>>>> hardware
>>>> and  software speech, in both its command line and graphical
>>>> platforms, I am
>>>> unsure  just where the advantage is for me personally.
>>>> One thing I personally disliked with speakup, at least the times I
>>>> tried it
>>>> years back was the need to remove my hands from the keyboard for many
>>>> things.
>>>> That may not hold true all the way around, but I am a solid typist
>>>> and do
>>>> not like having to remove may hands, say use the number pad, if I
>>>> want as I
>>>> work content.
>>>> That is me though, which is one magical thing about personal computers.
>>>> everyone brings their desires and usage goals to their machines.
>>>> Which to my mind again personally means Linux should, if it actually
>>>> can, be
>>>> flexible enough for all choices to work in it command line and
>>>> graphical.
>>>> Karen
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, 26 Jan 2022, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I don't use Firefox. I use a text based browser, either lynx, w3m,
>>>>> or links (the chain) depending.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Jan 26, 2022 at 07:48:42PM -0500, Linux for blind general
>>>>> discussion wrote:
>>>>>> Rudy,
>>>>>> As an example, may I ask what edition  of  Firefox you are running
>>>>>> with that
>>>>>> dectalk Express?
>>>>>> Karen
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, 26 Jan 2022, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Karen,
>>>>>>> I use Linux speakup with a Dectalk express speech synthesizer.
>>>>>>> And I believe speakup also handles the
>>>>>>> slot card version of dectalk though you'll need a desktop PC that
>>>>>>> supports it, so the software is there.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Rudy
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, Jan 26, 2022 at 05:22:35PM -0500, Linux for blind general
>>>>>>> discussion wrote:
>>>>>>>> Kyle,
>>>>>>>> i do not consider my hardware decktalk provided via my reading
>>>>>>>> edge to be an
>>>>>>>> example of text to speech.
>>>>>>>> By definition, and there are many, the term, which refers to taking
>>>>>>>> information in text format  and  rendering it aloud does not,
>>>>>>>> speaking
>>>>>>>> personally,  equal pronunciation ease.
>>>>>>>> In fact one theory about this has to do with preserving the
>>>>>>>> audiobook
>>>>>>>> market.
>>>>>>>> granted, as  was pointed out in a thread some time ago, I am not
>>>>>>>> likely to
>>>>>>>> learn about Linux screen readers, no driver exists for my
>>>>>>>> hardware speech,
>>>>>>>> and software synthesizer sources  currently do a number on my
>>>>>>>> brain.
>>>>>>>> Karen
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Wed, 26 Jan 2022, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> That being said, the audiophile in me cannot resist pointing
>>>>>>>>> out that
>>>>>>>>> pronunciation abilities of tts are of far less quality than those
>>>>>>>>> provided by many actual screen readers, at least the ones I have
>>>>>>>>> used...which???? does not include any for Linux.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> That being said, the technofile in me cannot resist pointing
>>>>>>>>> out the
>>>>>>>>> fact that every screen reader for every OS uses nothing but TTS
>>>>>>>>> technology to read the screen. Well, I guess BeMyEyes doesn't,
>>>>>>>>> but it's
>>>>>>>>> not exactly a screen reader, unless you need the volunteer to
>>>>>>>>> read a
>>>>>>>>> screen for you.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> ~ Kyle
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> Blinux-list mailing list
>>>>>>>>> Blinux-list at redhat.com
>>>>>>>>> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> Blinux-list mailing list
>>>>>>>> Blinux-list at redhat.com
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Rudy Vener
>>>>>>> Website: http://www.rudyvener.com
>>>>>>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/RudySalt
>>>>>>> The difference between truth and falsehood is that truth remains
>>>>>>> constant no matter which political party holds the majority.
>>>>>>>  - A. R. Vener
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Blinux-list mailing list
>>>>>>> Blinux-list at redhat.com
>>>>>>> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Blinux-list mailing list
>>>>>> Blinux-list at redhat.com
>>>>>> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Rudy Vener
>>>>> Website: http://www.rudyvener.com
>>>>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/RudySalt
>>>>> The difference between truth and falsehood is that truth remains
>>>>> constant no matter which political party holds the majority.
>>>>>  - A. R. Vener
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Blinux-list mailing list
>>>>> Blinux-list at redhat.com
>>>>> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Blinux-list mailing list
>>>> Blinux-list at redhat.com
>>>> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>>>
>>> --
>>> Rudy Vener
>>> Website: http://www.rudyvener.com
>>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/RudySalt
>>> The difference between truth and falsehood is that truth remains
>>> constant no matter which political party holds the majority.
>>>  - A. R. Vener
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Blinux-list mailing list
>>> Blinux-list at redhat.com
>>> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>>>
>>>
>>
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>
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