grub with an audible interface (was: Re: lilo vs grub)

Mark Mielke mark at mark.mielke.cc
Tue Oct 21 18:21:44 UTC 2003


On Tue, Oct 21, 2003 at 02:12:16PM -0400, Mark Mielke wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 21, 2003 at 11:58:47AM -0400, Janina Sajka wrote:
> > This was my issue #1 yesterday. No one responded to it.
> > It's a showstopper, in my view.
> In my view, you should stop whining about something like a beep, and submit
> a patch to grub that adds the beep. We're talking about a one-line patch,
> in all likelihood. Re-build grub with this patch, and quite easily, you have
> the functionality that you desire. Open source gives you this freedom.

In function stage2/stage2.c, it looks like you can add one line to make
whatever sound you want in the static function named 'run_menu'. You could
even make it give you audible responses such as a different pitch, or a
different number of beeps depending on which menu item you are on.

If you aren't competent enough to make the patch yourself, you can be a
little nicer to me, and describe the exact behaviour you think would be
most valuable. I'll consult my father for further input, and I'll attempt
to implement and have the patch applied to CVS.

I'm trying to take a practical approach here. Please respect this. I have
no patience for temporary work-arounds such as 'blind people can't use grub
until it is good enough'. If blind people don't become involved, grub will
*never* be good enough, simply because the requirements are left
unrecognized.

If my father had given up on computers 25 years ago, just because at the time
the interfaces were imperfect, he wouldn't be as accomplished is he is today,
nor would I have learned my skills from him. It is too easy to give up. It
is harder, but more effective, to push forwards, and do.

Cheers,
mark

-- 
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