Re: [orca-list] Using Linux for everyday computing tasks and employment

[Mallory van Achterberg <stommepoes stommepoes nl>]

I use Linux for work, but I would be able to do my work with a Windows
machine (and I need to have a Windows machine for browser testing
anyway).  I think the impression that Linux is a hobby OS comes from the
initial lack of user-friendliness (UNIX is not known for point-and-click
soccer-mom ease) that a GUI brings to the non-CS-major masses.  It's
true that Windows was what made a personal computer more on par with a
toaster or a washing machine as far as it being a home appliance that
the family uses without necessarily needing to know how it works (we
don't have to be mechanics to drive the car either).  With the types of
mouse-friendly distros that have been coming out in the last few years,
especially Ubuntu, Linux has been made more accessible to the non-geeks
(like me) and generally on-par with Windows as far as soccer-mom
usability (but with the power of UNIX close at hand when you need it).

Orca I cannot comment much on as I'm so used to JAWS and learning
something new is something I do slowly.  I type much slower with orca if
I want to hear the letters, and I haven't played much with its settings.
Orca's competition is probably more NVDA, but ultimately the goal would
be to have the screen reader not be a factor for someone choosing an
OS.  
As Krishnakant mentioned, the free both as in beer and speech makes
Linux a huge attraction in developing nations, which also happen to
usually have a higher number of blind and low-vision computer users.
Linux is certainly up to the job.  Orca, if it isn't, should be quite
soon, with all the active development going on.  It took Freedom
Scientific years to get where they are, plus they had to reverse
engineer everything (they did not get cooperation from Microsoft).
Orca developers are free to talk with other Linux devs.  Development can
only get better.

Our insurance company is actually slowly moving things over to Linux.
The computers used by the ones using the software are on Windows, but
the main servers have been switched to Linux and a colleague who uses
Fedora at home switched to Linux on his work PC and another colleague
added a dual-boot Ubuntu on his Windows machine.  It's spreading.  

-Mallory

On Thu, 2010-01-14 at 14:48 +0000, James & Nash wrote:
> Hi list, 
>
> I'm just curious, but how many of you use Orca and your favoured Linux distro for everyday use and also for 
> employment purposes?
>
> The reason I am asking is because for me I think that Linux would be more of a hobby than a serious 
> computing platform at least for the moment.
> Thanks 
> TC
> James 
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