RE: Vibuntu Press Release

["Anthony Sales" <tony sales rncb ac uk>]

Ken, I agree with what you have said, the but as you state - it is 'skilled
users' that are able to do such things, not beginners  who have never heard
of or tried Linux. I am not trying to steal anyones thunder, because my
target audience is different to yours - I am aiming at schools, colleges and
institutions which need accessible software but cannot afford expensive
commercial products and don't have staff who have used Linux themselves. This
is the very specific niche at which this distro is aimed - and I challenge
you to use Orca with any admin apps on the ubuntu 8.04/8.10 desktop without
making complicated changes and/or knowing how to use the terminal. I still
maintain that this is the first Linux live CD to be accessible to sighted,
blind and partially sighted users out of the box with no prior experience of
linux. I agree that 99% of the credit for this lies with Gnome, Orca, Compiz
and Ubuntu, probably in that order. All I have done is make a few small but
significant changes which Ubuntu could have done if they wanted, but they
didn't and neither has anyone else to my knowledge. Again send me a link to
an iso which is as easy to use for novices out of the box and I will abandon
the project, because I don't believe in wasting my time reinventing the
wheel, its just that all the wheels out their seem to be round and I want a
square one! ;)

I appreciate you thoughts, and welcome this kind of discussion, if you are
correct then there is no need for a Vibuntu type distro and the project will
fail. 

I have taken the liberty of posting these communications on the Orca, Ubuntu
and Gnome mailing lists as I would like to open this debate up to the wider
community.

Keep in Touch

Drbongo

-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Perry [mailto:whistler blinksoft com] 
Sent: 13 December 2008 01:59
To: Anthony Sales
Subject: RE: Vibuntu Press Release



Maybe saying easily usable and accessible then because I am sorry but skilled
users have been using Redhat as far back as Redhat 6 and I am not talking
about from telnet.  I have used that from day one of Slackware with telnet.
Furthermore Ubuntu 8.04 seems to have solved most of the administration
problems and again while it has problems its more accessible than windows or
Mac and I think you would have a hard time if you came out and said you have
the first accessible Vista box.  I might be arguing semantics but I feel
saying it's the first accessible Linux distribution degrades the work the
Speakup team has done all the way up to current Fedora to the work Ubuntu has
done to make the Ubuntu 8.04 distro work out of the box.  Just because it is
hard to do something does not mean it's not accessible.  If you  want to talk
usability then I would agree with you on the points you have already pointed
out.

As I would agree with someone if they finally made a safe mode for Windows we
could use or a bios editor for mother boards.  Just because we cannot do
these things does not.  I thank you for making a more usable accessible
distribution but I don't like miss leading advertisement. make the OS
un-accessible.

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: Anthony Sales [mailto:tony sales rncb ac uk]
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 7:47 PM
To: Ken Perry
Subject: RE: Vibuntu Press Release

True, but my release clearly states that it is the first linux distro to be
accessible and have a full gui desktop for sighted`users as well. I may be
wrong, but I am an experienced Linux user and I and many other people having
been looking for a distro like this for years. Also in a default Ubuntu
install Orca will not work with many of the admin applications like ubiquity
etc unless you know how to turn Orca off and restart it in --no-setup mode in
the terminal etc, which means you will have no speech feedback and need to
know the keystrokes from memory. It is unlikely that a beginner would know
how to do this and that is why Vibuntu is aimed at VI users who have never
tried Linux before, but the provision of a gui desktop allows other sighted
users to use the same distro. I have no intentions of misleading anyone and
if you could point me to the URL of a linux distro that does everything
Vibuntu does out of the box I would love to know about it as then I wouldn't
have to spend hours modifying someone else's inaccessible distro!

drbongo


-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Perry [mailto:whistler blinksoft com]
Sent: Sat 13/12/2008 00:12
To: Anthony Sales
Subject: RE: Vibuntu Press Release
 


I do have to say that saying that ViBuntu is the first accessible Linux out
of the box is a bit um untrue.  There is the Speakup distributions and Ubuntu
is accessible just with picking the access options so I think your add is
miss leading.

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: gnome-accessibility-list-bounces gnome org
[mailto:gnome-accessibility-list-bounces gnome org] On Behalf Of Anthony
Sales
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 4:00 PM
To: ubuntu-accessibility lists ubuntu com;
gnome-accessibility-list gnome org; orca-list gnome org
Subject: Vibuntu Press Release

I have written a short press release aimed at VI users who may not know about
Linux. I would be grateful if you could post it on any general
accessibility/software sites/forums you use if you think it would be a good
way of getting the uninitiated to give Linux a try! If we manage to get
enough interest from a few institutions, charities or government agencies it
may be possible to obtain some funding for a few developers to work on the
project full or part-time! Thanks for all the support. I hope people on the
mailing lists don't think I just a self-promoting megalomaniac, I really do
want to help VI users and I believe (perhaps naively) that Vibuntu is a step
in the right direction. Please feel free to shoot me down in flames! <straps
on his asbestos wings and applies liberal amounts of sun-block> The press
release follows!


Vibuntu - The first Linux distro to be fully accessible to blind and
partially sighted users out of the box!



Vibuntu is a customised version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution
optimised to meet the needs of visually impaired users by default. Vibuntu
comes in the form of a live CD  which you place in the CD drive and then
restart your computer. Once it boots a screen-reader is activated, USB
Braille displays are automatically detected and full screen magnification can
be turned on/off with a simple keystroke. Vibuntu also provides an attractive
visual interface which makes it suitable for sighted, partially sighted and
blind users. You can navigate the menus and applications using the
screen-reader and/or Braille display or switch this support off and use the
full screen magnification. This is an ideal way of introducing visually
impaired users to the Linux operating system which offers a free and
open-source alternative to expensive proprietary software. This is very safe
and secure way to let someone experience Linux and experiment without taking
any risks or making any changes to your computer. You can continue to use
Vibuntu as a live CD or install it to your hard drive either alongside
Windows or as a complete desktop replacement. It is also possible to install
and run Vibuntu from a USB memory stick if your computer supports USB
booting. If you are interested in trying Vibuntu or would just like to know
more about it please visit the project website at
http://blinuxman.net/projects/vibuntu.php
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