Re: [orca-list] Getting started with Ubuntu, Orca and Linux

[Jon <j orcauser googlemail com>]

Hi Ari,

good to hear from you,

Yes do try the live cd, but keep in mind that it wont be the latest 
version of orca, development goes on on a day to day basis, sometimes 
major changes, sometimes bugfixes.

If you do have a old machine that you dont mind wiping i would 
definately encourage you to install it on there, then you could install 
the latest updates, and basic things to get a working system that you 
could play around with. Another advantage is that you can look things up 
and follow instructions if you have jaws/window eyes running on your 
main machine.

remember it will be a learning curve to start off with, and when a 
graphical program doesnt work as you wish, give feedback to the comunity 
so that it can be improved, and in the meantime find a text-based 
program that will do the same thing.

Unfortunately there isn't a fixed "guide", although a lot of knowledge 
is on the wiki pages, and in the mailing list.

Yes orca can be made to talk during the instalation process, but it 
would only take 5--10 minutes for a sighted person to help you through 
the screens, then ubuntu goes away and sets up everything for you (whole 
process probably doesnt take more than 40 minutes, depending on your 
hardware)

If you are familiar with a windows install, then this is far simpler, 
and no useless questions.

to download the ubuntu cd, go to www.ubuntu.com and find the link 
"download"

You get taken to the download page, and a bit down the page you see that 
there are different versions of ubuntu, and for different types of 
computers, you probably have a 32 bit machine, so going for the defaults 
is all good.
Select the country which is closest to you (or your own country if its 
listed), it will speed up the download, and hit the download button.

once the iso is downloaded, you need to burn it to cd, do you use Nero 
burning rom?

Anyway, burn it onto a cd, making sure that you are actually burning the 
image contained by the iso file, rather than the iso file itself.

Once its all done, if you put in the cd again (still in windows)
you should see things like:
casper, dists, tools, and lots of other things.

Now you have a live cd!

go ahead and reboot, leaving the cdrom inside the drive, and follow 
these instructions:

http://live.gnome.org/Orca/UbuntuFeisty

Note, you have a newer version, called Gutsy, the wiki describes Feisty, 
but the instructions still apply.

once you are on the desktop, press alt+f1 to get to the menus, have a 
look around there, and you will see what sort of things are available.
The menues are as follows:
Applications, places and system, each one of those has several 
sub-menues.

to get the equivalent of the run prompt in windows press alt+f2, and if 
you wish to have a command prompt (shell in linux language) type: 

gnome-terminal
in the box.

Have a play, and if you are wondering about something, there is always 
the wiki, or mail archives, and the mailing list.

There is a documentation index page, linked of Orca's wiki, which should 
make it faster to locate the most relevant page.

Welcome to the world where you dont have to pay astronomical sums of 
money just because a disability!

-Jon

On Mon 12/11/2007 at 20:01:31, ari 
wrote:
> Thanks John,
> For the moment, do you think I should first try the live CD to get sort of 
> a feel of Orca? If you recommend an install, can you have Orca speak with 
> the installation, and where is a guide? If the live CD is the best option, 
> from where do I get it and, again, is there a guide?
> I will subscribe to Orca list.
> Thanks very much
> Ari