Re: [orca-list] Do many users exclusively use Linux?

[Jason White <jason jasonjgw net>]

On Sat, Dec 06, 2008 at 11:34:31PM +0000, Michael Whapples wrote:
> Also Orca does require the gnome desktop to  
> be working correctly, and you just need something to go slightly wrong  
> in a system upgrade, or in the system configuration and gnome may fail  
> to start. Compare this to the text console which depends on much less,  
> and the accessibility software there really does seem to be reliable  
> (brltty and speakup are the ones I am thinking of) you should always  
> have something to fall back on to recover your system. 

I agree. The whole X Window System + window manager + desktop environment +
application + accessibility API + assistive technology scenario is very
complex, with plenty of opportunities for bugs to arise.

Compare this with, for example, the Plan 9 user interface, which shows how it
could all be done in a much simpler way. So far as I know, nobody has made
a Plan 9 style interface accessible, but I suspect it would be possible, and
that it would be less bug prone thereafter.