[orca-list] JAWS or Orca?

[Bill Cox <WaywardGeek gmail com>]

Sorry for this obnoxious first post!

I'm a programmer who is slowly losing central vision.  I probably have
2-5 years of reasonable reading left.  I've decided to be proactive
and begin learning how to program with poor vision.  I've been hacking
in Linux for a few years now, and I absolutely love it.  I hate the
thought of going back to windows, but JAWS seems to be more mature
than Orca.  On the other hand, I hate losing control over my
environment, which will be especially important as I lose vision.  I
would also like to contribute code to improve computer accessibility,
which means Linux, not Windows, SFAIK.

I've talked to one blind programmer who can listen to is JAWS based
reader comfortably at over 500wpm, far faster than I can read.  Do
Orca users achieve similar productivity?  In the end, I feel I should
go with the most productive environment I can find.

Thanks,
Bill