Hello, Thanks for your reply. I do not have a hardware synth, i wish i had the budget right now to get one. I agree that troubleshooting should be text for simplicity just as i do not run a gui on a server system. I was wondering if it were possible to modify either ubuntu or grml the CD to come up talking with software speech by default? Thanks. Dave. -----Original Message----- From: John G. Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:04 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's I usually use grml for troubleshooting hardware. That's linux though. If you're interested, you can check out www.grml.org. Lately, though, I've had to depend more and more on ubuntu. I say "had" to because it does not support the very reliable text console screen reader, speakup. Instead you must use the GUI screen reader orca. Orca is actually really coming of age. However, in a troubleshooting environment, you want a text console. But it seems to me that grml has not been as quick to support new hardware as ubuntu. Often, the newest ubuntu CD will have drivers for the newest NIC or sata drive whereas grml will not. Neither of these live CDs comes up talking by default. Each has a series of hoops you have to jump through to get speech. So I usually modify the grml CD to work with my speech synth, a doubletalk LE or "lite talk". If you have a hardware synth, you can boot grml and then type in the command to load the driver for your synth after it boots. But if the problems is that the machine won't boot, you will need to modify the CD. Another thing I've done in the past was make a bootable CD with freeDos and jaws for DOS. Jaws for DOS is a free download from the freedom scientific web site. Then you can make a bootable floppy with freeDos and then make a bootable CD from the diskette. Or you can do what I did and boot from the diskette and then access the freeDos CD. That requires you to put CD-ROM drivers on your diskette. I spent a lot of time on that but in the end, I ended up just using grml most of the time and ubuntu. There are a lot of people out there supporting grml and really a lot supporting ubuntu. They can do a way better job than I could do in my spare time with freedos and jaws. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:29 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Hello, I'm looking for either a pre-made or a howto on how to compile a live CD Linux distribution unimportant so i can drop it in a computer, boot, and have speech, for diagnostic purposes, hardware analysis, and also to have access to custom software such as a system imaging util. Anyone know of something similar? I'm looking for something to replace ghost and it's ghostcast server for the imaging part and something that will talk when a windows machine won't boot so i can troubleshoot it. Thanks. Dave.

David Mehler (MCSA 2003, MCP, Network+, A+) dave.mehler@gmail.com

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Actually that's Dectalk Express, Dectalk PC is the internal card. I've used GRML to do disk wipes of machines we were giving away. I got the software speech to work relatively easy, you enter a code at the boot screen, then another command when it starts up. You get no prompt at the boot screen, but if I remember right you get a sound when its at the command prompt for you to enter the second command. Also, I got GRML to work with my Logitek USB headset once on a machine with no sound card, if I remember it just autodetected it. I'd honestly recommend this over an external synth, as USB ports are more common than serial ports. The Logitek USB headset has never had a problem coming up on Windows and as I said on GRML, I've not tried Ubuntu but I'd be surprised if it didn't work. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:09 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Might not help but always check Ebay. I bought a Dectalk PC there once for $50. (I think it's dectalk PC the one with the serial cable and it recharges, says Dec Talk in big Braille letters on the side) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'John G. Heim'" Cc: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Hello, Thanks for your reply. I do not have a hardware synth, i wish i had the budget right now to get one. I agree that troubleshooting should be text for simplicity just as i do not run a gui on a server system. I was wondering if it were possible to modify either ubuntu or grml the CD to come up talking with software speech by default? Thanks. Dave. -----Original Message----- From: John G. Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:04 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's I usually use grml for troubleshooting hardware. That's linux though. If you're interested, you can check out www.grml.org. Lately, though, I've had to depend more and more on ubuntu. I say "had" to because it does not support the very reliable text console screen reader, speakup. Instead you must use the GUI screen reader orca. Orca is actually really coming of age. However, in a troubleshooting environment, you want a text console. But it seems to me that grml has not been as quick to support new hardware as ubuntu. Often, the newest ubuntu CD will have drivers for the newest NIC or sata drive whereas grml will not. Neither of these live CDs comes up talking by default. Each has a series of hoops you have to jump through to get speech. So I usually modify the grml CD to work with my speech synth, a doubletalk LE or "lite talk". If you have a hardware synth, you can boot grml and then type in the command to load the driver for your synth after it boots. But if the problems is that the machine won't boot, you will need to modify the CD. Another thing I've done in the past was make a bootable CD with freeDos and jaws for DOS. Jaws for DOS is a free download from the freedom scientific web site. Then you can make a bootable floppy with freeDos and then make a bootable CD from the diskette. Or you can do what I did and boot from the diskette and then access the freeDos CD. That requires you to put CD-ROM drivers on your diskette. I spent a lot of time on that but in the end, I ended up just using grml most of the time and ubuntu. There are a lot of people out there supporting grml and really a lot supporting ubuntu. They can do a way better job than I could do in my spare time with freedos and jaws. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:29 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Hello, I'm looking for either a pre-made or a howto on how to compile a live CD Linux distribution unimportant so i can drop it in a computer, boot, and have speech, for diagnostic purposes, hardware analysis, and also to have access to custom software such as a system imaging util. Anyone know of something similar? I'm looking for something to replace ghost and it's ghostcast server for the imaging part and something that will talk when a windows machine won't boot so i can troubleshoot it. Thanks. Dave.

David Mehler (MCSA 2003, MCP, Network+, A+) dave.mehler@gmail.com

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

So I'm fairly solid with your major flavors of Linux but haven't ever accessed them via anything but SSH and telnet back in the day. Could folks on the list suggest good pointers for linux screen reader technology, installation with out assistance and the real basic starting point stuff. I would love to learn more about talking installation possibilities. Thanks Scott ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 8:40 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Actually that's Dectalk Express, Dectalk PC is the internal card. I've used GRML to do disk wipes of machines we were giving away. I got the software speech to work relatively easy, you enter a code at the boot screen, then another command when it starts up. You get no prompt at the boot screen, but if I remember right you get a sound when its at the command prompt for you to enter the second command. Also, I got GRML to work with my Logitek USB headset once on a machine with no sound card, if I remember it just autodetected it. I'd honestly recommend this over an external synth, as USB ports are more common than serial ports. The Logitek USB headset has never had a problem coming up on Windows and as I said on GRML, I've not tried Ubuntu but I'd be surprised if it didn't work. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:09 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Might not help but always check Ebay. I bought a Dectalk PC there once for $50. (I think it's dectalk PC the one with the serial cable and it recharges, says Dec Talk in big Braille letters on the side) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'John G. Heim'" Cc: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Hello, Thanks for your reply. I do not have a hardware synth, i wish i had the budget right now to get one. I agree that troubleshooting should be text for simplicity just as i do not run a gui on a server system. I was wondering if it were possible to modify either ubuntu or grml the CD to come up talking with software speech by default? Thanks. Dave. -----Original Message----- From: John G. Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:04 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's I usually use grml for troubleshooting hardware. That's linux though. If you're interested, you can check out www.grml.org. Lately, though, I've had to depend more and more on ubuntu. I say "had" to because it does not support the very reliable text console screen reader, speakup. Instead you must use the GUI screen reader orca. Orca is actually really coming of age. However, in a troubleshooting environment, you want a text console. But it seems to me that grml has not been as quick to support new hardware as ubuntu. Often, the newest ubuntu CD will have drivers for the newest NIC or sata drive whereas grml will not. Neither of these live CDs comes up talking by default. Each has a series of hoops you have to jump through to get speech. So I usually modify the grml CD to work with my speech synth, a doubletalk LE or "lite talk". If you have a hardware synth, you can boot grml and then type in the command to load the driver for your synth after it boots. But if the problems is that the machine won't boot, you will need to modify the CD. Another thing I've done in the past was make a bootable CD with freeDos and jaws for DOS. Jaws for DOS is a free download from the freedom scientific web site. Then you can make a bootable floppy with freeDos and then make a bootable CD from the diskette. Or you can do what I did and boot from the diskette and then access the freeDos CD. That requires you to put CD-ROM drivers on your diskette. I spent a lot of time on that but in the end, I ended up just using grml most of the time and ubuntu. There are a lot of people out there supporting grml and really a lot supporting ubuntu. They can do a way better job than I could do in my spare time with freedos and jaws. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:29 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Hello, I'm looking for either a pre-made or a howto on how to compile a live CD Linux distribution unimportant so i can drop it in a computer, boot, and have speech, for diagnostic purposes, hardware analysis, and also to have access to custom software such as a system imaging util. Anyone know of something similar? I'm looking for something to replace ghost and it's ghostcast server for the imaging part and something that will talk when a windows machine won't boot so i can troubleshoot it. Thanks. Dave.

David Mehler (MCSA 2003, MCP, Network+, A+) dave.mehler@gmail.com

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com

Hi, Ubuntu/Vinux with the live CD and Orca is the approach most users are using now. The stock Ubuntu CD has some hoops to get a talking install, not sure about the Vinux as I haven't used it currently, but that also has a talking install. The only OS these days without a talking install is actually Windows. Thanks. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: 24 May 2009 05:26 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] screen readers, linux and installation was Re: accessible live CD's So I'm fairly solid with your major flavors of Linux but haven't ever accessed them via anything but SSH and telnet back in the day. Could folks on the list suggest good pointers for linux screen reader technology, installation with out assistance and the real basic starting point stuff. I would love to learn more about talking installation possibilities. Thanks Scott ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 8:40 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Actually that's Dectalk Express, Dectalk PC is the internal card. I've used GRML to do disk wipes of machines we were giving away. I got the software speech to work relatively easy, you enter a code at the boot screen, then another command when it starts up. You get no prompt at the boot screen, but if I remember right you get a sound when its at the command prompt for you to enter the second command. Also, I got GRML to work with my Logitek USB headset once on a machine with no sound card, if I remember it just autodetected it. I'd honestly recommend this over an external synth, as USB ports are more common than serial ports. The Logitek USB headset has never had a problem coming up on Windows and as I said on GRML, I've not tried Ubuntu but I'd be surprised if it didn't work. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:09 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Might not help but always check Ebay. I bought a Dectalk PC there once for $50. (I think it's dectalk PC the one with the serial cable and it recharges, says Dec Talk in big Braille letters on the side) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'John G. Heim'" Cc: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Hello, Thanks for your reply. I do not have a hardware synth, i wish i had the budget right now to get one. I agree that troubleshooting should be text for simplicity just as i do not run a gui on a server system. I was wondering if it were possible to modify either ubuntu or grml the CD to come up talking with software speech by default? Thanks. Dave. -----Original Message----- From: John G. Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:04 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's I usually use grml for troubleshooting hardware. That's linux though. If you're interested, you can check out www.grml.org. Lately, though, I've had to depend more and more on ubuntu. I say "had" to because it does not support the very reliable text console screen reader, speakup. Instead you must use the GUI screen reader orca. Orca is actually really coming of age. However, in a troubleshooting environment, you want a text console. But it seems to me that grml has not been as quick to support new hardware as ubuntu. Often, the newest ubuntu CD will have drivers for the newest NIC or sata drive whereas grml will not. Neither of these live CDs comes up talking by default. Each has a series of hoops you have to jump through to get speech. So I usually modify the grml CD to work with my speech synth, a doubletalk LE or "lite talk". If you have a hardware synth, you can boot grml and then type in the command to load the driver for your synth after it boots. But if the problems is that the machine won't boot, you will need to modify the CD. Another thing I've done in the past was make a bootable CD with freeDos and jaws for DOS. Jaws for DOS is a free download from the freedom scientific web site. Then you can make a bootable floppy with freeDos and then make a bootable CD from the diskette. Or you can do what I did and boot from the diskette and then access the freeDos CD. That requires you to put CD-ROM drivers on your diskette. I spent a lot of time on that but in the end, I ended up just using grml most of the time and ubuntu. There are a lot of people out there supporting grml and really a lot supporting ubuntu. They can do a way better job than I could do in my spare time with freedos and jaws. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:29 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Hello, I'm looking for either a pre-made or a howto on how to compile a live CD Linux distribution unimportant so i can drop it in a computer, boot, and have speech, for diagnostic purposes, hardware analysis, and also to have access to custom software such as a system imaging util. Anyone know of something similar? I'm looking for something to replace ghost and it's ghostcast server for the imaging part and something that will talk when a windows machine won't boot so i can troubleshoot it. Thanks. Dave.

David Mehler (MCSA 2003, MCP, Network+, A+) dave.mehler@gmail.com

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

I am not sure if there is a single answer to your question. But I got a BS degree in computer science and taught myself about linux. So I am a linux systems administrator. I know only slightly more about Windows than a typical power user. I think it's questionable whether it's better to concentrate on Windows or linux. I believe there are way, way more Windows systems administrators than linux systems administrators. But there is also a lot more competition for those jobs. The one advantage to linux is that it's designed to be administered remotely via a text console. There are very few things that cannot be configured at the command line or via text files. That's a huge advantage for a blind systems administrator. On the other hand, the screen readers are better for Windows. I don't think there exists a commercial screen reader for linux. Jaws and Window-eyes are very expensive but they are also very good. There is a rock solid screen reader for the linux command line called speakup. But it works only in text mode. For the graphical user interface, there is a screen reader called orca with is really getting to ve excellent. But it's not as good as jaws. Not yet. What I do is use Windows as my desktop to admin linux machines. ----- Original Message ----- From: "philip" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 3:25 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] what is system administrator need

hello I want to know if I want to be system administrator what should be learn ? give me the subject and certificate to be specialist in adminstrator any help would be appreciated

___________________________________________________________ The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

hello john: what do you mean by: What I do is use Windows as my desktop to admin linux machines. thanks ----- Original Message ----- From: John G. Heim To: Blind sysadmins list Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 6:18 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] what is system administrator need I am not sure if there is a single answer to your question. But I got a BS degree in computer science and taught myself about linux. So I am a linux systems administrator. I know only slightly more about Windows than a typical power user. I think it's questionable whether it's better to concentrate on Windows or linux. I believe there are way, way more Windows systems administrators than linux systems administrators. But there is also a lot more competition for those jobs. The one advantage to linux is that it's designed to be administered remotely via a text console. There are very few things that cannot be configured at the command line or via text files. That's a huge advantage for a blind systems administrator. On the other hand, the screen readers are better for Windows. I don't think there exists a commercial screen reader for linux. Jaws and Window-eyes are very expensive but they are also very good. There is a rock solid screen reader for the linux command line called speakup. But it works only in text mode. For the graphical user interface, there is a screen reader called orca with is really getting to ve excellent. But it's not as good as jaws. Not yet. What I do is use Windows as my desktop to admin linux machines. ----- Original Message ----- From: "philip" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 3:25 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] what is system administrator need

hello I want to know if I want to be system administrator what should be learn ? give me the subject and certificate to be specialist in adminstrator any help would be appreciated

___________________________________________________________ The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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Scott, you are correct about what I meant when I say I use Windows as a workstation for linux systems administration. I have never been able to get putty working with jaws. I downloaded jaws scripts but they didn't help much. I don't rememberwhere I got them from. Maybe better scripts are available today. So instead I use openssh for Windows. It runs in a command window so you have all the jaws functionality that you'd have in any command window. But that's not that great because its nearly impossible to use any curses app run on the linux machine. You can run vi, for example, and if you work at it hard enough, you can make some minor edits. But I wouldn't want to do much more than change a character or 2. The tool I usually use for editing files on a linux machine is sftpdrive. This program allows you to map a Windows network share to any machine running sftp. It looks just like any other network drive on your Windows machine. So then you can use your favorite Windows text editor to change config files. Very slick. For windows text editing, I use a program called TextPad. I like it because its simple and you can configure it to use standard windows text editing commands. You know what I mean? Control+f should bring up a find dialog box. F3 should be find next. Any text editor that doesn't follow conventions like that is goofy. They can have their own key binding if they want but you ought to be able to configure it for standard key bindings. Sftpdrive and TextPad aren't free. I think they're both around $40. Other tools that I use pretty regularly are NVDA and a USB headset. I have NVDA on a thumb drive so I can plug in the headset, insert the thumb drive which brings up a dialog box offereing to start NVDA. I press enter and I have speech on just about any Windows machine. Then I have a hardware speech synth and a grml CD handy for linux emergencies. We get all of our computers from Dell and I have yet to see one without a serial port. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Granados" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 5:10 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] what is system administrator need

If I could add to this.

What I think he's driving at is he uses the windows box as his main terminal or interface. JFW or another reader virbalizes the output from programs like putty or secure crt which you would use to then connect to the unix machine. You would have the TTS output from JFW on your windows desktop but your actually say working on a machine in another room, or state or country.

Yes, TextPad recognizes PC, unix, andMac text file formats. It will automatically save a file in whatever format it was in when you open it. I have TextPad configured to save new files in unix file format. The other text editor I tried out was UltraEdit and it worked the same way with file formats. It would detect the file format and automatically use the same format when saving the file. I gave up on UltraEdit though because it kept crashing when I edited a php file remotely. To their credit, UltraEdit tech support emailed me back. But they had no clue as to what was causing the problem and claimed that I was the only one to report it. I actually found some comments on their own tech support web site though. Others had had the same problem but hadn't filed a support request. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Hodgson" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 9:51 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] sysadmin tools (was: what is system administrator)

Hi,

Two interesting tools - Textpad and sftpdrive. I would be wary of doing edits to a Linux configuration file in Windows due to the CR/LF issue, but it sounds like Textpad copes with that ok?

I have enough sight luckily to get by with Putty, and that is what I use with Jaws on a daily basis.

Thanks. Andrew.

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John G. Heim Sent: 29 May 2009 15:44 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] sysadmin tools (was: what is system administrator)

Scott, you are correct about what I meant when I say I use Windows as a workstation for linux systems administration.

I have never been able to get putty working with jaws. I downloaded jaws scripts but they didn't help much. I don't rememberwhere I got them from. Maybe better scripts are available today.

So instead I use openssh for Windows. It runs in a command window so you have all the jaws functionality that you'd have in any command window. But that's not that great because its nearly impossible to use any curses app run on the linux machine. You can run vi, for example, and if you work at it hard enough, you can make some minor edits. But I wouldn't want to do much more than change a character or 2.

The tool I usually use for editing files on a linux machine is sftpdrive. This program allows you to map a Windows network share to any machine running sftp. It looks just like any other network drive on your Windows machine. So then you can use your favorite Windows text editor to change config files. Very slick.

For windows text editing, I use a program called TextPad. I like it because its simple and you can configure it to use standard windows text editing commands. You know what I mean? Control+f should bring up a find dialog box. F3 should be find next. Any text editor that doesn't follow conventions like that is goofy. They can have their own key binding if they want but you ought to be able to configure it for standard key bindings.

Sftpdrive and TextPad aren't free. I think they're both around $40.

Other tools that I use pretty regularly are NVDA and a USB headset. I have NVDA on a thumb drive so I can plug in the headset, insert the thumb drive which brings up a dialog box offereing to start NVDA. I press enter and I have speech on just about any Windows machine.

Then I have a hardware speech synth and a grml CD handy for linux emergencies. We get all of our computers from Dell and I have yet to see one without a serial port.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Granados" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 5:10 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] what is system administrator need

...

If I could add to this.

What I think he's driving at is he uses the windows box as his main terminal or interface. JFW or another reader virbalizes the output from programs like putty or secure crt which you would use to then connect to the unix machine. You would have the TTS output from JFW on your windows desktop but your actually say working on a machine in another room, or state or country.

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TextPad is great because when you choose "Save as", it lets you choose the line ending type and the charset. You don't need to set the line ending before saving. It is also great because it supports regular expressions, because it is very accessible when running an external program with it, like a compiler or interpreter, and because you can configure it to work differently for any types of files. It is not so great because it doesn't fully support Unicode though. Octavian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Hodgson" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 5:51 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] sysadmin tools (was: what is system administrator)

Hi,

Two interesting tools - Textpad and sftpdrive. I would be wary of doing edits to a Linux configuration file in Windows due to the CR/LF issue, but it sounds like Textpad copes with that ok?

I have enough sight luckily to get by with Putty, and that is what I use with Jaws on a daily basis.

Thanks. Andrew.

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John G. Heim Sent: 29 May 2009 15:44 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] sysadmin tools (was: what is system administrator)

Scott, you are correct about what I meant when I say I use Windows as a workstation for linux systems administration.

I have never been able to get putty working with jaws. I downloaded jaws scripts but they didn't help much. I don't rememberwhere I got them from. Maybe better scripts are available today.

So instead I use openssh for Windows. It runs in a command window so you have all the jaws functionality that you'd have in any command window. But that's not that great because its nearly impossible to use any curses app run on the linux machine. You can run vi, for example, and if you work at it hard enough, you can make some minor edits. But I wouldn't want to do much more than change a character or 2.

The tool I usually use for editing files on a linux machine is sftpdrive. This program allows you to map a Windows network share to any machine running sftp. It looks just like any other network drive on your Windows machine. So then you can use your favorite Windows text editor to change config files. Very slick.

For windows text editing, I use a program called TextPad. I like it because its simple and you can configure it to use standard windows text editing commands. You know what I mean? Control+f should bring up a find dialog box. F3 should be find next. Any text editor that doesn't follow conventions like that is goofy. They can have their own key binding if they want but you ought to be able to configure it for standard key bindings.

Sftpdrive and TextPad aren't free. I think they're both around $40.

Other tools that I use pretty regularly are NVDA and a USB headset. I have NVDA on a thumb drive so I can plug in the headset, insert the thumb drive which brings up a dialog box offereing to start NVDA. I press enter and I have speech on just about any Windows machine.

Then I have a hardware speech synth and a grml CD handy for linux emergencies. We get all of our computers from Dell and I have yet to see one without a serial port.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Granados" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 5:10 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] what is system administrator need

...

If I could add to this.

What I think he's driving at is he uses the windows box as his main terminal or interface. JFW or another reader virbalizes the output from programs like putty or secure crt which you would use to then connect to the unix machine. You would have the TTS output from JFW on your windows desktop but your actually say working on a machine in another room, or state or country.

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Orca is very good in a terminal window. But it is no where near as good as jaws when you're using a web browser. Freedom Scientific put a considerable effort into customizing jaws to work with browsers. That functionality hasn't been reproduced in any free screen reader I know of. In fact, I believe the jaws find feature that is so important when using a browser is the subject of the lawsuit that Freedom Scientific slapped on the company that makes Window-eyes. ----- Original Message ----- From: "White, Matt" To: Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 10:46 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] sysadmin tools (was: what is system administrator)

Window-Eyes seems to work fine with Putty--even with menu-driven applications like the Linux kernel config.

I recently setup a OpenSolaris machine and was surprised to find that Orca works pretty well--especially in GnomeTerminal. This may be an option worth investigating.

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I'd suggest you look at the linux section of www.lalrecordings.com You'll find audio based walk through's of a few popular linux distributions as well as a few other helpful tutorials. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Members Service desk Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 4444 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie "Scott Granados" Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org 24/05/2009 05:26 Please respond to Blind sysadmins list To "Blind sysadmins list" cc Subject [Blind-sysadmins] screen readers, linux and installation was Re: accessible live CD's So I'm fairly solid with your major flavors of Linux but haven't ever accessed them via anything but SSH and telnet back in the day. Could folks on the list suggest good pointers for linux screen reader technology, installation with out assistance and the real basic starting point stuff. I would love to learn more about talking installation possibilities. Thanks Scott ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 8:40 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Actually that's Dectalk Express, Dectalk PC is the internal card. I've used GRML to do disk wipes of machines we were giving away. I got the software speech to work relatively easy, you enter a code at the boot screen, then another command when it starts up. You get no prompt at the boot screen, but if I remember right you get a sound when its at the command prompt for you to enter the second command. Also, I got GRML to work with my Logitek USB headset once on a machine with no sound card, if I remember it just autodetected it. I'd honestly recommend this over an external synth, as USB ports are more common than serial ports. The Logitek USB headset has never had a problem coming up on Windows and as I said on GRML, I've not tried Ubuntu but I'd be surprised if it didn't work. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:09 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Might not help but always check Ebay. I bought a Dectalk PC there once for $50. (I think it's dectalk PC the one with the serial cable and it recharges, says Dec Talk in big Braille letters on the side) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'John G. Heim'" Cc: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Hello, Thanks for your reply. I do not have a hardware synth, i wish i had the budget right now to get one. I agree that troubleshooting should be text for simplicity just as i do not run a gui on a server system. I was wondering if it were possible to modify either ubuntu or grml the CD to come up talking with software speech by default? Thanks. Dave. -----Original Message----- From: John G. Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:04 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's I usually use grml for troubleshooting hardware. That's linux though. If you're interested, you can check out www.grml.org. Lately, though, I've had to depend more and more on ubuntu. I say "had" to because it does not support the very reliable text console screen reader, speakup. Instead you must use the GUI screen reader orca. Orca is actually really coming of age. However, in a troubleshooting environment, you want a text console. But it seems to me that grml has not been as quick to support new hardware as ubuntu. Often, the newest ubuntu CD will have drivers for the newest NIC or sata drive whereas grml will not. Neither of these live CDs comes up talking by default. Each has a series of hoops you have to jump through to get speech. So I usually modify the grml CD to work with my speech synth, a doubletalk LE or "lite talk". If you have a hardware synth, you can boot grml and then type in the command to load the driver for your synth after it boots. But if the problems is that the machine won't boot, you will need to modify the CD. Another thing I've done in the past was make a bootable CD with freeDos and jaws for DOS. Jaws for DOS is a free download from the freedom scientific web site. Then you can make a bootable floppy with freeDos and then make a bootable CD from the diskette. Or you can do what I did and boot from the diskette and then access the freeDos CD. That requires you to put CD-ROM drivers on your diskette. I spent a lot of time on that but in the end, I ended up just using grml most of the time and ubuntu. There are a lot of people out there supporting grml and really a lot supporting ubuntu. They can do a way better job than I could do in my spare time with freedos and jaws. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:29 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Hello, I'm looking for either a pre-made or a howto on how to compile a live CD Linux distribution unimportant so i can drop it in a computer, boot, and have speech, for diagnostic purposes, hardware analysis, and also to have access to custom software such as a system imaging util. Anyone know of something similar? I'm looking for something to replace ghost and it's ghostcast server for the imaging part and something that will talk when a windows machine won't boot so i can troubleshoot it. Thanks. Dave.

David Mehler (MCSA 2003, MCP, Network+, A+) dave.mehler@gmail.com

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hi, I got a cheap Dectalk Express from Ebay and it works well with GRML. However, Vinux http://www.vinux.org.uk may be a better alternative, it is based on Ubuntu, and has both console and GUI screen readers in-place. It is on the todo list to try it out. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: 24 May 2009 04:41 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Actually that's Dectalk Express, Dectalk PC is the internal card. I've used GRML to do disk wipes of machines we were giving away. I got the software speech to work relatively easy, you enter a code at the boot screen, then another command when it starts up. You get no prompt at the boot screen, but if I remember right you get a sound when its at the command prompt for you to enter the second command. Also, I got GRML to work with my Logitek USB headset once on a machine with no sound card, if I remember it just autodetected it. I'd honestly recommend this over an external synth, as USB ports are more common than serial ports. The Logitek USB headset has never had a problem coming up on Windows and as I said on GRML, I've not tried Ubuntu but I'd be surprised if it didn't work. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:09 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Might not help but always check Ebay. I bought a Dectalk PC there once for $50. (I think it's dectalk PC the one with the serial cable and it recharges, says Dec Talk in big Braille letters on the side) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'John G. Heim'" Cc: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's Hello, Thanks for your reply. I do not have a hardware synth, i wish i had the budget right now to get one. I agree that troubleshooting should be text for simplicity just as i do not run a gui on a server system. I was wondering if it were possible to modify either ubuntu or grml the CD to come up talking with software speech by default? Thanks. Dave. -----Original Message----- From: John G. Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:04 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's I usually use grml for troubleshooting hardware. That's linux though. If you're interested, you can check out www.grml.org. Lately, though, I've had to depend more and more on ubuntu. I say "had" to because it does not support the very reliable text console screen reader, speakup. Instead you must use the GUI screen reader orca. Orca is actually really coming of age. However, in a troubleshooting environment, you want a text console. But it seems to me that grml has not been as quick to support new hardware as ubuntu. Often, the newest ubuntu CD will have drivers for the newest NIC or sata drive whereas grml will not. Neither of these live CDs comes up talking by default. Each has a series of hoops you have to jump through to get speech. So I usually modify the grml CD to work with my speech synth, a doubletalk LE or "lite talk". If you have a hardware synth, you can boot grml and then type in the command to load the driver for your synth after it boots. But if the problems is that the machine won't boot, you will need to modify the CD. Another thing I've done in the past was make a bootable CD with freeDos and jaws for DOS. Jaws for DOS is a free download from the freedom scientific web site. Then you can make a bootable floppy with freeDos and then make a bootable CD from the diskette. Or you can do what I did and boot from the diskette and then access the freeDos CD. That requires you to put CD-ROM drivers on your diskette. I spent a lot of time on that but in the end, I ended up just using grml most of the time and ubuntu. There are a lot of people out there supporting grml and really a lot supporting ubuntu. They can do a way better job than I could do in my spare time with freedos and jaws. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:29 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Hello, I'm looking for either a pre-made or a howto on how to compile a live CD Linux distribution unimportant so i can drop it in a computer, boot, and have speech, for diagnostic purposes, hardware analysis, and also to have access to custom software such as a system imaging util. Anyone know of something similar? I'm looking for something to replace ghost and it's ghostcast server for the imaging part and something that will talk when a windows machine won't boot so i can troubleshoot it. Thanks. Dave.

David Mehler (MCSA 2003, MCP, Network+, A+) dave.mehler@gmail.com

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Yeah, the USB headset approach has several major advantages. But the hardware synth approach has some too. The main advantage is that you don't have to worry about pressing the right key combination at just the right time to get speech. The other advantage is that you'll get speech very early in the boot process. You get speech even before it loads the network drivers. But most rescue situations will be about accessing the hard drive so you can usually wait until after boot to get speech. The USB headset will probably suffice the vast majority of times. And, of course, it's way cheaper. If its a matter of one or the other, probably the USB headset is the way to go. It's really too bad everybody can't have a hardware synth though because there are just so many situations where they're indespensible. You can boot a machine from a live CD but that's not necessarily going to tell you why your server isn't booting. You may need access to the boot messages for that and that is going to require a hardware synth. I've been in too many situations where someone is reading boot messages to me and because they have no idea what they mean it just doesn't work. Honestly, speakup and my doubletalk LE have saved my bacon more times than I'd care to recall. I'd hate to have to do my job without them. But don't do Windows. Everything is linux around here except workstations. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" To: "Blind sysadmins list" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 10:40 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Actually that's Dectalk Express, Dectalk PC is the internal card. I've used GRML to do disk wipes of machines we were giving away. I got the software speech to work relatively easy, you enter a code at the boot screen, then another command when it starts up. You get no prompt at the boot screen, but if I remember right you get a sound when its at the command prompt for you to enter the second command. Also, I got GRML to work with my Logitek USB headset once on a machine with no sound card, if I remember it just autodetected it. I'd honestly recommend this over an external synth, as USB ports are more common than serial ports. The Logitek USB headset has never had a problem coming up on Windows and as I said on GRML, I've not tried Ubuntu but I'd be surprised if it didn't work. Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:09 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Might not help but always check Ebay. I bought a Dectalk PC there once for $50. (I think it's dectalk PC the one with the serial cable and it recharges, says Dec Talk in big Braille letters on the side)

----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'John G. Heim'" Cc: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

Hello, Thanks for your reply. I do not have a hardware synth, i wish i had the budget right now to get one. I agree that troubleshooting should be text for simplicity just as i do not run a gui on a server system. I was wondering if it were possible to modify either ubuntu or grml the CD to come up talking with software speech by default? Thanks. Dave.

-----Original Message----- From: John G. Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:04 PM To: dave.mehler@gmail.com; Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

I usually use grml for troubleshooting hardware. That's linux though. If you're interested, you can check out www.grml.org.

Lately, though, I've had to depend more and more on ubuntu. I say "had" to because it does not support the very reliable text console screen reader, speakup. Instead you must use the GUI screen reader orca. Orca is actually really coming of age. However, in a troubleshooting environment, you want a text console. But it seems to me that grml has not been as quick to support new hardware as ubuntu. Often, the newest ubuntu CD will have drivers for the newest NIC or sata drive whereas grml will not.

Neither of these live CDs comes up talking by default. Each has a series of hoops you have to jump through to get speech. So I usually modify the grml CD to work with my speech synth, a doubletalk LE or "lite talk".

If you have a hardware synth, you can boot grml and then type in the command to load the driver for your synth after it boots. But if the problems is that the machine won't boot, you will need to modify the CD.

Another thing I've done in the past was make a bootable CD with freeDos and jaws for DOS. Jaws for DOS is a free download from the freedom scientific web site. Then you can make a bootable floppy with freeDos and then make a bootable CD from the diskette. Or you can do what I did and boot from the diskette and then access the freeDos CD. That requires you to put CD-ROM drivers on your diskette.

I spent a lot of time on that but in the end, I ended up just using grml most of the time and ubuntu. There are a lot of people out there supporting grml and really a lot supporting ubuntu. They can do a way better job than I could do in my spare time with freedos and jaws.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" To: "'Blind sysadmins list'" Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:29 PM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] accessible live CD's

...

Hello, I'm looking for either a pre-made or a howto on how to compile a live CD Linux distribution unimportant so i can drop it in a computer, boot, and have speech, for diagnostic purposes, hardware analysis, and also to have access to custom software such as a system imaging util. Anyone know of something similar? I'm looking for something to replace ghost and it's ghostcast server for the imaging part and something that will talk when a windows machine won't boot so i can troubleshoot it. Thanks. Dave.

David Mehler (MCSA 2003, MCP, Network+, A+) dave.mehler@gmail.com

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

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__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4098 (20090522) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

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