[bcab] Re: Vinux - Linux for the Visually Impaired!

Hi Tiddy, Vinux is the new name for Vibuntu - we changed the name because
'Vibuntu' infringed upon Ubuntu's trademarks. The latest version of Vinux has
a lot of improvements over the earlier Vibuntu releases. If you have not used
Linux before you will probably need to read all of the release announcements
etc and get support from the Vinux user group to get you up and running:

http://groups.google.com/group/vinux-development

drbongo


-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Tiddy Ogg
Sent: Thu 26/03/2009 09:33
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Vinux - Linux for the Visually Impaired!
 
Hi.  Recently there was a link here for Vibuntu, a similar system,
presumably.
Is there much difference, I haven't played with Vibuntu much.


-----Original Message-----
From: Anthony Sales [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Anthony Sales
Sent: 26 March 2009 09:28
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [bcab] Re: Vinux - Linux for the Visually Impaired!

Hi Bernard,

Unless you use some sort of virtualisation software you would not be
able to run both systems concurrently - to do this you would need to use
something like VMware or VirtualBox which will allow you to run Linux
within Windows or Windows within Linux. There is a VMware self
extracting executable available of version 1.31 on the website and there
will be a version of 1.4 available in that format shortly.Here is the
URL:

http://vinux.org.uk/downloads/old/1.31/Vinux_1.31_Virtual_Edition.exe

The main release is designed to be run from a Live CD (no installation
necessary), from a USB pendrive or installed to a hard drive. There are
two options when installing to a hard drive. Firstly you can install
Vinux as a replacement for Windows, or secondly you can create a dual
boot installation which will allow you to choose between Vinux or
Windows when the computer boots. However there will be no speech support
by default when you are offered this choice, although it is possible to
add a system bell signal after you have installed it.

I would recommend that you started off just using the live CD without
installing anything to give you a chance to get used to it. When using
the live CD you can save any documents you make to the hard drive or a
USB pendrive. If you like it I would then recommend that you try
installing it to a USB pendrive (as long as you PC supports USB booting)
as this will let you save any settings you change or documents you
create automatically to the pendrive. Finally once you are sure you like
it and are comfortable you might consider installing it to a hard
drive,. Ideally this would be a second older computer at first so it
give you a chance to experiment and make mistakes without losing any
data etc.

If you decide to install it to the E: drive, it will run fine from
there, but if you make a mistake when choosing which drive to put it on
you risk losing all of your data and windows files. So proceed with
caution! If you want detailed instructions on doing the installation let
me know.

drbongo


-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of bernard.georgiou
Sent: Thu 26/03/2009 08:38
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Vinux - Linux for the Visually Impaired!
 
Hello Anthony,

This sounds great, however I have a query re my own system before I try
this out... I am running XP Pro service pack 3 and have a large drive
split into 2 being a C: and an E: with Windows and all software running
on C: and drive E: being used for file storage. My plan would be to
install this software onto the E drive, would this work and, secondly,
once booted up on the Windows, can one simply select the Linnux and
start to run it even though the original Windows is still running i.e.
effectively having 2 operating systems running concurrently?

Bernard

B S GEORGIOU 
E-MAIL: bernard.georgiou@xxxxxxx
MOBILE NO: 077 89818291

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Anthony Sales 
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 9:03 PM
Subject: [bcab] Vinux - Linux for the Visually Impaired!



Greetings,

My name is Dr.Anthony Sales and I am currently working
as the ICT Development Officer at the Royal National College for the
Blind in Hereford, UK. I have developed a free and open source operating
system called 'Vinux' based on the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution
which
has been optimised for visually impaired users. One of the Governors of
the College who is a member of this list, thought some of you would be
interested in the project. So here goes...

Vinux is designed to boot your computer, log you in automatically and
then
start up the Orca screen-reader with Braille support. Full-screen
magnification can then be activated with a simple keystroke.

You can use Vinux as a live CD, a portable operating system on a USB
memory
stick or you can install it to your hard drive either alongside or as a
complete replacement for Windows. N.B. While using the live CD the
default
username is 'vinux'. You can however choose your own username and
password
once you have installed it. The download URL's are:

Download Vinux 1.4 - http://vinux.org.uk/downloads/old/1.4/Vinux-1.4.iso
Check md5sum -
http://vinux.org.uk/downloads/old/1.4/Vinux-1.4.iso.md5sum.txt
Vinux Homepage - http://vinux.org.uk

Please read all of this document before you attempt to run Vinux or
install it to an internal hard drive or USB pendrive; It will save you a
lot of time and effort in the long run! If you have not used Linux
before
you may need some instructions on how to get it working. There is a
dedicated
development forum where you can get help and support:

http://groups.google.com/group/vinux-development

The latest release is version 1.4, new features include:

Security: Unlike previous versions Vinux 1.4 has been built from scratch
using the Ubuntu 'mini.iso' 10MB network installation which means it
contains all of the latest packages and security patches as of the day
of
release.

Audible Boot Prompt: The Live CD now sounds the system bell three times
when the boot prompt appears on the screen, which then gives you thirty
seconds to type in any cheatcodes or boot options you require.
e.g. typing 'textonly' will boot into console only mode, you can then
type 'yasr' to start a console based screen-reader.

Braille Displays: The Live CD now supports a wide variety of serial
Braille
displays in edition to the automatic detection of USB Braille displays.
In order to use a serial Braille display or a USB Braille display with a
different language table you simply have to type in a short code at the
boot prompt. e.g. 'alde' for an Alva Serial display using the German
language table, or 'alude' for an Alva USB  display using the german
language table. There are a full list of cheatcodes included in the
'cheatcodes_braille_displays.txt' on the CD. By default Vinux supports
USB Braille displays using the en_uk language table.

Talking Login Screen: Once installed espeak will now ask you to enter
your username and password when the login screen is loaded providing you
do not enable autologin during the installation process. It will not
however echo what you type, but if you enter the wrong username and/or
password you will be asked to enter them again. It is important that you
should not enable autologin if you are using a wifi connection as the
keyring
manager workaround detailed below depends upon a manual login to work!

Keyring Manager Workaround: Vinux now includes a workaround of sorts for
the
keyring manager which is currently inaccessible with Orca. We have set
up a
pre-configured keyring password 'vinux' which is retained on both the
Live CD
and an full install. This means that when you try to connect to a wifi
network Orca stops speaking when the keyring manager password dialog box
opens. Now you simply have to type 'vinux' into this box and as long as
autologin is not enabled you will never have to enter the keyring
password
again.

Lynx Fix: Lynx, Netrik and Firefox now use a local copy of the
vinux.org.uk
homepage as their starting URL's by default which means that you can
open the broswers without problems whether you have an active internet
connection or not.

Menu Entries for Console Applications: I have added menu entries for
some
of the extra console based applications provided in Vinux. This is to
enable
beginners who may not know the names of these applications or their way
around
the console to find and experiment with them more easily.


End of New Features

Below is a list of extra packages included in Vinux 1.4 followed by a
list of
all the customised Vinux keybindings.

Extra Packages:

Speech Synthesisers

festival
flite

Gnome Packages

xzoom - windowed magnifier
xbindkeys - configure keyboard shortcuts
nautilus-open-terminal - open terminal from nautilus
gnome-accessibility - accessibility themes
gnome-accessibility-themes-extras - extra accesibility themes
xkbset- keyboard accessibility functions

Command Line Applications

yasr - screen-reader
lynx - web browser
urlview - extract URL's
joe - text editor
mc - file manager
irssi - irc client
mutt - e-mail client
alpine - e-mail client
tpp - text presenter
ncftp - ftp client
units - conversion tool
e3 - text editor
mpg123 - audio player
pdmenu - menu generator
partimage - partition imager
vlock - lock the console
sysv-rc-conf - configure init runlevel
sc - screen-reader
netrik - web browser
9menu - menu generator
aumix - audio mixer
calcurse - calendar/todo list

Forensics/Recovery Tools

testdisk - disk recovery
autopsy - gui for sleuthkit
dcfldd - enhanced dd
foremost - recover data
scalpel - file carver
sleuthkit - forensic analysis
gddrescue - data recovery
wipe - secure file deletion
ddrescue - data recovery
backup-manager - backup tool


Vinux Customised Keyboard Commands:

Orca Keybindings

Increase Voice Rate: insert+right
Decrease Voice Rate: insert+left
Increase Voice Pitch: insert+up
Decrease Voice Pitch: Insert+down
Toggle Magnification On/Off: insert+m
Increase Magnification: insert+(equals)
Decrease Magnification: insert+(minus)
Invert Colours: insert+i
Read Time: insert+t
Read date: insert+d
Read Battery Power: insert+a
Read weather: insert+w

Xbindkeys

Start/Restart Orca: ctrl+shift+o
Start YASR: ctrl+shift+y
Enable 3D Magnification: ctrl+shift+3
Disable 3D Magnification: ctrl+shift+2

Gnome Keybindings

Open Terminal: ctrl+shift+t
Open Home Folder: ctrl+shift+h
Toggle Maximise Window: ctrl+shift+m
Toggle Fullscreen Mode: ctrl+shift+f

Compiz 3D Desktop Keybindings (Must enable 3D)

Zoom In: win+z (win+left-mouse)
Zoom Out: win+x (win+right-mouse)
Zoom Selected Area: (win+middle-mouse)
Zoom x1: win+1
Zoom x2: win+2
Zoom x4: win+3

Toggle Magnifier Box: win+m
Zoom In Magnifier Box: ctrl+left-mouse
Zoom Out Magnifier Box: ctrl+right-mouse

Resize Window: win+r
Zoom To Window: win+w

Pan Right: win+right
Pan Left: win+left
Pan Up: win+up
Pan Down: win+down

Lock Zoomed Window: win+l

Centre Mouse Pointer: win+c
Toggle Highlight Mouse Pointer: win+h

Toggle Invert Colours: win+i
Toggle Invert Window Colours: shift+win+i
Toggle Filter Colours: win+f
Toggle Window Filter Colours: shift+win+f
Switch Filter Colours: win+s

Decrease Window Brightness: win+(minus)
Increase Window Brightness: win+(plus)
Decrease Window Saturation: shift+win+(plus)
Increase Window Saturation: shift+win+(minus)
Toggle Dim Inactive Windows: win+d

NB: Full lists of the Keybindings for Orca, Gnome and Yasr can be found
in the Vinux folder in the your home directory.

Credits: I would like to thank Osvaldo La Rosa for all his hard work
in providing the audible beeps and the Braille display cheatcodes,
and David Knight for suggesting the workaround for the keyring
manager bug!

Have fun,

Dr.Anthony Sales 24/03/2009 
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To find out more about BCAB and the benefits that membership can bring,
please visit our website:
http://www.bcab.org.uk/

To manage your subscription to the BCAB mailing list, please visit our
website:
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