This is a common problem in software development, we bite off more than we can
chew and the whole process get's bogged down to the point were nothing ever
gets released because nothing is ever ready. My original Louis program for
Macintosh is a simple document translator, it does not attempt to be an editor
or anything else simply feed it file and get back Braille, nothing more.
It is easy to get lost in a project, to have "mission creep" where more and
more things get added until the whole process grinds to a halt. We often loose
sight of the simple things that people need and that we set out to do. Liblouis
is a useful tool but it is so hard to build that it's usefulness is limited to
a handful of people able to wade through the complexities of getting it to work
and there would seem to be little interest in the developer community
surrounding it to build out pre-compiled versions for the various operating
systems. It is as if we are saying that if your not "man enough" to figure out
all the various steps to get this to work you have no right to use this
software.
I have, if anyone care to test it a simple program Louis as well as a MacOS
installer for the bare basics of liblouis along with some other Braille related
utilities such as selecting text and getting Braille back if anyone would care
to try these out let me know.
Here is my list of really needed items taken from dealing with agencies around
the English speaking world:
1. A means on transforming North American Braille Code and UK Braille Code BRF
files to Unified English Braille code BRF file. This does not need to be a
perfect conversion, indeed such would likely be impossible, but some method of
getting started.
2. A simple method of installing on the various platforms (Windows, MacOS X,
Linux) a working version of file2brl that does not require the programmers
tools which most people have no understanding of or for that matter even have
access to.
3. A simple, cross platform, Braille file editor to correct the BRF files
generated by the first two items. This editor should be able to act like and
electronic version of a Perkins Braille Writer with six key entry and settable
margins and page line length.
With these three simple tools liblouis could become the standard in most of the
world for Braille production.
Commonwealth Braille & Talking Book Cooperative
Greg Kearney, General Manager
#320, 185-911 Yates Street
Victoria, BC V8V 4Y9
CANADA
Email: info@xxxxxxxxx
U.S. Address
21908 Almaden Av.
Cupertino, CA 95014
UNITED STATES
Email: gkearney@xxxxxxxxx
On Jun 9, 2015, at 7:21 AM, Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
John,
I had heard there is still some work that needs to be done to fully implement
UEB within LibLouis. Can you comment
on that, and if so, is that a possible direction for your company?
When Braille Blaster tracking was part of this list, I was very impressed
with the work that was going on. It
seems likely that at some point there will be a pretty solid product coming
out of this work. Still, one of my
original fears was that this product is trying to do so much that it would
take some time to get it all correct. I
do not see NFBTRANS as being updated to the point that it can do completely
accurate UEB, so I'm wondering if
there may not be room for a braille translator that would be simpler in scope
than BrailleBlaster that could make
use of LibLouis. Perhaps this function could be handled by LibLouis and that
we only need some instructions how to
make it happen. Any thoughts on this?
Best regards,
Steve Jacobson
On Mon, 8 Jun 2015 20:13:31 -0500, John J. Boyer wrote:
Hi Vic,
I've stopped progrfamming, but I'm still keeping track of
BrailleBlaster. My company, AbilitiesSoft is looking for a new project
to
sponsor, since both liblouis and BrailleBlaster have "grown up" and have
maintenance teams and websites.
John
On Mon, Jun 08, 2015 at 08:05:05PM -0400, Vic Beckley wrote:
Hi John,
It is good to hear from you. I haven't seen anything from you for quite a
while. How are you doing? Are you still involved in BrailleBlaster? Thanks
for the response!
Best regards from Ohio,
Vic
-----Original Message-----
From: brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John J. Boyer
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2015 12:18 PM
To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [brailleblaster] BrailleBlaster development continues.
APH has moved it to a different repository. Hopefully there will be a
public release soon.
John
--
John J. Boyer; President,
AbilitiesSoft, Inc.
http://www.abilitiessoft.org
Madison, Wisconsin USA
We develop software for people with disabilities which is abailable at
no cost.
--
John J. Boyer; President,
AbilitiesSoft, Inc.
http://www.abilitiessoft.org
Madison, Wisconsin USA
We develop software for people with disabilities which is abailable at
no cost.
