Re: Survey: An SDK for proprietary systems

  • From: Chris Hofstader <cdh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:03:22 -0500

I think that Icon doesn't limit programmers to Python but, rather, demonstrates 
a strong preference for it.  Mark and the gang who make Icon are a really great 
people and I am certain that if you got a unit and asked them for help they 
would be more than willing to spend a little time getting you up and going.

I don't know about the other unit Ken mentioned.

PAC Mate does have a lot of ways to write programs for it but it is also 
expensive and a bit flaky.

cdh 
On Dec 10, 2009, at 9:58 PM, Ken Perry wrote:

>  
>  
>  
> This is not true braille plus and Icon can do third party software anything 
> that runs on OE linux and anything someone wants to write in python.
>  
> Ken
>  
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joseph Lee
> Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 4:58 PM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Survey: An SDK for proprietary systems
> 
>  
> Dear programmers and engineers,
> This is Joseph Lee, a computer science student at University of California, 
> Riverside. The reason for writing this post is to gather your thoughts and 
> opinions about a subject that I think a lot of you would be familiar with.
> As of 2009, we have numerous blindness PDA’s and notetakers on the market, 
> such as BrailleNote from HumanWare, Braille Sense from HIMS/GW Micro and PAC 
> Mate from Freedom Scientific. Off all these products, only PAC Mate allows 
> development of third-party software via SDK’s and IDE for Windows Mobile, 
> such as Visual Studio and BASIC4PPC. For other products, there is no SDK for 
> KeySoft (BrailleNote) for individuals and an SDK exists for Braille Sense (in 
> language other than English).
> As a student, I thought I could use my BrailleNote as a “test platform” to 
> develop programs for KeySoft and practice programming skills with it. 
> However, when I enquired about availability of keySoft SDK (via asking 
> another person to ask for me), the only response was that only companies who 
> shows interest in BrailleNote can consult with HumanWare for writing programs 
> for BrailleNote. A notable example is BrailleNote GPS from Sendero Group. In 
> other words, there is no widely available SDK so that an individual can write 
> external applications for KeySoft (just like Blazie programmers had done and 
> PAC Mate programmers are doing now). While I was thinking about this, I 
> remembered this list, thus deciding to appeal to you as to what should I (and 
> other potential student programmers) who are BN users should do (in order to 
> persuade HumanWare so that an individual can write external software with a 
> widely available SDK for KeySoft). This persuasion, if successful with 
> HumanWare, could work with HIMS/GW Micro to port Braille Sense SDK to English.
> I thought of this list mostly because we have programmers who have experience 
> with this kind of issue, thus can give us (students and users of these 
> systems) some recommendations as to what we should do.
> ]Here are the issues at hand:
> ·         If we want competetiveness, I believe that an SDK for BrailleNote 
> should be widely available (with a cost) so that individual programmers can 
> develop useful programs for it.
> ·         With the availability of this SDK, blind programmers can write 
> programs for the blind – thus giving back to the BrailleNote user community.
> ·         In case of an SDK for Braille Sense, if an SDK is available in one 
> language (in this case, Korean), then I believe that it should be available 
> in English as well (where we have more potential for useful external 
> utilities).
> So I (and others) would like to ask you as to your opinions and 
> recommendations as to what we should do next (as a collective action). Thank 
> you for your considerations.
> Sincerely,
> Joseph S. Lee
> University of California, Riverside

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