2018-05-09 09:26:41

Hi.
I am thinking about switching to linux/ubuntu.
What  is the most accessible ubuntu distro. I am currently having Ubuntu Mate in mind but I wan't to hear your suggestions.
- NicklasMCHD

If you like what I do, Feel free to check me out on GitHub, or follow me on Twitter

2018-05-09 10:57:31

Hello I am on ubuntu mate hear and it is very accessible! it is also very stable and reliable. may I ask why you are wanting to switch over to linux? are you coming from the windows world?

2018-05-09 16:46:43

I can't get mate to work for anything. Like, at all. My experience is that it is not accessible, but I see others have gotten it to work so I don't know. I recently tried it about 6 months ago. I've found Gnome works best for me. I think Ubuntu have quit making Unity, I didn't like it anyway, it made Orca laggy, where gnome did not.

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2018-05-09 23:18:25

@2 I'm comming from the Windows world. My main reason to switch to Linux is, that I wan't to use Emacs and other Linux only applications.
- NicklasMCHD

If you like what I do, Feel free to check me out on GitHub, or follow me on Twitter

2018-05-10 06:44:23

Hello, how to you use emax anyway? I heared that it is a commandline based screen reader? how does it work? and also is this going to be a permanent move to linux or just temporary?

2018-05-10 07:17:58

Hi guys, I have a semmi similar question. but with a twist, any detailed help, would be grately appreciated.
I am using a lenovo x260 laptop.
I have a external USB powered seagate drive, that is 5 TB in size. the lenovo laptop is fully USB 3.0. it has a built in 3 gee modem, i am only mentioning all this stuff for the sake of details.
I am wanting to ask. what is the right bootable most accessable linux to use, that will do the following when I boot it up from cd or dvd or even usb drive.
1. start to talk right away.
2. be able to detect the most newest hardware. and provide me with instant orca support.
3.  allow me to access my internal laptop drive without messing up windows file systems.
4. perhaps to offer option to install linux with the easiest options.
I am from the windows world. so do not know much about linux.
I'd appreciate some help as I do not want to mess up my config here.
I also have a memory card wich is 120 gb in size, that is installed in the laptop. the card is in right protect mode. so all the stuff is read only.
this is so I can have my most important goodies with me, ware ever I go.
Any help would be grately appreciated.
the laptop internal drive is a samsung 850 pro SSD.
the laptop uses the intell HD graphics 520 display on board graphics chip.

I did try to google it, but found rather confusing options. something called puppy linux?
there's to many confusing things out there, so I thought i'd ask you guys, and see if we can come up with something.
I am willing to download what ever packets you point me to.
if many packets are needed i am even willing to right them all to one disk if needed. but I'd kindly appreciate details. I would love to trie out a thing called wine, wich I understand is a thing you can use to simulate apps on windows? but, again i'd need help.
that is all the things I wish to try.
I am willing to download what ever it is you point me to. all I ask is to show me what it is i'd need

Thank you for your help in advance

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2018-05-10 13:55:42

@mayson it will be a kind of permanent switch but still kind of not. I'm switching to Linux untill I've saved up to ny new computer which are going to be a macbook. When I then get the macbook, I'm gonna triple boot MacOS, WindowsOS and LinuxOS.
- NicklasMCHD

If you like what I do, Feel free to check me out on GitHub, or follow me on Twitter

2018-05-11 04:05:30

cool! well like I said in my last post, ubuntu mate is usuable. and, when you do boot ubuntu mate or any ubuntu distro, it will boot, and you  bongo type of sound. do you know if your bios is set to boot in uefi mode or legacy bios mode. the bongo sound will only play if you are in legacy bios mode.

2018-05-11 15:40:31

How do you get orca to focus on a window, like firefox or chrome, or the welcome center in Mate. For me, it never wants to focus on the window, even though I have enough vision I can tell its there, but it will simply want to read under the window, like the contents of the desktop.

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2018-05-11 18:53:23

Hi there,

So, a couple of things:
There are so many Ubuntu variants out there. Most of them are accessible, and do come with ORCA. However, no matter what you do, a Linux system with a desktop environment will almost always contain many inaccessible components. The one with which I had much success was Mate. Some parts are inaccessible, but you can get around them by making use of Linux/Unix commands. Honestly speaking, accessibility on Linux desktop systems is not there as compared to Windows or Mac. Therefore, my recommendation is to customize your system by using something like Arch Linux, installing a desktop manager and environment, and adding only the necessary applications like VLC and Firefox that you know have some accessibility.
Of course, you could always make use of a pure command line environment, which works for some people. However, if you want the luxury of falling back to an environment to which you are familiar, such as Windows or Mac, you could always install Unix-style utilities. I'm assuming you want to make use of things like Git, SSH, Nano, Vim, Emacs, etc. In that case, Mac has most of these things by default since it has a Unix core. If you're on Windows, I recommend installing either Cygwin or Msys2. Msys2 has its own package manager.
Now, if you're absolutely set on using pure Linux system, you might consider doing some research over the various screen-readers and accessibility APIs. ORCA is a desktop screen-reader, Speakup is a command-line screen-reader. Fenrir is another python-based command-line screen reader. YASR is yet another console screen reader. Also, one more little suggestion is to install Chrome and ChromeVox. The chrome browser itself is quite a powerful application.
One final thing is that if you don't want to dedicate an actual PC for Linux, you could get a Raspberry Pi as a way of experimenting. Raspbian is a Linux distribution that has many uses, and with a little work, can be made completely accessible.
I hope this helps.

2018-05-13 03:31:31

No, don't use Vinux. For one reason, the lead developer left. For another it is based on Ubuntu 14.04 which is having support dropped next year. Vinux is Ubuntu 14.04 with Orca automatically starting. You can do the exact same deal with Ubuntu Mate 18, and Vinux has hideously outdated packages and the Vinux team specifically tell you not to update anything, leaving you wide open to threats that have since been patched in 16 and 18.04 LTS releases.

@Nick: I can say from personal experience 18.04 runs Orca perfectly well and is highly easy to use.

In short: Stay the ever loving hell away from Vinux. Once Canonical drops support I personally hope Vinux withers away. I'd much rather people use an upd to date Ubuntu or Linux distro, not something outdated where the devs say on their support lists do not update it, you do not neeed to update....despite everyone else and even the kernel team who make the Linux kernel telling people to upgrade for security reasons. All you have to do is fire up Ubuntu 18, enable Orca once the system boots from the CD or live USB and you have EXACTLY the same setup as Vinux, with more up to date stuff. Plus if you do a minimal install of 18.04 you get to build the system how you like.

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2018-05-13 06:18:48

Also, that site Monkey linked to has a lot of cracks and such on it. Does anyone really trust a site that offers ways to crack activating Windows with a Vinux DL? I don't trust any site that openly screams HERE IS HOW TO CRACK WINDOWS and puts it under 'helping blind people' as a thing really. I mean, how do you know that site's not serving up malware in the Vinux DL anyway?

I just don't trust that site at all, and given Vinux is effectiely a dead project I do think anyone is better off with an Ubuntu Mate LTS release that's recent, i.e. 16 or preferably 18.04 really.

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2018-05-13 07:20:38

Hello,

I'm curious about Ubuntu mate. What applications come with the distrobution by default? Can I install it on my old 2006 Mac Mini? I want to repurpose that machine as a server for storing files and possibly other stuff. Do I need special drivers?

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2018-05-13 13:08:46

Oh I don't kno about krecks on there but it wil download from source forge

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2018-05-13 15:51:37

No, go down past the Vinux download. Activator for MS Office. Activator for Windows. Those are ways to crack Windows and to trick it into thinking it is legally activated when it isn't. I'm no MS fanboy but come on. You couldn't have found a better source? You couldn't have linked to the Vinux site directly or the mailing list? I'll say again to stay away from Vinux and any Ubuntu 14.04 based distros. Chris, to answer your question....

Firefox is the default browser. Pluma is your default text editor. Thunderbird is your default email, it comes with Libre Office.

However!

If you do the minimal install it cuts a lot of that out. You merely get Firefox and nothing else for web stuff, but the advantage of this is you get to install what you want from a base system and install only what you need. Both the full and minimal installs come with Orca as well.

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2018-05-14 00:54:18

Ubuntu Mate 16.04 is the most accessable distro, which I tried.

2018-05-14 19:48:56

No no, 18.04 is, it has the super+alt+S key working by default to start Orca and....minimal install here but I'd argue it's more accessible because Orca's been worked on more than two years ago. Plus the Brisk menu works pretty nicely, which you don't get in 16.04 out of the box.

Alright, Mate now uses GTK3 but that's a good and bad thing. In short its easier to start Orcan than ever before.

Least you can do is give it a go in a VM.

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2018-05-15 12:54:52

vinux on ubuntu,three screenreaders

2018-05-15 19:57:06 (edited by JaceK 2018-05-15 20:00:18)

See my previous points about why NOT to use Vinux
1. Support for 14.04 Trusty is ending in 2019.

2. The lead developer stepped down

3. They have a back and forth policy on upgrades. One day it will be no don't do sudo apt-pdate and sudo apt-upgrade. The next it'll be sure, upgrade everything and help us log bugs.

3. You can get the three screenreaders on any Ubuntu based install if you know how to configure them. Vinux just packaged it all together, on a horribly outdated base, 4.04 LTS, and can't or won't work on anything newer.

So in short, get a modern Mate distro or Gnome if you prefer, both come with Orca baked in, and there's guides on how to get your screenreader of choice working. That, and you'll learn more about Ubuntu and how to fix issues with the system. It's far, far better to build your own system too with Ubuntu and install what YOU want, rather than what somebody else thinks you need.

F.ex. Get 18.04, enable Orca with win+alt+s at boot menu, do a minimal insttall and go from there. Mate and Gnome work pretty good but Mate IMO is the bettter desktop for Orca.

Vinux is nothing more than a prepackaged out of date Ubuntu that will lose support, has a lead developer who stepped down, and who has a fanbase who claim no other distro is accessible. Ever.

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