Installing Emacspeak HOWTO Jennifer Jobst James Van Zandt <[email protected]> Revision History Revision 1.1 July 23, 2002 SDS Updated the maintainer of this document to Sharon Snider, corrected links, and converted to XML. Revision 1.0 December 4, 2001 JEJ First release Revision 1.0 DRAFT November 9, 2001 JEJ DRAFT Revision Emacspeak HOWTO 1996-2001 JVZ Previously, this document was known as the Emacspeak HOW- TO, and was written and maintained by Mr. James Van Zandt. Abstract This document contains the installation instructions for the Emacspeak audio desktop application for Linux. Please send any comments, or contributions via e-mail to Sharon Snider [mailto:[email protected]]. This docu- ment will be updated regularly with new contributions and suggestions. Table of Contents Legal Notice ...................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2 Documentation Conventions .................................................................................................. 2 Requirements ...................................................................................................................... 2 Linux Distributions ...................................................................................................... 2 Emacs ....................................................................................................................... 3 Background applications ............................................................................................... 4 Speech Synthesizers ..................................................................................................... 4 Installing Emacspeak ........................................................................................................... 5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ...................................................................................... 6 Additional resources ............................................................................................................ 9 Appendix A: Installing Linux from a DOS machine ................................................................ 10 Requirments ............................................................................................................. 10 Connecting the computers ........................................................................................... 11 Installation ................................................................................................................ 11 Appendix B: Installing ViaVoice TTS ................................................................................... 11 Downloading ViaVoice .............................................................................................. 11 Installing ViaVoice RTK ............................................................................................ 12 Installing ViaVoice SDK ............................................................................................ 12 Testing the installation ............................................................................................... 12 Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. 13 1 Installing Emacspeak HOWTO Legal Notice This document is Copyright © 2001 IBM. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back- Cover Texts. A copy of the license can be found at http://www.gnu.org/license/fdl.txt. Introduction Emacspeak is a Linux application that allows users to get synthesized speech output inside the Emacs desktop environment. Because Emacspeak is actually integrated into the Emacs environment (instead of just running "on top" of an environment like most screen readers), Emacspeak provides much more con- text-specific information than its commercial screen reader counterparts. In this sense, Emacspeak is not a "screen reader," but rather a subsystem of Emacs that produces speech output. Although Emacspeak only works inside Emacs, there are a large number of both built-in and add-on ap- plications for Emacs that do everything from keeping track of your appointments to playing CDs to coding HTML. In addition, Emacs has a special command shell mode that can be used to run any command-line application. This HOWTO focuses on installing Emacspeak on your Linux system. It does not discuss how to actually use Emacs or Emacspeak - for information on usage, refer to the Emacspeak User's Guide, available at http://www.tldp.org/guides.html#espk. Documentation Conventions As per the LDP Author Guide, this HOWTO uses the following documentation conventions: File Names: file.extension Commands to be typed: command Command prompt: > (unless otherwise specified) Requirements There are a number of things you must have before you install Emacspeak, including Linux, a Linux-com- patible sound card, Emacs, and a hardware or software speech synthesizer. You should read this section carefully before installing Emacspeak, because Emacspeak will not function correctly if any of the re- quirements are missing. Linux Distributions This HOWTO assumes that you have already installed Linux on your system. If not, you may wish to refer to the "Linux Information Sheet" by Michael K. Johnson a http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/IN- FO-SHEET.html. It provides an introduction to Linux, discusses some hardware requirements, and also has a section on how to obtain Linux. There are a number of different Linux distributions (distros) that you can choose from. All of the distros are based upon the same basic Linux code, or kernel, but each distro has a different installation process, features, and support options. Martin Wheeler's "Distributions HOWTO," at http://www.linuxdoc.org/ 2 Installing Emacspeak HOWTO HOWTO/Distributions-HOWTO/index.html, discusses the pros and cons of a number of Linux distros. You can also find information about each distribution on their respective web sites. Those distros known to support Emacspeak are listed below with their URLs: • Debian Linux - http://www.debian.org • Mandrake Linux - http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ • Red Hat Linux - http://www.redhat.com • Slackware Linux - http://www.slackware.com • SuSE Linux - http://www.suse.com • TurboLinux - http://www.turbolinux.com All of the distributions listed above can be downloaded free of charge from their respective web sites. However, the downloads are quite large, so you'll need a fast Internet connection. You will also need access to a CD burner, to burn your own CDs from the images you download. Depending on the distribution, you may also have to download and make a boot floppy. Once you have burned the CDs and created the boot floppy, you can install Linux. Alternatively, you can purchase the disks at your local computer store for between $30 and $80 US. Both of these options are discussed at length in the Linux Installation HOWTO at http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO/overview.html, so you may want to refer there before making a decision as to which route to take. Most methods of installation require sighted assistance. However, if you prefer to install Linux yourself, there are two options. The first is to install Linux from a DOS machine running JAWS. This option requires two machines, a null modem cable, JAWS for DOS, and a hardware speech synthesizer. More information on this option can be found in, Appendix A. The second option is installing one of the distributions that includes a Speakup kernel patch. This option requires a Speakup-enabled distro and a hardware synthesizer. Speakup is a screen reader that is patched into the kernel, so it starts talking at boot and will speak during the entire installation. Currently, Speakup is supported on Debian, Red Hat 7.1, and Slackware. The Speakup option also requires you to download the CD images and make your own CDs. Refer to the Speakup home page at http://www.linux-speakup.org for instructions for this option. For assistance with installing Linux, Eric Raymond's Linux Installation HOWTO, at http:// www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO, is highly recommended reading. In the HOWTO, Eric discusses hardware requirements, choosing a distro, and installing your distro of choice. If Eric's HOWTO does not provide enough installation-specific information, you can refer to the documentation specific to your distribution, available at the URLs given in the distro list. Emacs Because Emacspeak is an Emacs subsystem, you must have Emacs installed for Emacspeak to work. Most distributions include Emacs by default, so it should be installed on your system when you install Linux. If you do not have Emacs on your system or you want to check on the latest version of Emacs, refer to the Emacs homepage at http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html. If you install Emacs on your own or choose to upgrade, be sure to install all of Emacs, including both the X and non-X versions (even if you do not plan to use X). Some Emacs applications depend on packages included in the X version, even if you use those applications in the non-X version of Emacs. If you would like to learn more about Emacs and how to use it, an excellent place