Re: [Blind-Computing] Questions about Linux

[Don Marang]

Don't look at as wasting my time.  Understanding typical user questions and 
difficulties helps me generate instructions that are more useful to a larger 
number of people.

1.  To tell you the truth, I had never heard of persistent storage used as a 
term before either.  However, I understood the concept, I probably would 
have called it something else.  The live CD and DVD have no persistent 
storage.  They still let you install some software or data files, but it 
completely disappears when you turn off the computer.  The only exception is 
if you locate your internal hard drive or external hard drive and write data 
files to them.  Both the CD/DVD or USB Flash drives squash their file 
systems, which is similar to compressing like zip files and decompress as 
needed when operating.  The persistent storage on a Flash drive, to my 
understanding, is a large file on the Flash drive, which holds user data 
which remains in between sessions.  It looks to the user as the same file 
system as would be on an installed hard drive.  However, under the covers, 
the main part of the filesystem is actually squashed and the user files and 
packages installed after creation of the Flash device, are packed inside 
that large file of persistent storage.  To the user, it just appears as if 
they can "permanantly" save 2 or 4 GB of new data / packages.  Did that 
confuse you more?

2.  The instructions I sent you a link to earlier was a link to an article 
on the Vinux Wicky.  A Wicky, just like the wickopedia site, is an area 
where the Vinux user community contributes tips and tricks on Vinux.  We 
have just gotten started, but there is a lot of great info there already. 
Take a little time to look around!

3.  Actually, the following is more accurate, tell me if this is 
understandable.

You need to install the VMware Player software onn your computer.  This 
creates an environment inside your computer that makes entire Operating 
Systems, like Vinux run inside a single window of Windows 7 (or XP).  The 
Vinux Operating System is called a guest but thinks it is running on it's 
own physical computer hardware.  It happens to have only half or less RAM, a 
fraction of the hard disk space, and a slower processor!  This is because 
these resources need to be shared between the Windows host and the virtual 
Vinux guest.  The guest virtual hard disk is merely one or a group of very 
large files on the physical hard drive.

Wow, I did not plan to go offf on a tangent like that.  If you downloaded 
the Vinux Virtual Edition from the Vinux Virtual World site, it includes the 
VMware software, the Vinux virtual hardd disk and configurations, and 
instructions.  It does not run in RAM, it thinks it is installed on a hard 
drive.  It just happens to be virtual.

Then you change all of the settings the way you like, install extra 
software, and perform a 'sudo remastersys backup', which creates the live, 
bootable ISO file.

Take the ISO file and burn it to a DVD and or use it to create a USB Flash 
drive using the Windows creation tool.  It is possible to create the USB 
drive directly in Vinux, but I sometimes have trouble getting persistence to 
work using that tool.

4.  This should be a one time adventure.  Like the live CD, it should adjust 
to a large variety of hardware.

Don Marang

There is just so much stuff in the world that, to me, is devoid of any real 
substance, value, and content that I just try to make sure that I am working 
on things that matter.
Dean Kamen


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Andre Williams" <andre.williams.1...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 11:43 PM
To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com>
Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] Questions about Linux

Don. Though I really want to learn what you have to teach, I don't want to
become another burden on you. I will try to look up as much as I can then
come back to you if I still don't understand. I'll start with presenting 
you
with yes or no questions. (Smile).

1. You have repeatedly mentioned persistent storage. I found the following
definition below, but am I correct in that it means information that is 
held
in ram then disappears when computer is shut off?
Web definitions for Persistent storage
Persistence in computer science refers to the characteristic of state that
outlives the process that created it. ...

2. Is the vinux wiki a reference to the tutorial link you provided?

3. Is the following process correct...
I   will have to create then load the Vinux operating system via a virtual
machine in ram.
Then create a bootable Cd of this image.
then I will load this image before windows loads, and I can begin 
restoring
my image created with Image for windows?

4. Will this be a one time thing, or will I have to go through this entire
process whenever I add new hardware and such to my computer?

Andre

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Marang" <donald.mar...@gmail.com>
To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 8:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] Questions about Linux


Well, you are not in danger of learning something antiquated here!  Both
Vinux 3.0 and Vinux 3.1 are just at the start of their supported life
cycles.  Yes, a USB Flash drive is nicer in my view because it is faster
than a DVD and can have persistent storage.  I preferred to start with the
instructions posted on the Vinux Wicky since I am familiar with Virtual
Machines.  I also prefer this method of preparing my custom backup ISO 
file
because it can easily be burned to a DVD, used directly to create a USB
Flash drive and stored away for later use.  I attempt to maximize my
available storage by pushing all of the newly installed packages into the
squashed file system of the USB Flash drive.  This is probably not
necessary, and may not even effect performance?

As I said earlier, it should be possible, to create a USB Flash drive 
using
one of the Vinux DVD editions using the instructions contained within the
Windows USB Creator program.  Then the Image for Linux and the other Linux
rescue packages can be installed into the persistent storage.  This can
probably be made to fit on a 4 GB Flash drive by specifying 2048 
persistent
storage.  I normally have 8 GB Flash drives around and specify the maximum
4096 persistent storage.  There is no way to create a DVD from this 
device,
which can be nice for certain computers.  There is also no way to keep a
spare ISO file around to quickly replicate.  However, it should be 
possible
to backup the USB Flash drive.  by just using the 'dd' command properly.

When I get the time, I will attempt to generate similar instructions for
directly creating a Vinux Rescue USB Flash drive.  It would expand on the
previous paragraph.

When I use terminology not familiar to you, just call me on it with
specifics, and I will attempt to expand on the topic in basic terms.  I 
tend
to shorten many explanations, since I only have one hand to type.  This is
especially true regarding articles on the Vinux Wicky.

Don Marang

There is just so much stuff in the world that, to me, is devoid of any 
real
substance, value, and content that I just try to make sure that I am 
working
on things that matter.
Dean Kamen


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Andre Williams" <andre.williams.1...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 10:34 PM
To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com>
Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] Questions about Linux

Don. Given this new information as compared to your post a few days ago,
which set of instructions should I pursue? I want to try this Vinux, but 
I
gotta say the lingo and obscure terminology is turning me away. I'm not
going to give up on it without giving it a shot, but there is so much
information that I don't know where to begin and I would hate to invest
tons
of time on the wrong choice or an obsolete version. I feel like I will 
end
up learning Windows 95 when I should really be seeking out information
relating to windows 7. I guess I'm asking for specifics in terms of what
to
begin reading. Because Thumb drives can be red much faster than DVD 
disks,
I'm thinking I should focus my efforts in installing Vinux on a thumb
drive.
Andre
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Marang" <donald.mar...@gmail.com>
To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 7:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] Questions about Linux


I use Vinux.  They just announced Vinux 3.1, based on the latest Ubuntu
10.1.  It is available free at vinux.org.uk and it's mirrors. You can
download either the CD or DVD ISO files and burn to a disk.  There is now
a
Quick Start Guide on the web site and the DVD edition.  Just insert the
disk
and startup the computer.  It can perform as a full featured Linux
Operating
System from the disk.  This works well for emergency situations and also
lets you test drive Linux.  Of course, installing Vinux on a USB Flash
drive, Virtual Machine, or on your hard drive will provide increasingly
better performance.

Everything is accessible from the start in terms of boot, login and
installation.  Vinux uses the Orca screen reader in the gnome desktop,
SpeakUp when in one of the consoles, 2 magnifiers, and even a backup
screen
reader.  Most of the gnome gtk applications are accessible to some 
extent.
Applications like gimp. a drawing program, is not very accessible.
Thunderbird works well and Firefox is the default browser.  To me, the
current version of Firefox seems sluggish with Orca right now.  This is
one
area that needs work.  There are even text only browsers like links, that
are very responsive.  Of course, most command line and emacs applications
are accessible.

Give it a test drive, it is free, powerful, and although not perfect, it
is
rapidly improving and we have the source to fix issues.

Don Marang

There is just so much stuff in the world that, to me, is devoid of any
real
substance, value, and content that I just try to make sure that I am
working
on things that matter.
Dean Kamen


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Arianna" <acale...@frontiernet.net>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 3:48 PM
To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com>
Subject: [Blind-Computing] Questions about Linux

`I am aware that some blind people are using Linux, so if any of you
Linux
users could answer some of my questions, I'd be grateful.

What applications can be used with Linux?  What is the name of the
screenreader that works with it?  Does it have an internet browser, an
email program?

Thanks for any help.

Arianna
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