Hi Sarah, On 20 Jan 2005 at 13:17, Sarah Cranston <[email protected]> spoke, thus:
> I'm sorry I keep getting on this soapbox, but I have to correct you in one > small area. The BN family *does* work as a speech synthesizer for JFW, but > only on systems running Windows 98 or ME. This is achieved using the SSIL driver developed by PulseData. The specifications for the Keynote SA synthesiser and compatibles is apparently only available under Non-Disclosure agreements due to licensing problems, hence neither Dolphin nor FreedomScientific agree to support it by any means other than the closed SSIL driver. SSIL is a 16-bit infrastructure, so FreedomScientific will not support it on NT (any Windows later than ME, which is NT4, 2K or XP). Dolphin allows use of SSIL drivers under NT but since many of them don't work very well, including the Keynote SA/MM/PC driver, Hal/Supernova will not work well with the synthesisers either. GW Micro supports the Keynote SA directly without using SSIL - exactly how they obtained the specs is anyone's guess, but I'm not about to make any accusations or hazard any guesses myself as a fairly knowledgable (if not experienced) developer. I'll just say that obtaining the information from closed programs is possible, if you have the time, patience and moral inclination. We do really need the information to be opened up, as we will not be able to work on development of compatible interfaces otherwise. I know for certain that I should like to work on an open SAM or other 32-bit interface given the time or opportunity, or make the Keynote SA work under Speakup or BRLTTY or YASR or other Open Source review utility for Unix- like operating systems such as BSD or Linux. The problem then is how to make things open source without violating agreements or without opening the specs. I had pondered the possibilities of creating closed modules to work against open or other software, first somehow justifying speech synthesis as worthy for non-disclosure, but I find it very unlikely that anyone, including FreedomScientific (and certainly not the Linux Kernel developers) would appreciate that. Nor, to be honest, could I live with the idea myself. Even so, if pulseData wants to step forward and change this situation, it would certainly be better that than nothing. Speaking of openness, one of the first things that VisuAide was anxious to assure me was that their product was already accompanied with an SDK. This meant, philosophically speaking, that while PulseData and VisuAide were on the same side of the mainstream fence, by supplying essentially software-customised boxes, they had very different views about developer input and disclosure. I wonder if this merger will change that for the better and bring the two into unison. Cheers, Sabahattin -- If an email tells you to forward it to all your friends, please temporarily forget that I am your friend. Sabahattin Gucukoglu Phone: +44 20 88008915 Mobile: +44 7986 053399 http://www.sabahattin-gucukoglu.com/ Email/MSN: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Skype: SabahattinGucukoglu (requires authorisation, add me to your list first) SpeakFreely: sabahattin-gucukoglu.com (Please use CELP compression if your processor allows)
