[Linux-bruxelles] announcing new BrlSpeak Debian-based Braille-Loopback Mini-Distribution

[Osvaldo La Rosa]

[For immediate publication]:

Hello!

	Today Oct. the 1st, 2003, the BrailleSpeak Project have released its
NEW "BrlSpeak Debian-based Braille-Loopback Mini-Distribution".

	This Debian-based loopback distribution of GNU/Linux is no longer
UMSDOS as by the past (cf. previous Slack-based BrlSpeak) but it still aims
to provide a (temporary) solution for those who want/need/prefer
installing/trying a mini-distribution on their FAT partition, without having
to repartition the hard disk.

	The major advantage is now that this is a Debian GNU/Linux system,
(probably the first running on a FAT32), so once started you may use the
apt facility to upgrade and install extra packages with their dependencies,
exactly as under a "real" EXT Debian GNU/Linux system.
In fact, the BrlSpeak installer creates a \linux directory where it puts a
loopback, and the entire system comes in that loop-file; after that, the
kernel is loaded using linld (something similar to loadlin) to boot-up the
system.

	There are currently 3 bases available:
	* basic (minimalistic, *currently recommended*, see below)
	* braille (same as basic + some extras)
	* vocal (braille + some applications for adding speech to it)

	There is also a brlspeak-deb CD ISO available now!

IMPORTANT:
currently ONLY the basic version installs correctly, this is a known problem
and our volunteer team will resolve this asap.
But if some would like to try the other bases, or if you'd like to become a
contributor, we will very appreciate some help!
(not so much looking for translators now, but we need some new developers
for maintaining the project)

	Regarding the vocal base: we provide Screader and Mbrola but there
is *not yet* speech support during installation.
There's an alternate solution called Oralux (see oralux.org) we encourage
people to use if they want speech at boottime.

	Braille support is available using BrlTty: as by the past you may
preconfigure the settings from within the installer so that you have
braille at the first login.

	A CD-ROM image containing the 3 (zip-compressed) bases + an
installer batch for DOS/FreeDOS + an install menu for Windows is available
here:
	http://brlspeak.net/brlspeak-deb/iso/ (170M)

Note that running the installer is required, no matter which OS and even
after having unpacked the zip under WIN.

	A quick guide + documentation is available here:
	http://brlspeak.net/release/<base>/readme.txt
	and
	http://brlspeak.net/release/doc+faq

	About the installer:
	* if you run DOS/FreeDOS or WIN9X, you may run the installer from CD
	* in other situations or when running WINXP (FAT32), see if you can
	  take advantages by using an installer floppy-disk

Contact us:
* send comments or submit your proposal of contrib to:
  info [at] brlspeak [dot] net
* there is also a #brlspeak chatroom at:
  irc.freenode.net

The BRaiLeSPEAK Team -- <http://brlspeak.net>
			Sebastien François <sebfrance at ifrance.com>
			Remi Dewitte <miloz at ifrance.com>
			Osvaldo La Rosa <info at brlspeak.net>