Messages in this thread | | | Date | Wed, 6 Mar 1996 05:54:33 -0500 (EST) | From | Kenneth Albanowski <> | Subject | Re: Blind-access patch for Linux 1.3.x |
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On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, Ulrich Windl wrote:
> On 5 Mar 96 at 17:23, Kenneth Albanowski wrote: > > > > > This patch is intended to make Linux easier for the blind to use. It was > > based was produced and tested on 1.3.67, but should work on all 1.3.x > > kernels. The following changes have been made: > > Aren't there ioctl()s to enable back-scrolling? (Or only for VC > switching?) Maybe we should add them.
Nope, there isn't such an ioctl. I've added something like that, in the form of the setterm 15.
> I think the rest of the patch is unnecessary; just start some script > as root to disable back-scrolling.
Yes, but that misses the specific feature of this Braille reader: it works from the moment of boot, without a special driver. By disabling scrollback when the console is loaded, you can follow the boot trace and ideally should be able to see where it stopped if it crashes.
Also, placing the script may be troublesome -- if your only access to the Linux setup is via this reader in question, _you will not be able to read anything on the screen_ until scrollback is disabled. Placing and activating that script is troublesome. I feel that adding a normally dormant mechanism to disable scrollback in any 1.4.x kernel is the most helpful solution.
In addition, by adding this code, if the console driver ever needs to be changed to support another visually impaired access device, it can hang of the same flag mechanism.
> > 1. A new global kernel variable "blind_flag" is made, which defaults to > > zero. > [...] > > -- > > Kenneth Albanowski (kjahds@kjahds.com, CIS: 70705,126) > > I have nothing against the idea, but we should keep it simple.
Agreed. I've investigated many different mechanisms, and I believe this is the simplest useful solution.
> ------------ > Ulrich Windl Klinikum der Universitaet Regensburg > Rechenzentrum DV-med Franz-Josef-Strauss-Allee 11 > Tel: +49 941 944-5879 D-93053 Regensburg > FAX: +49 941 944-5882 > Just imagine my mail address were <Ulrich.Windl@rz.uni.r.de>...
-- Kenneth Albanowski (kjahds@kjahds.com, CIS: 70705,126)
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