[nfbcs] Linux Installation without help?

[Jude DaShiell]

Stock debian can be installed just using the s parameter on the command 
line after the boot beep for sound card users.  Admittedly additional 
things can be done in that environment to make life better but the 
inclusion of nonfree software repositories can be done post installation 
too.  Those make many more packages available.  Since I don't have a 
braille display handy, I never tested debian to see if the b parameter 
would start looking for braille displays and use them for the 
installation.

There's also talkingarch which is a rolling distro which means you get 
the latest in software with no freezes.  Anyone wanting to do that 
installation had best read on http://talkingarch.tk/ and get the distro 
from that site.  The arch home page also has a beginner's guide it will 
be good to read as you do the installation.  It is more complex than 
Debian to install but less complex than gentoo to install.  With either 
debian or arch, you first get a command line environment unless on 
debian you choose your desktop environment in the initial installation 
but even if you don't you can post install a desktop environment for 
those that must have desktop environments to use computers.  

On Sat, 18 Oct 2014, Blaine Clark via nfbcs wrote:

> Ian, there are several mainstream distributions of Linux that have
> accessibility built into the installation files and there are some that have
> taken what's available in the mainstream distributions and expanded them.
> Knoppix has a sub distribution called Adriane that has added much to the
> installation files to allow blind users to test Live Loads from DVDs and USBs
> and to perform some reclamation work on hard drives. The added tools also
> allow a blind user to install the OS alongside or in replacement of the
> original OS on the hard drive. A Live Load is the result of restarting your
> computer and allowing it to boot from either a DVD, a USB or even a networked
> boot device. When the alternate operating system is loaded, it is resident in
> your computer's memory and does not affect your hard drive at all, unless you
> access your hard drive and deliberately alter any files on it. When you shut
> down and restart with the boot device disconnected, your hard drive OS will
> start normally and the Live Load will have been dumped from your computer's
> memory leaving no trace behind.
> Ubuntu has enough added tools to make it's testing and installing quite
> do-able for blind users. Vinux, like Adriane, has added to those tools in
> Ubuntu to make testing and installation even easier.
> All over the world there are specialty projects just like Adriane and Vinux.
> Most all of these projects follow the Debian fork of Linux for desktop use,
> which brings up an interesting fact. If you were to do a Live Load of Debian
> from DVD or USB, you could, with knowledge and practice, install the aids you
> need into the memory-resident Live Load to talk or Braille your way through an
> installation of Debian. Projects like Vinux and Adriane have done this for
> you.
> The only steps a blind user would need help with are editing the BIOS to reset
> the boot order of your drives so that optical DVD drives, USB drives and
> perhaps networked drives are checked for bootable files before the hard drive
> is checked.
> http://wiki.vinuxproject.org/
> http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-adriane/index-en.html
> There are additional projects like these in South America, Asia, Europe and
> elsewhere. Linux is very flexible and customizable for those who learn the
> means to modify any distribution and to easily re-master the installation
> files to build your own custom distribution. You could then give your own
> modified computer operating system to friends who would be interested or could
> benefit from the changes you have made. This is exactly how Vinux is being
> made. The Vinux developers are all either totally blind or vision impaired.
> So, can you install Linux without sighted help? Yes, and you can do a lot more
> with Linux without sighted help!
> 
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jude <jdashiel at shellworld.net>
Twitter: @jdashiel