[DECtalk] decTalk express emulator

[William Prestwich]

All, I have bit my tongue as best I can for quite some time now, but I feel
I need to say a thing or two about some of the things going on in this
mailing list regarding the source code of dectalk.

Please understand that the source code to dectalk was *leaked* many years
ago and remained dormant with many failed attempts to have it working on
modern systems (myself included.)

It is with many thanks to an individual who has asked to remain anonymous
with a LOT of expertise in the C programming language and troubleshooting
the compiler that we managed to get this to work at all (that we are aware
of - perhaps someone did it beforehand but kept it to themselves). This
code had a team of people working on it, and this individual spent a
weekend getting it compiled.

Since then many, MANY hours have gone into the project to get it sounding
as close as possible to how most of us prefer it to sound. Others have got
involved since but it was not without the initial 'getting it working' that
we could be where we are at this point.

*The code is NOT open source software, and probably never will be*. So
while nobody would be stopping you from adapting this code for other
projects (that are NOT for profit) to go chasing original devs, previous
owners, CEOs of now defunct companies etc. about the rights to the code and
using this project to further your point is not only selfish and uncalled
for,* but it's also potentially what may undo all the work effort put in to
this project so far* - that is work that you did not personally invest in
(hence why its quite self-centered.)

Please, my advice going forward is *not* to chase up any previous owner of
this product to attempt to wrest control over the source code. It's very
likely to get you nowhere - but the worst of it is you may also cause the
project to be removed and undo the hard work others have put in to get this
software working for people like you in the first place.

If you are capable and have the time to get involved in the project then do
so. You know the url to the github project and there is information about
how to get involved.

If you are not capable of assisting with the project, use the pull request
feature in github with your wishes and hopes. When/if time and possibility
permits, your request may be fulfilled. There is no guarantee - and if it's
not obvious already, nobody who is working on this project actually owes
you anything.

Please note that I am not going to entertain a war and peace thread after
this email like what we have seen between people over the last few weeks.
I'm not here to argue hypotheticals - I'm more interested in getting work
done. I don't own this mailing list so you may shoot the breeze all you
like, but the efforts put into the github project seems to be highly
underappreciated by some of you on here and it's not fair for those that
actually did the work - so please stop trying to use the hard work of
others for your personal gain.

Thanks
Wil


On Mon, Nov 21, 2022 at 10:13 PM Aksel Leo Christoffersen <
aksel at blindsigtmail.dk> wrote:

> Which is the version I'm using. It seems to work fine when you just send
> text to the emulator, and not actually use it with a screen reader. It also
> works fine with the Virtual Braille 'n speak in a Windows 3.1 VM. I have
> tested it on several Windows 7 machines with the same result.
>
> -----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
> Fra: Dectalk [mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com] På vegne af
> Brandon
> Misch
> Sendt: 21. november 2022 22:08
> Til: DECtalk
> Emne: Re: [DECtalk] decTalk express emulator
>
> there is a version of com0com wich is designed for windows 7 and
> should work nicely with this. I'm using it on windows 10 and should
> also work with windows 11.
>
> On 11/21/22, Aksel Leo Christoffersen <aksel at blindsigtmail.dk> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> >
> >
> > Agreed that the emulator is some excelent work. However, it doesn't
> appear
> > to work on Windows 7. It crashes whenever I try to use it with either
> JAWS
> > or NVDA. However, it works excelent on Windows 10.
> >
> > It appears to use the latest build of DECtalk 4.99, just like the SAPI5
> > version.
> >
> >
> >
> > Kind regards:
> >
> > Aksel Christoffersen
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> Dectalk at bluegrasspals.com
> https://bluegrasspals.com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>
>
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>
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