[DECtalk] decTalk express emulator

Tue Nov 22 01:09:29 EST 2022

William:

I can not claim that I have a great understanding of programming, but I can imagine that sutch compiler, and all the work done with the project so fare, has not been done within a few hours. Personally, I hily apreciate all the effort you and others have put into it. You have given us something, that no one, as fare as I know, has been able to accomplish in many years, a working modern build of DECtalk, which even also is compiled for SAPI5, something which I’ve seen many people ask for.

I can only say that I hope you’ll keep the work up, even though it seems like no one apreciate it. I am sure people do.

As for my comment about the DECtalk Express emulator not working on Windows 7. I am very sorry if that’s what tipped the scale, but I would like to comment, that it was not meant as a complaint at all. I meant it as a warning for potential Windows 7 users, so noone got their hopes up for something that might not work on their system.

As for Mattias’ comment about DECtalk hardware and NVDA, I’m using the old NVDA 2018.2.1 with Python2, with the DECtalk Express add-on, and it also works with the actual DECtalk Express hardware.

Kind regards:

Aksel Christoffersen

Fra: Dectalk [mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com] På vegne af William Prestwich
Sendt: 21. november 2022 22:28
Til: DECtalk
Emne: Re: [DECtalk] decTalk express emulator

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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