In the late nineties I wrote a Grade 2 translator for BRLTTY. Others contributed to it. I then developed it into liblouis, which still acknowledges its BRLTTY roots. It is now used very widely.
John On Thu, Dec 10, 2015 at 01:26:36AM -0500, Nicolas Pitre wrote: > On Wed, 9 Dec 2015, Rob wrote: > > > What is the history of Brltty? I have to admit, it is an indispensable > > tool in my arsenal, but how did it all get started to end up as the > > wonderful program it is today? > > It all started in 1995 with Nikhil Nair and James Bowde, two students at > the University of Cambridge, UK. Nikhil was blind and wanted a native > solution for using his CombiBraille with Linux. The oldest BRLTTY > release announcement I could find is for version 0.22 Beta in the > December 1st 1995 edition of Linux Journal (meaning that BRLTTY is 20 > years old this month): > > http://m.linuxjournal.com/article/2872 > > I was already a big Linux fan at the time. To be able to access a Linux > computer, I needed a second computer running DOS and the proprietary > software to drive my Alva BC340, and use that second computer with a > terminal emulator to access the Linux computer via a serial cable. > > Linux was already quite capable back then, especially for accessing the > burgeoning Internet with a 14400 baud modem over a traditional phone > line (and that was fast!). That's how I stumbled across the first > BRLTTY announcement. That was so cool I couldn't resist downloading the > code and start tinkering with it. Then the process of > reverse-engineering the communication protocol for my Alva started. > Eventually (i.e. after some long nights) I had it figured out and I > wrote the second BRLTTY driver. > > I was so excited about being able to use the native Linux console > directly that I had to share this with someone else who could appreciate > this accomplishment. In other words that someone else had to be another > computer geek who happened to be blind as well. That's how I ended up > inviting Stéphane Doyon on a whim, whom I had never met before, to come > to my place for some hacking session on his own braille display. > > Equipped with two computers and one already functional braille display, > we were able to reverse-engineer the communication protocol for his TSI > Navigator in only one day of work. The third BRLTTY driver was born. > > We submitted our drivers to the BRLTTY maintainer and a strong > collaboration between Nikhil, Stéphane and myself ensued to improve the > BRLTTY core code. Eventually, version 1.0 was released: > > http://www.redhat.com/archives/blinux-list/1996-August/msg00031.html > > A few months later, BRLTTY gained its initial speech support and version > 1.0.1 was released: > > https://www.redhat.com/archives/blinux-list/1996-September/msg00007.html > > In early 1998, Nikhil couldn't dedicate as much time to BRLTTY and > that's when I took over the maintainer role. That corresponds to BRLTTY > version 1.9.0. > > Then, several people started contributing to the project. Many of them > are still following this mailing list. Notably, a certain Dave Mielke > whose contributions were significant. > > Fast forward to 2001 or 25 BRLTTY releases later, I was short of enough > free time to properly maintain the project. Given that BRLTTY already > did all that I needed, it is possible that my motivation also dropped a > little. It was time for another maintainership transition. That's when > Dave stepped up to the plate. And Dave's dedication to BRLTTY really > brought it to another level of refinement. And 15 years later Dave is > still running the show. > > > As a side note, how many of us use > > Brltty as our sole means of navigating in Linux? > > Count me in. Since early 1996. > > > Nicolas > _______________________________________________ > This message was sent via the BRLTTY mailing list. > To post a message, send an e-mail to: BRLTTY@mielke.cc > For general information, go to: http://mielke.cc/mailman/listinfo/brltty -- John J. Boyer; President, AbilitiesSoft, Inc. http://www.abilitiessoft.org Madison, Wisconsin USA We develop software for people with disabilities which is abailable at no cost. _______________________________________________ This message was sent via the BRLTTY mailing list. To post a message, send an e-mail to: BRLTTY@mielke.cc For general information, go to: http://mielke.cc/mailman/listinfo/brltty
