# Any way to run Linux in Windows, with orca automatically ins

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by blindncool (Zone BBS Addict) on Sunday, 29-Jan-2012 21:58:05

I have been thinking about buying a linux laptop, but due to money constraints (and the fact that I just love my windows) I have been unable to do so. As the subject line says, I'm looking to find a way to run linux on my windows,with minimal downloads. (If it involves burning ISO immages, my computer doesn't have a CD-rom drive, plus the extra ISO-burning software (which probably isn't very accessible), plus that just confuses me, what with the MD6Sem or whatever it's called. I'm really interested in Linux, so if there is any way, please, post it here. P.S, I jneed a step-by-step guide or a link to one.

## Post 2 by sorressean (Zone BBS Addict) on Monday, 30-Jan-2012 9:25:26

Hello:
You could run vinux to start out with and learn. You'll quickly get tired of the bloat and issues, and you can from there just build your own version of arch/debian with Orca installed, but for beginning it works well enough:
http://vinux-project.org
is the link I think.
As for running it in windows, you can use vmware. They have a vm image I believe, and you could easily just use the ISO in Orical VM Virtual Box.
Now, you mentioned your laptop does not have a cd drive. I don't care what people tell you, Vinux barely runs on my computer when I don't have anything installed, much less on a netbook with a vm. If you don't have a cd drive because you do, in fact have a netbook, this will not work.
HTH,

## Post 3 by blindncool (Zone BBS Addict) on Monday, 30-Jan-2012 16:17:00

Where can I get this VMWare? Do I even need it? I have a regular laptop, not a netbook. I used to have a netbook, though.

## Post 4 by blindncool (Zone BBS Addict) on Monday, 30-Jan-2012 18:08:10

Ok. I downloaded VMWare (in case I did need it), downloaded the executible from the virtual Vinux page. I selected it from my downloads folder. I set the file to extract to my downloads directory. I hit enter, And it says something like "C:usersmy_usernamedownloadsvinux-3.1-virtual-edition.exe is not a valid archive." Or "Could not extract to C:usersmyusernamedownloadsvinux-3.1-virtual-edition". Does anyone know how to help me?

## Post 5 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Tuesday, 31-Jan-2012 11:43:19

The Trisquel I18N Live DVD Edition has Orca available, from startup, with no special interaction or pre-configuration needed. The distribution contains applications such as an office productivity suite, email/personal info manager, sound recorder, several media players, and a Mozilla web browser, with thousands more available in the repositories. The distribution can be installed into a virtual environment, on a flash drive, your computer's hard drive(s), or run as a live session from the dvd. To download and learn more, visit http://trisquel.info.
HTH,
Dave Hunt
twitter,facebook,aim: wx1gdave
Voice: sip:wx1g@ekiga.net
email: ka1cey@gmail.com

## Post 6 by blindncool (Zone BBS Addict) on Tuesday, 31-Jan-2012 16:56:25

How much does this cost?

## Post 7 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Wednesday, 01-Feb-2012 0:09:54

If you're asking about the Trisquel DVD edition, it, and all the apps, are free! Download the image, and burn, install, share as you wish! The Vinux and Ubuntu images are free, as well.

## Post 8 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Saturday, 11-Feb-2012 16:59:32

thevinux virtual editionn comes with 2 different vmware installers. one is the latest version , and other is an older version for more puny hardware.

## Post 9 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Saturday, 11-Feb-2012 21:07:09

To Espking,
I disagree with your assessment of the older version of Vinux. I run it on a pure 64 bit system with 16 gigs of ram on a 3.06 ghz quad core proc. So the hardware isn't what you or many would consider puny. I run the full installed version, no virtual machine. I use it because I don't agree nor like Unity or Gnome 3. Maybe if XFCE 4.10 Releng or LXDE become accessible I might switch to Xubuntu or Lubuntu. I'll give Ubuntu 12.04 a try. But if I don't like it I have the liberty to stick with 10.04.3 64 bit until it is no longer supported in 2014.

## Post 10 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Sunday, 12-Feb-2012 2:18:20

In deed, you do, Spike; have the liberty; you're running Linux! Vinux 3.0 is not an acommodation for 'puny hardware', as ESP King seems to suggest. It is a derivative of the Ubuntu LTS release known as Lucid or 10.04. This netbook, on which I'm banging, has Ubuntu 11.10, but is running the Gnome fallback interface, rather than Unity. Since I'm not using any of the non-free things Ubuntu adds, maybe I should just go back to Trisquel? Maybe I'll wait for Trisquel's decision re: Gnome 3? Any thoughts?

## Post 11 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Sunday, 12-Feb-2012 2:54:55

Hi Dave,
I would say either switch to Debian 6 and update it while removing the applications you do not use if your hardware can use it. Or just use Ubuntu 10.04 since it will be supported for a longer time. You could also customize Ubuntu or Debian using this link:
http://instalinux.com
Yes, it will take a while to get any distro they have to your or my specific apps list, but once it is done it will be as small as possible with Orca, brltty, etc. While using as few system resources as possible on your system as well as mine. You have to be careful when using the link and customizing the OS when it comes to the applications you remove to not remove dependancies by mistake.

## Post 12 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Sunday, 12-Feb-2012 11:55:04

Thanks for the link!
I've broken many systems by trying to economize on system resources (namely drive space in /usr); LOL. This reminds me of the "trisquelizer" script, that starts with a stock Ubuntu, then removes all the non-free stuff, thus making it Trisquel 4.5; not sure whether they've made one for 5.0 or 5.5, but the older script should be easy enough to modify. Since it's a one-time script, consider it a set of human-executable instructions.

## Post 13 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Monday, 13-Feb-2012 10:06:19

the "puny hardware" thing, I'm talking about 2 different versions of vmware. some older systems can't tolerate some of the tec used in the latest version, so they included an older version of vmware to acomodate those who, for example, are stuck with an mmx rather than the AMD 64.

## Post 14 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Monday, 13-Feb-2012 12:27:56

Ok, that makes sense.

## Post 15 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Monday, 13-Feb-2012 14:37:41

thanks.
to those who are too young to know what mmx is, that was the precursor to the dual core concept in computers. it was a chip used in the late 1990s.

## Post 16 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Monday, 13-Feb-2012 21:59:09

Hi Espking,
Thank you for the information. Sorry I took your older systems comment out of context.

## Post 17 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Tuesday, 14-Feb-2012 7:56:38

your welcome. I'll tell you, mmx chips really took off for their speed, becoming a serious threat to the AMD k6.

## Post 18 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Tuesday, 14-Feb-2012 12:18:31

I did, too, Spike. I'm old enough to remember the MMX, but do not; LOL.

## Post 19 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Tuesday, 14-Feb-2012 16:56:47

Oh, it's the perkins graduate again! High! Anyway, my first pc (and second computer) was armed with an mmx processor. I have used vinux vm myself.

## Post 20 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Tuesday, 14-Feb-2012 18:14:09

HaHaHa!
Yes, it's Old Dave, again. Not sure whether you saw my query in private email, so, will ask here: Have you gotten any interest in things Linux at the school? Last year, I demoed Vinux to a user group; got a so-so reception. Putting Knoppix Adriane 6.7 onto a flash drive, to see what's different from previous Knoppices.

## Post 21 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Tuesday, 14-Feb-2012 19:25:31

I only used 3.0 of vinux, because my counseler in school is against beta software.

## Post 22 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Tuesday, 14-Feb-2012 21:53:04

That's too bad!
Vinux 3.2.1 and Trisquel 5.0 are far better where Orca and accessibility are concerned, than is Vinux 3.0. I guess you could take 3.0 and upgrade that which needs upgrading. If you've visited the Vinux site, you know of their advice not to update. I disagree with this, and take all updates as they come! I am concerned that failure to do so may leave my system insecure, not to mention, the accessibility gets so much better with each incremental update. The versions of Vinux and Ubuntu, not listed as Long-term Stable are, nonetheless, not Betas! Perhaps, we need to clarify this? The Alpha and Beta are clearly marked as such.

## Post 23 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Wednesday, 15-Feb-2012 20:09:17

I agree. In fact, I had to update a component of vinux just to play midi files.

## Post 24 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Thursday, 16-Feb-2012 10:17:58

I use Vinux 3 64 bit here as I've said before. It works for my Oracle use. Since from what I've read online Oracle Database doesn't work on gtk3 systems. That means no running it on anything beyond 10.10. Though I'll do some more research to see if I'm wrong. I also take all updates to Vinux 3.0 here with almost no issues. I make a Remastersys image after the updates are done in case I ever need to reinstall. Thank you dvdrw disks and burner.

## Post 25 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Thursday, 16-Feb-2012 17:35:14

If you need something like Oracle database, stay with Gnome 2, whether it's Vinux, Trisquel 5.0, Open Indiana, or whatever. I still have a few non-free things here, this box having Oneiric. Trisquel 5.5 is going to have a gtk-3-based something; they don't like Unity or Gnome3. I'll keep y'all posted.

## Post 26 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Friday, 17-Feb-2012 9:30:42

I plan to stick with either Ubuntu 10.04 or move to Solaris 11 if it likes my hardware after Ubuntu's support for this LTS runs out. Do LXDE and XFCE both rely on GTK3? I would assume they might considering Orca from the Master branch seems to rely on some of its libraries.

## Post 27 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Friday, 17-Feb-2012 10:32:27

My understanding is that xfce and lxde rely on gdk3. I think the orca devs are trying to get the thing to work with as many desktops as possible. I've used some qt4 apps, with limited accessibility. whether this is due to the limitations of qt-atspi bridge, orca, qt4, the apps in question, all of the above, something else, who knows. I have some concern that, in the interest of making orca work in many environments, it won't work as well in any one. Would it be better to concentrate on Gnome, making orca work as well as possible? This probably for another thread.

## Post 28 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Friday, 17-Feb-2012 10:44:33

Hi Dave,
Your last question is a valid one. I don't feel it needs to be switch to another thread. I wonder if all desktops that are accessible to us will end up using gtk3 from now on. I also assume that Orca-XDesktop is dead, or at least discontinued. Since the last update I see for it was done in October of last year.
I'll write to Oracle accessibility to ask them if the database software will eventually support gtk3. I know this doesn't matter to many. I'm one of the few that needs it since sqlplus Oracle's cli interface to the database server works with much more stability in Linux in my case Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit than it does in Windows Server 2003 32 bit with Jaws.
In Linux the feedback is instennt and completely readable. In Windows it's there, but Jaws doesn't have flat review mode that does the same thing as Orca. I believe that I won't need to use Sqlplus cli much. Since most if not all of what it does for database administration can be done using a web browser in Windows XP or 7.

## Post 29 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Friday, 17-Feb-2012 17:40:03

Orca x-desktop is not officially dead, says Joany, but, for all intents and purposes it is. It looks like the Trisquel folks are now considering using gnome 3 fallback as their default desktop on the accessible version. This is good news, since it gives folks a completely-free, accessible (ootb) option other than vinux and stock Ubuntu.

## Post 30 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Monday, 20-Feb-2012 5:54:00

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the confirmation. I thought Orca-XDesktop was discontinued for sure. Can you ask the Orca led developer if Orca-XDesktop will be murged into the Master Branch? Or is this as good as it will get for us who rely on Orca-XDesktop and Gnome 2?
Also ask if they can see about possibly making Cinnamon which is a Gnome Shell fork that brings us back Gnome 2 with GTK3 libs and updates accessible? Or should this question be put to the main Mint developer and not Orca?
Here's a link on the latest version of Cinnamon's changes. http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=163

## Post 31 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Monday, 20-Feb-2012 12:45:17

Hi, Spike!
I put your question re: the x-desktop, to the orca list, and will pass on the gist of the answers I get. My guess is that x-desktop is as good as it's going to get, which is a pity, considering that, in some apps, accessibility with Gnome 2 and Orca x-desktop is better than with Gnome 3 and later Orca. Libreoffice is a case in point. Last night, I was playing with a Trisquel 5.0 live cd, and discovered that Libreoffice Calc is far more accessible than that same app in my installed Ubuntu 11.10. Regarding your Cinnamon query, Since that is a Linux Mint specific thing, I think you'd be better off asking about their plans on a Mint forum, or of a lead in Mint's development effort. How is their accessibility advocacy? I hear, from some on the Vinux forum, their attention to this is minimal.

## Post 32 by ¤§¤spike¤§¤ (This site is so "educational") on Monday, 20-Feb-2012 15:34:12

Hi Dave,
Since I also subscribe to the Orca list I should be able to see the replies to your query. Thanks for putting it out there, since I don't believe I'm the only person who likes and will miss Gnome 2 when Ubuntu 10.04 and Debian 6 support end. I'll see about e-mailing the Mint developer to ask him about accessibility in both Maté and Cinamon. I'm doing this so we have as many usable accessible desktops as possible for people to choose from.

## Post 33 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Tuesday, 21-Feb-2012 11:13:12

Ok, so you've seen Joany's answer to my query on your behalf. Looks like xfce will be the preferred accessible alternative desktop once it is ready for prime time. I'm back on Trisquel, having decided that its over-all accessibility is better than that of Ubuntu 11.10, even though Mozilla Gecko navigation may be a little slower than is best. I hear, from the folks at Trisquel, that they're not moving to Gnome 3, due to its need for 3-d graphics acceleration. This need doesn't fit well with Trisquel's free-software-only philosophy.

## Post 34 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Tuesday, 28-Feb-2012 14:59:19

who cares about graphics anyway? were blind.

## Post 35 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Wednesday, 29-Feb-2012 0:20:41

Looks like Trisquel is settling on xfce for its default, but offering mate, unity, gnome 3 shell, and maybe something else? I'll ask the accessibility guy which version of Trisquel they plan to make accessible ootb. If you've tried 5.0 I18N, how was your experience? I'm happily back to it, but, y'all have heard that song before. I have it on a dvd and a thumb drive; anyone within a walk of my tiny ground-floor studio is welcome to borrow it or get a demo from me.

## Post 36 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Sunday, 04-Mar-2012 18:24:17

what song?

## Post 37 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Sunday, 04-Mar-2012 19:39:27

We weren't talking about music in here, I think. No worries, matey, but you'll likely get a better answer somewhere else. LOL. I think you meant to ask this on another board topic?

## Post 38 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Sunday, 04-Mar-2012 19:41:42

Oh, I was being metaphorical. "song" as in my singing the praises and glories of the fully-free Trisquel Linux distro, the one on this trusty netbook I keep in my murse.

## Post 39 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Sunday, 04-Mar-2012 19:45:58

oh that one. Sorry but a simtem of asburgers sindrome is taking figurative language litterally.

## Post 40 by Dave_H (the boringest guy you'll ever know) on Monday, 05-Mar-2012 16:34:03

Thanks for letting me know; will keep that in mind, and refrain from the figurative language.
Now, to bring this nearer to topic, who knows Jonathan Nadeau? I know he is a blind Linux user who has done some work for the Free Software Foundation and is giving an address at the up-coming Northeast Linux Fest, which is happening on Saturday, March 17. I hope to attend and network with Jonathan and others in the Linux advocacy world.

## Post 41 by Espking (Zone BBS is my Life) on Tuesday, 06-Mar-2012 12:22:04

Never heard of him.