Tutorials FAQ

Regarding tutorial format

Why RealAudio? Why not an open format like Ogg Vorbis?

RealAudio is a widely available format with free player. I know that RealPlayer is not open software. However this is the player installed on most personal workstations. This format is also compact enough to download over slow modem telephone lines. This is also the reason why I use RA3.0 14.4kbps format. This is the most compact format I could find and be able to manage that delivers understandable voice quality. And the aim is to understand and not to HiFi audio.

Why isn't the voice integrated into ppt and synchronized with the slides?

The presentation slides are available in ppt as well as PowerPoint 2002 exported HTML. The exporting options are set to provide maximum compatibility with Netscape browsers. This was Linux desktop stations are also able to listen to the presentation. And last but not least there is another reason asking you to step between the slides: helps you not to fall asleep!

Tutorial content

Do you plan other tutorials?

Yes.

License, what can/may I do?

Can I use the tutorials for purpose XYZ?

The tutorials are covered by the GNU Free Documentation License. This allows you to use the tutorials for listen to it, download, store, compile and many other things. However expect that the license construction will change because I believe that the GNU FDL is not appropriate for documents bearing a format that include personal attributes. I seek a license construction that prohibits the use of the voice other than knowledge delivery.

For example I do not want my voice come back altered on a radio station in an advertisement as a sound effect. I do not want to act the voice files as source for my identification in any voice id system.

I have already contacted Free Software Foundation, and got some answer from Orion Montoya. The answer focused on teaching me that RA is proprietary format.

Can I translate the tutorial to German, Spanish, Chinese or other language?

Yes. Add your own voice part to it and name it as a derivative/translation of the original. Deliver it with references to the original.

Could you send me the scripts for the speech?

No. There is no script. When creating the audio, I sit in a dark room, with the screen in front of them and I talk to the microphone explaining the subject. I do not read the text and I do not write down the text afterwards. I have no time for that.

Can I, may I mirror the site?

Yes.

How can I mirror the site?

The site is quite static, plain HTML and "binary" files. There is some JavaScript applied, but the code is designed that you can reach all pages you need to mirror via standard HREF links. Thus you should run on your Linux:

wget -m -L http://peter.verhas.com/tutorials/index.html

This you can put into your crontab to run weekly, because the server and wget are clever enough not to copy files that were not changed.

If you believe that you will this mirror operate public and reliable, drop me a mail and I will include it into the list of mirrors.

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This page was generated June 28, 2002 13:16:09