[GTALUG] Vaccination Receipts on Linux

[Evan Leibovitch]

Hi Karen,

On Sat, 18 Sept 2021 at 12:44, Karen Lewellen via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
wrote:


> I had seen media information stating that the pharmacist issued paper copies
> would still be fine as well, making the claim otherwise rather a concern
> due to Ontario.ca's established lack of accessibility. so, if you have
> copies from your pharmacists, there is no need to do anything else to
> establish proof.
>

FWIW, I have been using the CANimmunize app
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.ohri.immunizeapp> long
before COVID; I have long needed a vaccination passport -- a WHO "yellow
card" which has existed since the 30's
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Certificate_of_Vaccination_or_Prophylaxis>
-- cause I've been to places that won't let you in without a Yellow Fever
shot (as well as protection against a bunch of lesser but still nasty bugs).
Its interface is clunky but it works, and I'll be using it to store my
COVID jab receipts.


> as for the issues with Linux accessibility in general.  Speaking personally?
> A much better goal would be raising the profile of Linux as a platform
> widely used by the public, so that accessibility related surveys and
> tests will count those who choose Linux over other things.
>

As someone who finally gave up and loaded Windows on his laptop after two
decades of fighting with Linux sound systems, battling desktops and
inferior drivers, I'm quite convinced that lack of profile is not the
cause. We've had twenty years of "this is the year of the Linux desktop"
and it now rings extremely hollow, even if you count Chromebooks. Despite
many many years of trying Linux has never risen out of a low-single-digit
percentage of the installed base, and the very-real reasons for this
stagnation are many.

We thought that every major update of Windows -- from 98 to XP, XP to
Windows 7 and then to 10 -- would lead to backwards compatibility issues
that would bring swarms to Linux desktops. Now the predictions are made
about Linux getting a major boost when Windows 10 users are forced to 11.
While some will bring their now-orphaned-by-MS systems to Linux, the
paradigm shift predicted by some will refuse to materialize ... again. On
the server side the story is totally flipped, but on the desktop Linux is
for enthusiasts, software  developers, other power users and not much
beyond.

Personally I think in this case web accessibility issues are in the hands
of the browser maker rather than the OS, anyway.
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch / @el56
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