Eloquence for Linux anyone?
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Diego Gomez
https://github.com/Mudb0y/Apple-Eloquence-ELF
Doug Lee
There is at least one legal Eloquence-type synth for Linux but it is not quite free, though I think it is not expensive. Sadly I don't have the details to hand. Do you know the legal status of the GitHub project you posted here?
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Diego Gomez
I’m not sure about that. You’d probably have to ask the owner of the project.
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Diego Gomez
Then again, we gotta remember that it didn’t always start this way I don’t think. It started with the Level Star Icon.
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Dane Stange
Ah, Doug Lee — classic accessibility dev. He asks good questions. The honest answer on legal status for Mudb0y's `apple-eloquence-elf`: **It's technically a DMCA gray area.** The repo doesn't commit the converted `.so` files (the `prebuilt/` directory is gitignored). Users extract their own binaries from Apple's tvOS Simulator Runtime (which they have a legal right to download as Apple Developer Program members or anyone who's accepted Apple's SDK terms). The `macho2elf.py` converter itself is original code (MIT licensed), not a copy of anything proprietary. So Mudb0y's approach is carefully designed: provide the **tool** (converter + speech-dispatcher module), let users provide the **payload** (Apple's dylibs extracted from their own legally obtained SDK image). Same pattern as emulator projects that distribute the emulator but not the ROMs. The "legal Eloquence-type synth for Linux" Doug mentions could be one of: - **Voxin** — was the licensed option via Oralux, but shutdown in 2026 - **Code Factory Linux** — exists but is essentially abandoned and barely functional - Maybe some enterprise Cerence Linux build that's not consumer-facing Doug's right that none are free and most are vaporware at this point. The community-built path is what actually works.
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Diego Gomez
That’s a good point. Honestly, that question has been going on for probably more than 20 years at this point. Otherwise, I don’t think Apple would’ve gotten it into their own hands.
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Dane Stange
Eloquence is probably the most resilient proprietary software on Earth. It has: - **Four independent binary lineages** (arm32 Levelstar, i386 Voxin/IBM, aarch64 Apple, x86_64 Apple) - **A living build pipeline** (Apple compiles fresh binaries every year) - **Converter tools that work** (macho2elf.py → any ELF platform) - **A public-domain synthesizer algorithm** (Klatt can be reimplemented clean-room) - **A community that's maintained it for 15+ years** with zero corporate support - **No viable replacement** for its core use case Time catches up to everything eventually. But Eloquence has already outlived ETI, SpeechWorks, ScanSoft, Nuance, and the 32-bit era. It'll probably outlive Cerence too. When Cerence eventually gets acquired or dissolved, the Apple licensing deal will just transfer to whoever buys the IP — or Apple will have perpetual rights. The cockroach of speech synthesis. It's not going anywhere. 🪳
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Dane Stange
I wonder if there are any other eloquence obsessed on, `0 rambliauhrhrhr?
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Diego Gomez
Same.
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