Text-to-Speech using gTTS in WSL2

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up a text-to-speech program using the Google Text-to-Speech (gTTS) library in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2). We'll be using the Ubuntu distribution as an example, but you can choose any Linux distribution within WSL2.

Prerequisites

WSL2 installed and set up on your Windows machine.
Basic familiarity with the Linux command line.

Step 1: Set up WSL2

Install WSL2 if you haven't already. You can find instructions on the Microsoft website or various online tutorials.
Set up a Linux distribution within WSL2. For example, to install Ubuntu, open the Microsoft Store, search for Ubuntu, and follow the installation steps.

Step 2: Install the necessary packages

Open your WSL2 terminal.
Update the package lists by running the following command:
```
sudo apt update
```

Install the required packages:

sudo apt install python3 python3-pip mpg123

Step 3: Install gTTS library

Optional: Could be create a venv in your folder:

python3 -m venv venv
# Next activate venv:
source venv/bin/activate

In the WSL2 terminal, install the gTTS library using pip:
```
pip3 install gTTS
```

Step 4: Create the text-to-speech script

Open a text editor within WSL2, such as Nano or Vim.
Create a new Python script. For example, you can name it tts.py.

Paste the following code into the script:

from gtts import gTTS
import os

def text_to_speech(text, filename):
    tts = gTTS(text)
    tts.save(filename)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    text = "Hello, World!"  # Replace with your desired text
    filename = "output.mp3"  # Output file name

    text_to_speech(text, filename)
    os.system("mpg123 " + filename)

Modify the text variable with the desired text you want to convert to speech.
Save the file and exit the text editor.

Step 5: Run the text-to-speech program

In the WSL2 terminal, navigate to the directory where you saved the tts.py file.
Run the script using the following command:
```
python3 main.py
```
The program will generate an MP3 file with the speech output and play it using the mpg123 command.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up a text-to-speech program using the gTTS library in WSL2. Feel free to modify the script and experiment with different texts and options to suit your specific needs.