I was fishing around for some information on the possible Indianisation of GNU/Linux. As Ms Mita puts it, Edward Cherlin's info (via the Simputer mailing list on yahoogroups) appears to be mind-boggling. What do others on this list think of it? Any feedback? FN
On Fri, 16 Aug 2002, Mita wrote: > Dear Edward, > What an excellent and valuable input! Thank you! By the way, you don't > sound like a generalist at all, more like a specialist! > Checked out both the sites you recommend; one was rather technical, but > the sil.org site is really great. > So did you go to the presentation of the Simputer there in California? > Did anybody on this list go? Please do tell us first hand how it was! > Did the simputer live up to all your expectations? > Cheers > Mita > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Edward Cherlin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 9:29 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [simputer] [OFFTOPIC] Request for some inputs for an > article > > On Tuesday 13 August 2002 02:06 am, Frederick Noronha wrote: > > Dear friends, > > > > I am thinking of doing a piece on the challenges posed by plans for > > Indianisation of GNU/Linux. > > > > If you could give me some additional insights into the following > > issues (in a language that a simple reader would follow), I'd be > > very grateful. If you could send me the replies in a day or two, > > I'd be even more grateful. > > > > For my side, I will circulate the article among all before the > > Bangalor meeting. Thanks again. Frederick > > You're welcome. Where will this be published? > > > PS: Issues I need information on: > > > > What is your reading of: > > > > * Demand for Indian-language computers > > Although I have met a few engineers from India who speak only > English, the answer is that the demand for Indian-language computers > equals the demand for computers in India, plus a bit for places like > the UK, Pakistan and Bangla Desh that do significant business with > India or have significant Indian minorities. You can find current > sales and installed base numbers on the Net. If you need help with > this, e-mail me offline. > > > * Main languages which could be tackled at this stage > > By next year, the Pango project should support all nine official > Indic scripts, so the answer is "All of them." > > > * Which languages would pose greater difficulties > > Languages that are traditionally not written, or are written in > non-standard variants of the standard scripts. Talk to Peter > Constable at SIL.org about this. > > > * Applications that are needed to be run in Indian languages > > Everything. Don't take "No" for an answer. On Linux, you can > volunteer to Indicize any application. In the future, when font > management and rendering are standardized, all applications will run > in Indian languages for input and output without further ado, and > anyone will be able to create a localization file to customize the > user interface. Volunteers are also needed to translate documentation. > > > * Lack of support in other OSs > > Indic and other South Asian scripts are the final challenge to > computer vendors for full I18n support. Progress is slow at Microsoft > and Apple. Linux should pass them by the end of the year, or early in > 2003. > > > * Technical challenges in supporting Indian languages > > The principal problem is rendering conjuncts without proper rendering > engines and properly encoded fonts. Users want to type a sequence of > characters, and not concern themselves with the details of rendering. > This requires fonts with appropriate tables giving the possible > character sequences and the glyphs for rendering each, and an engine > that knows to read the tables. > > Apple and Microsoft are not willing simply to support typing, > display, and printing. They will not release language and writing > system support until they have complete locales built, preferably > including a dictionary and spelling checker. Linux is under no such > constraints. > > > X > > The Free Standards Group together with Li18nux.org are proposing to > rationalize and simplify I18n support under X, including a common > rendering engine, shared font paths, and other standards that will > greatly simplify the business of supporting all writing systems and > all languages. > > > Toolkits > > Dozens. Write to me off-list and tell me what tasks you want tools > for. > > Fonts? Check out pfaedit. > Keyboards? Unix keyboard files can be prepared in any text editor. > Rendering? Pango, Graphite > Software localization? IBM ICU, GTK, various languages... > Multilingual editing? Yudit and emacs both support several Indic > scripts, and could be extended with only moderate effort on the part > of a few experts. I have not tested vim, the other Unix Unicode > editor. Most other Unix applications accept some Indic input. > > Mandrake Linux includes Bengali, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Hindi > Devanagari, and Tamil out of the box. That leaves Oriya, Malayalam, > Telugu, and Kannada still to be done, along with the Indic-derived > Lao, Sinhala, Myanmar, and Khmer. Tibetan and Thai are moderately > well supported. > > > Fonts? > > There are two projects to create a complete rendering engine: Pango > (Pango.org, Li18nux.org) and Graphite (sil.org). They also have plans > for complete sets of Unicode fonts (including not just the Unicode > characters, but also all of the non-character glyphs for rendering > Indic scripts. > > > Voice synthesis and recognition? > > IBM and several other companies have projects to support 40 or more > languages each. I can put you in contact with a voice engineer in > Silicon Valley, and you of course have access to the voice engineers > involved in the Simputer design. > > > Any right-to-left languages? > > Arabic and Hebrew are officially supported on Windows, Mac, and Unix. > Other languages in the same scripts (Urdu, Pashto, Farsi/Dari, etc.; > Yiddish, Ladino, etc.) can be typed but do not have full support. > Syriac (once used to write Malayalam) is included in Unicode but not > well supported. Thaana, used for Dhivehi in the Republic of Maldives, > is similarly encoded but not well supported. I can provide more > details, or put you in contact with experts on any of these. > > > What other challenges do Indian languages pose? > > That's it. We have them all in hand. Well, dictionaries and spelling > checkers, of course. Word-breaking doesn't operate the same way in > Indic scripts as in the Latin alphabet. Fine typography, which you > don't find in consumer or office applications in any language. And > the sheer number. There are more than 800 languages spoken in India. > > > * Projects that are currently underway, and which are interesting, > > in your opinion. > > As I said, Pango, Graphite, Li18nux, Free Standards. Mandrake Linux > emphasizes multilingual support, and welcomes offers of help. And of > course Simputer. _______________________________________________ Fsf-friends mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends
